WorldWideScience

Sample records for perform similar functions

  1. Optimizing top precision performance measure of content-based image retrieval by learning similarity function

    KAUST Repository

    Liang, Ru-Ze

    2017-04-24

    In this paper we study the problem of content-based image retrieval. In this problem, the most popular performance measure is the top precision measure, and the most important component of a retrieval system is the similarity function used to compare a query image against a database image. However, up to now, there is no existing similarity learning method proposed to optimize the top precision measure. To fill this gap, in this paper, we propose a novel similarity learning method to maximize the top precision measure. We model this problem as a minimization problem with an objective function as the combination of the losses of the relevant images ranked behind the top-ranked irrelevant image, and the squared Frobenius norm of the similarity function parameter. This minimization problem is solved as a quadratic programming problem. The experiments over two benchmark data sets show the advantages of the proposed method over other similarity learning methods when the top precision is used as the performance measure.

  2. Optimizing top precision performance measure of content-based image retrieval by learning similarity function

    KAUST Repository

    Liang, Ru-Ze; Shi, Lihui; Wang, Haoxiang; Meng, Jiandong; Wang, Jim Jing-Yan; Sun, Qingquan; Gu, Yi

    2017-01-01

    In this paper we study the problem of content-based image retrieval. In this problem, the most popular performance measure is the top precision measure, and the most important component of a retrieval system is the similarity function used to compare a query image against a database image. However, up to now, there is no existing similarity learning method proposed to optimize the top precision measure. To fill this gap, in this paper, we propose a novel similarity learning method to maximize the top precision measure. We model this problem as a minimization problem with an objective function as the combination of the losses of the relevant images ranked behind the top-ranked irrelevant image, and the squared Frobenius norm of the similarity function parameter. This minimization problem is solved as a quadratic programming problem. The experiments over two benchmark data sets show the advantages of the proposed method over other similarity learning methods when the top precision is used as the performance measure.

  3. New Similarity Functions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Yazdani, Hossein; Ortiz-Arroyo, Daniel; Kwasnicka, Halina

    2016-01-01

    spaces, in addition to their similarity in the vector space. Prioritized Weighted Feature Distance (PWFD) works similarly as WFD, but provides the ability to give priorities to desirable features. The accuracy of the proposed functions are compared with other similarity functions on several data sets....... Our results show that the proposed functions work better than other methods proposed in the literature....

  4. Protein-protein interaction network-based detection of functionally similar proteins within species.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Baoxing; Wang, Fen; Guo, Yang; Sang, Qing; Liu, Min; Li, Dengyun; Fang, Wei; Zhang, Deli

    2012-07-01

    Although functionally similar proteins across species have been widely studied, functionally similar proteins within species showing low sequence similarity have not been examined in detail. Identification of these proteins is of significant importance for understanding biological functions, evolution of protein families, progression of co-evolution, and convergent evolution and others which cannot be obtained by detection of functionally similar proteins across species. Here, we explored a method of detecting functionally similar proteins within species based on graph theory. After denoting protein-protein interaction networks using graphs, we split the graphs into subgraphs using the 1-hop method. Proteins with functional similarities in a species were detected using a method of modified shortest path to compare these subgraphs and to find the eligible optimal results. Using seven protein-protein interaction networks and this method, some functionally similar proteins with low sequence similarity that cannot detected by sequence alignment were identified. By analyzing the results, we found that, sometimes, it is difficult to separate homologous from convergent evolution. Evaluation of the performance of our method by gene ontology term overlap showed that the precision of our method was excellent. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  5. Cross-kingdom similarities in microbiome functions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mendes, R.; Raaijmakers, J.M.

    2015-01-01

    Recent advances in medical research have revealed how humans rely on their microbiome for diverse traits and functions. Similarly, microbiomes of other higher organisms play key roles in disease, health, growth and development of their host. Exploring microbiome functions across kingdoms holds

  6. Defining a similarity threshold for a functional proteinsequence pattern: The signal peptide cleavage site

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Henrik; Engelbrecht, Jacob; von Heijne, Gunnar

    1996-01-01

    When preparing data sets of amino acid or nucleotide sequences it is necessary to exclude redundant or homologous sequences in order to avoid overestimating the predictive performance of an algorithm. For some time methods for doing this have been available in the area of protein structure...... prediction. We have developed a similar procedure based on pair-wise alignments for sequences with functional sites. We show how a correlation coefficient between sequence similarity and functional homology can be used to compare the efficiency of different similarity measures and choose a nonarbitrary...

  7. Audio Query by Example Using Similarity Measures between Probability Density Functions of Features

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marko Helén

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper proposes a query by example system for generic audio. We estimate the similarity of the example signal and the samples in the queried database by calculating the distance between the probability density functions (pdfs of their frame-wise acoustic features. Since the features are continuous valued, we propose to model them using Gaussian mixture models (GMMs or hidden Markov models (HMMs. The models parametrize each sample efficiently and retain sufficient information for similarity measurement. To measure the distance between the models, we apply a novel Euclidean distance, approximations of Kullback-Leibler divergence, and a cross-likelihood ratio test. The performance of the measures was tested in simulations where audio samples are automatically retrieved from a general audio database, based on the estimated similarity to a user-provided example. The simulations show that the distance between probability density functions is an accurate measure for similarity. Measures based on GMMs or HMMs are shown to produce better results than that of the existing methods based on simpler statistics or histograms of the features. A good performance with low computational cost is obtained with the proposed Euclidean distance.

  8. Functional enrichment analyses and construction of functional similarity networks with high confidence function prediction by PFP

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kihara Daisuke

    2010-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background A new paradigm of biological investigation takes advantage of technologies that produce large high throughput datasets, including genome sequences, interactions of proteins, and gene expression. The ability of biologists to analyze and interpret such data relies on functional annotation of the included proteins, but even in highly characterized organisms many proteins can lack the functional evidence necessary to infer their biological relevance. Results Here we have applied high confidence function predictions from our automated prediction system, PFP, to three genome sequences, Escherichia coli, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and Plasmodium falciparum (malaria. The number of annotated genes is increased by PFP to over 90% for all of the genomes. Using the large coverage of the function annotation, we introduced the functional similarity networks which represent the functional space of the proteomes. Four different functional similarity networks are constructed for each proteome, one each by considering similarity in a single Gene Ontology (GO category, i.e. Biological Process, Cellular Component, and Molecular Function, and another one by considering overall similarity with the funSim score. The functional similarity networks are shown to have higher modularity than the protein-protein interaction network. Moreover, the funSim score network is distinct from the single GO-score networks by showing a higher clustering degree exponent value and thus has a higher tendency to be hierarchical. In addition, examining function assignments to the protein-protein interaction network and local regions of genomes has identified numerous cases where subnetworks or local regions have functionally coherent proteins. These results will help interpreting interactions of proteins and gene orders in a genome. Several examples of both analyses are highlighted. Conclusion The analyses demonstrate that applying high confidence predictions from PFP

  9. 29 CFR 1620.18 - Jobs performed under similar working conditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 4 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Jobs performed under similar working conditions. 1620.18... THE EQUAL PAY ACT § 1620.18 Jobs performed under similar working conditions. (a) In general. In order for the equal pay standard to apply, the jobs are required to be performed under similar working...

  10. A Model-Based Approach to Constructing Music Similarity Functions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lamere Paul

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available Several authors have presented systems that estimate the audio similarity of two pieces of music through the calculation of a distance metric, such as the Euclidean distance, between spectral features calculated from the audio, related to the timbre or pitch of the signal. These features can be augmented with other, temporally or rhythmically based features such as zero-crossing rates, beat histograms, or fluctuation patterns to form a more well-rounded music similarity function. It is our contention that perceptual or cultural labels, such as the genre, style, or emotion of the music, are also very important features in the perception of music. These labels help to define complex regions of similarity within the available feature spaces. We demonstrate a machine-learning-based approach to the construction of a similarity metric, which uses this contextual information to project the calculated features into an intermediate space where a music similarity function that incorporates some of the cultural information may be calculated.

  11. A Model-Based Approach to Constructing Music Similarity Functions

    Science.gov (United States)

    West, Kris; Lamere, Paul

    2006-12-01

    Several authors have presented systems that estimate the audio similarity of two pieces of music through the calculation of a distance metric, such as the Euclidean distance, between spectral features calculated from the audio, related to the timbre or pitch of the signal. These features can be augmented with other, temporally or rhythmically based features such as zero-crossing rates, beat histograms, or fluctuation patterns to form a more well-rounded music similarity function. It is our contention that perceptual or cultural labels, such as the genre, style, or emotion of the music, are also very important features in the perception of music. These labels help to define complex regions of similarity within the available feature spaces. We demonstrate a machine-learning-based approach to the construction of a similarity metric, which uses this contextual information to project the calculated features into an intermediate space where a music similarity function that incorporates some of the cultural information may be calculated.

  12. Calculating the knowledge-based similarity of functional groups using crystallographic data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watson, Paul; Willett, Peter; Gillet, Valerie J.; Verdonk, Marcel L.

    2001-09-01

    A knowledge-based method for calculating the similarity of functional groups is described and validated. The method is based on experimental information derived from small molecule crystal structures. These data are used in the form of scatterplots that show the likelihood of a non-bonded interaction being formed between functional group A (the `central group') and functional group B (the `contact group' or `probe'). The scatterplots are converted into three-dimensional maps that show the propensity of the probe at different positions around the central group. Here we describe how to calculate the similarity of a pair of central groups based on these maps. The similarity method is validated using bioisosteric functional group pairs identified in the Bioster database and Relibase. The Bioster database is a critical compilation of thousands of bioisosteric molecule pairs, including drugs, enzyme inhibitors and agrochemicals. Relibase is an object-oriented database containing structural data about protein-ligand interactions. The distributions of the similarities of the bioisosteric functional group pairs are compared with similarities for all the possible pairs in IsoStar, and are found to be significantly different. Enrichment factors are also calculated showing the similarity method is statistically significantly better than random in predicting bioisosteric functional group pairs.

  13. Comparative mapping reveals similar linkage of functional genes to ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    genes between O. sativa and B. napus may have consistent function and control similar traits, which may be ..... acea chromosomes reveals islands of conserved organization. ... 1998 Conserved structure and function of the Arabidopsis flow-.

  14. How similar are nut-cracking and stone-flaking? A functional approach to percussive technology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bril, Blandine; Parry, Ross; Dietrich, Gilles

    2015-11-19

    Various authors have suggested similarities between tool use in early hominins and chimpanzees. This has been particularly evident in studies of nut-cracking which is considered to be the most complex skill exhibited by wild apes, and has also been interpreted as a precursor of more complex stone-flaking abilities. It has been argued that there is no major qualitative difference between what the chimpanzee does when he cracks a nut and what early hominins did when they detached a flake from a core. In this paper, similarities and differences between skills involved in stone-flaking and nut-cracking are explored through an experimental protocol with human subjects performing both tasks. We suggest that a 'functional' approach to percussive action, based on the distinction between functional parameters that characterize each task and parameters that characterize the agent's actions and movements, is a fruitful method for understanding those constraints which need to be mastered to perform each task successfully, and subsequently, the nature of skill involved in both tasks. © 2015 The Author(s).

  15. Predicting the performance of fingerprint similarity searching.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vogt, Martin; Bajorath, Jürgen

    2011-01-01

    Fingerprints are bit string representations of molecular structure that typically encode structural fragments, topological features, or pharmacophore patterns. Various fingerprint designs are utilized in virtual screening and their search performance essentially depends on three parameters: the nature of the fingerprint, the active compounds serving as reference molecules, and the composition of the screening database. It is of considerable interest and practical relevance to predict the performance of fingerprint similarity searching. A quantitative assessment of the potential that a fingerprint search might successfully retrieve active compounds, if available in the screening database, would substantially help to select the type of fingerprint most suitable for a given search problem. The method presented herein utilizes concepts from information theory to relate the fingerprint feature distributions of reference compounds to screening libraries. If these feature distributions do not sufficiently differ, active database compounds that are similar to reference molecules cannot be retrieved because they disappear in the "background." By quantifying the difference in feature distribution using the Kullback-Leibler divergence and relating the divergence to compound recovery rates obtained for different benchmark classes, fingerprint search performance can be quantitatively predicted.

  16. A new measure for functional similarity of gene products based on Gene Ontology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lengauer Thomas

    2006-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Gene Ontology (GO is a standard vocabulary of functional terms and allows for coherent annotation of gene products. These annotations provide a basis for new methods that compare gene products regarding their molecular function and biological role. Results We present a new method for comparing sets of GO terms and for assessing the functional similarity of gene products. The method relies on two semantic similarity measures; simRel and funSim. One measure (simRel is applied in the comparison of the biological processes found in different groups of organisms. The other measure (funSim is used to find functionally related gene products within the same or between different genomes. Results indicate that the method, in addition to being in good agreement with established sequence similarity approaches, also provides a means for the identification of functionally related proteins independent of evolutionary relationships. The method is also applied to estimating functional similarity between all proteins in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and to visualizing the molecular function space of yeast in a map of the functional space. A similar approach is used to visualize the functional relationships between protein families. Conclusion The approach enables the comparison of the underlying molecular biology of different taxonomic groups and provides a new comparative genomics tool identifying functionally related gene products independent of homology. The proposed map of the functional space provides a new global view on the functional relationships between gene products or protein families.

  17. A path-based measurement for human miRNA functional similarities using miRNA-disease associations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ding, Pingjian; Luo, Jiawei; Xiao, Qiu; Chen, Xiangtao

    2016-09-01

    Compared with the sequence and expression similarity, miRNA functional similarity is so important for biology researches and many applications such as miRNA clustering, miRNA function prediction, miRNA synergism identification and disease miRNA prioritization. However, the existing methods always utilized the predicted miRNA target which has high false positive and false negative to calculate the miRNA functional similarity. Meanwhile, it is difficult to achieve high reliability of miRNA functional similarity with miRNA-disease associations. Therefore, it is increasingly needed to improve the measurement of miRNA functional similarity. In this study, we develop a novel path-based calculation method of miRNA functional similarity based on miRNA-disease associations, called MFSP. Compared with other methods, our method obtains higher average functional similarity of intra-family and intra-cluster selected groups. Meanwhile, the lower average functional similarity of inter-family and inter-cluster miRNA pair is obtained. In addition, the smaller p-value is achieved, while applying Wilcoxon rank-sum test and Kruskal-Wallis test to different miRNA groups. The relationship between miRNA functional similarity and other information sources is exhibited. Furthermore, the constructed miRNA functional network based on MFSP is a scale-free and small-world network. Moreover, the higher AUC for miRNA-disease prediction indicates the ability of MFSP uncovering miRNA functional similarity.

  18. Identifying Similarities in Cognitive Subtest Functional Requirements: An Empirical Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frisby, Craig L.; Parkin, Jason R.

    2007-01-01

    In the cognitive test interpretation literature, a Rational/Intuitive, Indirect Empirical, or Combined approach is typically used to construct conceptual taxonomies of the functional (behavioral) similarities between subtests. To address shortcomings of these approaches, the functional requirements for 49 subtests from six individually…

  19. Quality assessment of protein model-structures based on structural and functional similarities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Konopka, Bogumil M; Nebel, Jean-Christophe; Kotulska, Malgorzata

    2012-09-21

    Experimental determination of protein 3D structures is expensive, time consuming and sometimes impossible. A gap between number of protein structures deposited in the World Wide Protein Data Bank and the number of sequenced proteins constantly broadens. Computational modeling is deemed to be one of the ways to deal with the problem. Although protein 3D structure prediction is a difficult task, many tools are available. These tools can model it from a sequence or partial structural information, e.g. contact maps. Consequently, biologists have the ability to generate automatically a putative 3D structure model of any protein. However, the main issue becomes evaluation of the model quality, which is one of the most important challenges of structural biology. GOBA--Gene Ontology-Based Assessment is a novel Protein Model Quality Assessment Program. It estimates the compatibility between a model-structure and its expected function. GOBA is based on the assumption that a high quality model is expected to be structurally similar to proteins functionally similar to the prediction target. Whereas DALI is used to measure structure similarity, protein functional similarity is quantified using standardized and hierarchical description of proteins provided by Gene Ontology combined with Wang's algorithm for calculating semantic similarity. Two approaches are proposed to express the quality of protein model-structures. One is a single model quality assessment method, the other is its modification, which provides a relative measure of model quality. Exhaustive evaluation is performed on data sets of model-structures submitted to the CASP8 and CASP9 contests. The validation shows that the method is able to discriminate between good and bad model-structures. The best of tested GOBA scores achieved 0.74 and 0.8 as a mean Pearson correlation to the observed quality of models in our CASP8 and CASP9-based validation sets. GOBA also obtained the best result for two targets of CASP8, and

  20. Gender Similarities in Math Performance from Middle School through High School

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scafidi, Tony; Bui, Khanh

    2010-01-01

    Using data from 10 states, Hyde, Lindberg, Linn, Ellis, and Williams (2008) found gender similarities in performance on standardized math tests. The present study attempted to replicate this finding with national data and to extend it by examining whether gender similarities in math performance are moderated by race, socioeconomic status, or math…

  1. Analytical and functional similarity of Amgen biosimilar ABP 215 to bevacizumab.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seo, Neungseon; Polozova, Alla; Zhang, Mingxuan; Yates, Zachary; Cao, Shawn; Li, Huimin; Kuhns, Scott; Maher, Gwendolyn; McBride, Helen J; Liu, Jennifer

    ABP 215 is a biosimilar product to bevacizumab. Bevacizumab acts by binding to vascular endothelial growth factor A, inhibiting endothelial cell proliferation and new blood vessel formation, thereby leading to tumor vasculature normalization. The ABP 215 analytical similarity assessment was designed to assess the structural and functional similarity of ABP 215 and bevacizumab sourced from both the United States (US) and the European Union (EU). Similarity assessment was also made between the US- and EU-sourced bevacizumab to assess the similarity between the two products. The physicochemical properties and structural similarity of ABP 215 and bevacizumab were characterized using sensitive state-of-the-art analytical techniques capable of detecting small differences in product attributes. ABP 215 has the same amino acid sequence and exhibits similar post-translational modification profiles compared to bevacizumab. The functional similarity assessment employed orthogonal assays designed to interrogate all expected biological activities, including those known to affect the mechanisms of action for ABP 215 and bevacizumab. More than 20 batches of bevacizumab (US) and bevacizumab (EU), and 13 batches of ABP 215 representing unique drug substance lots were assessed for similarity. The large dataset allows meaningful comparisons and garners confidence in the overall conclusion for the analytical similarity assessment of ABP 215 to both US- and EU-sourced bevacizumab. The structural and purity attributes, and biological properties of ABP 215 are demonstrated to be highly similar to those of bevacizumab.

  2. Computational prediction of drug-drug interactions based on drugs functional similarities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferdousi, Reza; Safdari, Reza; Omidi, Yadollah

    2017-06-01

    Therapeutic activities of drugs are often influenced by co-administration of drugs that may cause inevitable drug-drug interactions (DDIs) and inadvertent side effects. Prediction and identification of DDIs are extremely vital for the patient safety and success of treatment modalities. A number of computational methods have been employed for the prediction of DDIs based on drugs structures and/or functions. Here, we report on a computational method for DDIs prediction based on functional similarity of drugs. The model was set based on key biological elements including carriers, transporters, enzymes and targets (CTET). The model was applied for 2189 approved drugs. For each drug, all the associated CTETs were collected, and the corresponding binary vectors were constructed to determine the DDIs. Various similarity measures were conducted to detect DDIs. Of the examined similarity methods, the inner product-based similarity measures (IPSMs) were found to provide improved prediction values. Altogether, 2,394,766 potential drug pairs interactions were studied. The model was able to predict over 250,000 unknown potential DDIs. Upon our findings, we propose the current method as a robust, yet simple and fast, universal in silico approach for identification of DDIs. We envision that this proposed method can be used as a practical technique for the detection of possible DDIs based on the functional similarities of drugs. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  3. Demonstration of Functional Similarity of Proposed Biosimilar ABP 501 to Adalimumab.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Velayudhan, Jyoti; Chen, Yuh-Feng; Rohrbach, Amanda; Pastula, Christina; Maher, Gwen; Thomas, Heather; Brown, Ryan; Born, Teresa L

    2016-08-01

    Due to the complex molecular structure and proprietary manufacturing processes of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), differences in structure and function may be expected during development of biosimilar mAbs. Important regulatory requirements for approval of biosimilar products involve comprehensive assessments of any potential differences between proposed biosimilars and reference mAbs, including differences in all known mechanisms of action, using sensitive and relevant methods. Any identified structural differences should not result in differences in biofunctional or clinical activity. A comprehensive assessment comparing the Amgen biosimilar candidate ABP 501 with FDA-licensed adalimumab (adalimumab [US]) and EU-authorized adalimumab (adalimumab [EU]) was conducted to demonstrate similarity in biofunctional activity. The functional similarity assessment included testing of binding kinetics to soluble tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) and relative binding to transmembrane TNFα. The neutralization of TNFα-induced caspase activation, TNFα- and lymphotoxin-α (LTα)-induced chemokine production, and cytotoxicity was also tested. Binding to Fc-gamma receptors FcγRIa, FcγRIIa (131H), FcγRIIIa (158V and 158F), and neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn) was compared with the reference mAbs, as was antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity and complement-dependent cytotoxicity. The data demonstrate that ABP 501 is similar to both adalimumab (US) and adalimumab (EU) with respect to evaluated biofunctional activities. Similarity in biofunctional activity is a critical component of the totality of evidence required for demonstration of biosimilarity. The functional similarity demonstrated for ABP 501 comprehensively assesses the known mechanisms of action of adalimumab, supporting the conclusion that ABP 501, adalimumab (US), and adalimumab (EU) are likely to be clinically similar.

  4. Self-similar structure in the distribution and density of the partition function zeros

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huang, M.-C.; Luo, Y.-P.; Liaw, T.-M.

    2003-01-01

    Based on the knowledge of the partition function zeros for the cell-decorated triangular Ising model, we analyze the similar structures contained in the distribution pattern and density function of the zeros. The two own the same symmetries, and the arising of the similar structure in the road toward the infinite decoration-level is exhibited explicitly. The distinct features of the formation of the self-similar structure revealed from this model may be quite general

  5. SVM-Prot 2016: A Web-Server for Machine Learning Prediction of Protein Functional Families from Sequence Irrespective of Similarity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Ying Hong; Xu, Jing Yu; Tao, Lin; Li, Xiao Feng; Li, Shuang; Zeng, Xian; Chen, Shang Ying; Zhang, Peng; Qin, Chu; Zhang, Cheng; Chen, Zhe; Zhu, Feng; Chen, Yu Zong

    2016-01-01

    Knowledge of protein function is important for biological, medical and therapeutic studies, but many proteins are still unknown in function. There is a need for more improved functional prediction methods. Our SVM-Prot web-server employed a machine learning method for predicting protein functional families from protein sequences irrespective of similarity, which complemented those similarity-based and other methods in predicting diverse classes of proteins including the distantly-related proteins and homologous proteins of different functions. Since its publication in 2003, we made major improvements to SVM-Prot with (1) expanded coverage from 54 to 192 functional families, (2) more diverse protein descriptors protein representation, (3) improved predictive performances due to the use of more enriched training datasets and more variety of protein descriptors, (4) newly integrated BLAST analysis option for assessing proteins in the SVM-Prot predicted functional families that were similar in sequence to a query protein, and (5) newly added batch submission option for supporting the classification of multiple proteins. Moreover, 2 more machine learning approaches, K nearest neighbor and probabilistic neural networks, were added for facilitating collective assessment of protein functions by multiple methods. SVM-Prot can be accessed at http://bidd2.nus.edu.sg/cgi-bin/svmprot/svmprot.cgi.

  6. δ-Similar Elimination to Enhance Search Performance of Multiobjective Evolutionary Algorithms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aguirre, Hernán; Sato, Masahiko; Tanaka, Kiyoshi

    In this paper, we propose δ-similar elimination to improve the search performance of multiobjective evolutionary algorithms in combinatorial optimization problems. This method eliminates similar individuals in objective space to fairly distribute selection among the different regions of the instantaneous Pareto front. We investigate four eliminating methods analyzing their effects using NSGA-II. In addition, we compare the search performance of NSGA-II enhanced by our method and NSGA-II enhanced by controlled elitism.

  7. Centrifugal fans: Similarity, scaling laws, and fan performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sardar, Asad Mohammad

    Centrifugal fans are rotodynamic machines used for moving air continuously against moderate pressures through ventilation and air conditioning systems. There are five major topics presented in this thesis: (1) analysis of the fan scaling laws and consequences of dynamic similarity on modelling; (2) detailed flow visualization studies (in water) covering the flow path starting at the fan blade exit to the evaporator core of an actual HVAC fan scroll-diffuser module; (3) mean velocity and turbulence intensity measurements (flow field studies) at the inlet and outlet of large scale blower; (4) fan installation effects on overall fan performance and evaluation of fan testing methods; (5) two point coherence and spectral measurements conducted on an actual HVAC fan module for flow structure identification of possible aeroacoustic noise sources. A major objective of the study was to identity flow structures within the HVAC module that are responsible for noise and in particular "rumble noise" generation. Possible mechanisms for the generation of flow induced noise in the automotive HVAC fan module are also investigated. It is demonstrated that different modes of HVAC operation represent very different internal flow characteristics. This has implications on both fan HVAC airflow performance and noise characteristics. It is demonstrated from principles of complete dynamic similarity that fan scaling laws require that Reynolds, number matching is a necessary condition for developing scale model fans or fan test facilities. The physical basis for the fan scaling laws derived was established from both pure dimensional analysis and also from the fundamental equations of fluid motion. Fan performance was measured in a three times scale model (large scale blower) in air of an actual forward curved automotive HVAC blower. Different fan testing methods (based on AMCA fan test codes) were compared on the basis of static pressure measurements. Also, the flow through an actual HVAC

  8. Functional Performance and Associations between Performance Tests and Neurological Assessment Differ in Men and Women with Parkinson's Disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Medijainen, Kadri; Pääsuke, Mati; Lukmann, Aet; Taba, Pille

    2015-01-01

    Neurological assessment of a patient with Parkinson's disease (PD) is expected to reflect upon functional performance. As women are known to report more limitations even for same observed functional performance level, present study was designed to examine whether associations between neurological assessments and functional performance differ across genders. 14 men and 14 women with PD participated. Functional performance was assessed by measuring walking speeds on 10-meter walk test (10MWT) and by performing timed-up-and-go-test (TUG). Neurological assessment included Hoehn and Yahr Scale (HY), Movement Disorders Society Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS), Schwab and England Activities of Daily Living Scale (S-E), and Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE). In women with PD, Kendall's tau-b correlation analyses revealed significant correlations between functional performance tests and neurological assessment measures, with the exception in MMSE. No corresponding associations were found for men, although they demonstrated better functional performance, as expected. Men in similar clinical stage of the PD perform better on functional tests than women. Disease severity reflects upon functional performance differently in men and women with PD. Results indicate that when interpreting the assessment results of both functional performance and neurological assessment tests, the gender of the patient should be taken into consideration.

  9. Similarity Digest Search: A Survey and Comparative Analysis of Strategies to Perform Known File Filtering Using Approximate Matching

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vitor Hugo Galhardo Moia

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Digital forensics is a branch of Computer Science aiming at investigating and analyzing electronic devices in the search for crime evidence. There are several ways to perform this search. Known File Filter (KFF is one of them, where a list of interest objects is used to reduce/separate data for analysis. Holding a database of hashes of such objects, the examiner performs lookups for matches against the target device. However, due to limitations over hash functions (inability to detect similar objects, new methods have been designed, called approximate matching. This sort of function has interesting characteristics for KFF investigations but suffers mainly from high costs when dealing with huge data sets, as the search is usually done by brute force. To mitigate this problem, strategies have been developed to better perform lookups. In this paper, we present the state of the art of similarity digest search strategies, along with a detailed comparison involving several aspects, as time complexity, memory requirement, and search precision. Our results show that none of the approaches address at least these main aspects. Finally, we discuss future directions and present requirements for a new strategy aiming to fulfill current limitations.

  10. Environmental niche models for riverine desert fishes and their similarity according to phylogeny and functionality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Whitney, James E.; Whittier, Joanna B.; Paukert, Craig P.

    2017-01-01

    Environmental filtering and competitive exclusion are hypotheses frequently invoked in explaining species' environmental niches (i.e., geographic distributions). A key assumption in both hypotheses is that the functional niche (i.e., species traits) governs the environmental niche, but few studies have rigorously evaluated this assumption. Furthermore, phylogeny could be associated with these hypotheses if it is predictive of functional niche similarity via phylogenetic signal or convergent evolution, or of environmental niche similarity through phylogenetic attraction or repulsion. The objectives of this study were to investigate relationships between environmental niches, functional niches, and phylogenies of fishes of the Upper (UCRB) and Lower (LCRB) Colorado River Basins of southwestern North America. We predicted that functionally similar species would have similar environmental niches (i.e., environmental filtering) and that closely related species would be functionally similar (i.e., phylogenetic signal) and possess similar environmental niches (i.e., phylogenetic attraction). Environmental niches were quantified using environmental niche modeling, and functional similarity was determined using functional trait data. Nonnatives in the UCRB provided the only support for environmental filtering, which resulted from several warmwater nonnatives having dam number as a common predictor of their distributions, whereas several cool- and coldwater nonnatives shared mean annual air temperature as an important distributional predictor. Phylogenetic signal was supported for both natives and nonnatives in both basins. Lastly, phylogenetic attraction was only supported for native fishes in the LCRB and for nonnative fishes in the UCRB. Our results indicated that functional similarity was heavily influenced by evolutionary history, but that phylogenetic relationships and functional traits may not always predict the environmental distribution of species. However, the

  11. BSSF: a fingerprint based ultrafast binding site similarity search and function analysis server

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiang Hualiang

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Genome sequencing and post-genomics projects such as structural genomics are extending the frontier of the study of sequence-structure-function relationship of genes and their products. Although many sequence/structure-based methods have been devised with the aim of deciphering this delicate relationship, there still remain large gaps in this fundamental problem, which continuously drives researchers to develop novel methods to extract relevant information from sequences and structures and to infer the functions of newly identified genes by genomics technology. Results Here we present an ultrafast method, named BSSF(Binding Site Similarity & Function, which enables researchers to conduct similarity searches in a comprehensive three-dimensional binding site database extracted from PDB structures. This method utilizes a fingerprint representation of the binding site and a validated statistical Z-score function scheme to judge the similarity between the query and database items, even if their similarities are only constrained in a sub-pocket. This fingerprint based similarity measurement was also validated on a known binding site dataset by comparing with geometric hashing, which is a standard 3D similarity method. The comparison clearly demonstrated the utility of this ultrafast method. After conducting the database searching, the hit list is further analyzed to provide basic statistical information about the occurrences of Gene Ontology terms and Enzyme Commission numbers, which may benefit researchers by helping them to design further experiments to study the query proteins. Conclusions This ultrafast web-based system will not only help researchers interested in drug design and structural genomics to identify similar binding sites, but also assist them by providing further analysis of hit list from database searching.

  12. High-functioning autism patients share similar but more severe impairments in verbal theory of mind than schizophrenia patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tin, L N W; Lui, S S Y; Ho, K K Y; Hung, K S Y; Wang, Y; Yeung, H K H; Wong, T Y; Lam, S M; Chan, R C K; Cheung, E F C

    2018-06-01

    Evidence suggests that autism and schizophrenia share similarities in genetic, neuropsychological and behavioural aspects. Although both disorders are associated with theory of mind (ToM) impairments, a few studies have directly compared ToM between autism patients and schizophrenia patients. This study aimed to investigate to what extent high-functioning autism patients and schizophrenia patients share and differ in ToM performance. Thirty high-functioning autism patients, 30 schizophrenia patients and 30 healthy individuals were recruited. Participants were matched in age, gender and estimated intelligence quotient. The verbal-based Faux Pas Task and the visual-based Yoni Task were utilised to examine first- and higher-order, affective and cognitive ToM. The task/item difficulty of two paradigms was examined using mixed model analyses of variance (ANOVAs). Multiple ANOVAs and mixed model ANOVAs were used to examine group differences in ToM. The Faux Pas Task was more difficult than the Yoni Task. High-functioning autism patients showed more severely impaired verbal-based ToM in the Faux Pas Task, but shared similar visual-based ToM impairments in the Yoni Task with schizophrenia patients. The findings that individuals with high-functioning autism shared similar but more severe impairments in verbal ToM than individuals with schizophrenia support the autism-schizophrenia continuum. The finding that verbal-based but not visual-based ToM was more impaired in high-functioning autism patients than schizophrenia patients could be attributable to the varied task/item difficulty between the two paradigms.

  13. Functional Performance and Associations between Performance Tests and Neurological Assessment Differ in Men and Women with Parkinson’s Disease

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kadri Medijainen

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Background. Neurological assessment of a patient with Parkinson’s disease (PD is expected to reflect upon functional performance. As women are known to report more limitations even for same observed functional performance level, present study was designed to examine whether associations between neurological assessments and functional performance differ across genders. Methods. 14 men and 14 women with PD participated. Functional performance was assessed by measuring walking speeds on 10-meter walk test (10MWT and by performing timed-up-and-go-test (TUG. Neurological assessment included Hoehn and Yahr Scale (HY, Movement Disorders Society Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS, Schwab and England Activities of Daily Living Scale (S-E, and Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE. Results. In women with PD, Kendall’s tau-b correlation analyses revealed significant correlations between functional performance tests and neurological assessment measures, with the exception in MMSE. No corresponding associations were found for men, although they demonstrated better functional performance, as expected. Conclusion. Men in similar clinical stage of the PD perform better on functional tests than women. Disease severity reflects upon functional performance differently in men and women with PD. Results indicate that when interpreting the assessment results of both functional performance and neurological assessment tests, the gender of the patient should be taken into consideration.

  14. IntNetLncSim: an integrative network analysis method to infer human lncRNA functional similarity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheng, Liang; Shi, Hongbo; Wang, Zhenzhen; Hu, Yang; Yang, Haixiu; Zhou, Chen; Sun, Jie; Zhou, Meng

    2016-07-26

    Increasing evidence indicated that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) were involved in various biological processes and complex diseases by communicating with mRNAs/miRNAs each other. Exploiting interactions between lncRNAs and mRNA/miRNAs to lncRNA functional similarity (LFS) is an effective method to explore function of lncRNAs and predict novel lncRNA-disease associations. In this article, we proposed an integrative framework, IntNetLncSim, to infer LFS by modeling the information flow in an integrated network that comprises both lncRNA-related transcriptional and post-transcriptional information. The performance of IntNetLncSim was evaluated by investigating the relationship of LFS with the similarity of lncRNA-related mRNA sets (LmRSets) and miRNA sets (LmiRSets). As a result, LFS by IntNetLncSim was significant positively correlated with the LmRSet (Pearson correlation γ2=0.8424) and LmiRSet (Pearson correlation γ2=0.2601). Particularly, the performance of IntNetLncSim is superior to several previous methods. In the case of applying the LFS to identify novel lncRNA-disease relationships, we achieved an area under the ROC curve (0.7300) in experimentally verified lncRNA-disease associations based on leave-one-out cross-validation. Furthermore, highly-ranked lncRNA-disease associations confirmed by literature mining demonstrated the excellent performance of IntNetLncSim. Finally, a web-accessible system was provided for querying LFS and potential lncRNA-disease relationships: http://www.bio-bigdata.com/IntNetLncSim.

  15. Does morphological convergence imply functional similarity? A test using the evolution of quadrupedalism in ornithischian dinosaurs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maidment, Susannah C R; Barrett, Paul M

    2012-09-22

    Convergent morphologies are thought to indicate functional similarity, arising because of a limited number of evolutionary or developmental pathways. Extant taxa displaying convergent morphologies are used as analogues to assess function in extinct taxa with similar characteristics. However, functional studies of extant taxa have shown that functional similarity can arise from differing morphologies, calling into question the paradigm that form and function are closely related. We test the hypothesis that convergent skeletal morphology indicates functional similarity in the fossil record using ornithischian dinosaurs. The rare transition from bipedality to quadrupedality occurred at least three times independently in this clade, resulting in a suite of convergent osteological characteristics. We use homology rather than analogy to provide an independent line of evidence about function, reconstructing soft tissues using the extant phylogenetic bracket and applying biomechanical concepts to produce qualitative assessments of muscle leverage. We also optimize character changes to investigate the sequence of character acquisition. Different lineages of quadrupedal ornithischian dinosaur stood and walked differently from each other, falsifying the hypothesis that osteological convergence indicates functional similarity. The acquisition of features correlated with quadrupedalism generally occurs in the same order in each clade, suggesting underlying developmental mechanisms that act as evolutionary constraints.

  16. Evaluation of GO-based functional similarity measures using S. cerevisiae protein interaction and expression profile data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Du LinFang

    2008-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Researchers interested in analysing the expression patterns of functionally related genes usually hope to improve the accuracy of their results beyond the boundaries of currently available experimental data. Gene ontology (GO data provides a novel way to measure the functional relationship between gene products. Many approaches have been reported for calculating the similarities between two GO terms, known as semantic similarities. However, biologists are more interested in the relationship between gene products than in the scores linking the GO terms. To highlight the relationships among genes, recent studies have focused on functional similarities. Results In this study, we evaluated five functional similarity methods using both protein-protein interaction (PPI and expression data of S. cerevisiae. The receiver operating characteristics (ROC and correlation coefficient analysis of these methods showed that the maximum method outperformed the other methods. Statistical comparison of multiple- and single-term annotated proteins in biological process ontology indicated that genes with multiple GO terms may be more reliable for separating true positives from noise. Conclusion This study demonstrated the reliability of current approaches that elevate the similarity of GO terms to the similarity of proteins. Suggestions for further improvements in functional similarity analysis are also provided.

  17. Multidrug transporters from bacteria to man : similarities in structure and function

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Veen, HW; Konings, WN

    Organisms ranging from bacteria to man possess transmembrane transporters which confer resistance to toxic corn pounds. Underlining their biological significance, prokaryotic and eukaryotic multidrug transport proteins are very similar in structure and function. Therefore, a study of the factors

  18. On the Use of Gene Ontology Annotations to Assess Functional Similarity among Orthologs and Paralogs: A Short Report.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paul D Thomas

    Full Text Available A recent paper (Nehrt et al., PLoS Comput. Biol. 7:e1002073, 2011 has proposed a metric for the "functional similarity" between two genes that uses only the Gene Ontology (GO annotations directly derived from published experimental results. Applying this metric, the authors concluded that paralogous genes within the mouse genome or the human genome are more functionally similar on average than orthologous genes between these genomes, an unexpected result with broad implications if true. We suggest, based on both theoretical and empirical considerations, that this proposed metric should not be interpreted as a functional similarity, and therefore cannot be used to support any conclusions about the "ortholog conjecture" (or, more properly, the "ortholog functional conservation hypothesis". First, we reexamine the case studies presented by Nehrt et al. as examples of orthologs with divergent functions, and come to a very different conclusion: they actually exemplify how GO annotations for orthologous genes provide complementary information about conserved biological functions. We then show that there is a global ascertainment bias in the experiment-based GO annotations for human and mouse genes: particular types of experiments tend to be performed in different model organisms. We conclude that the reported statistical differences in annotations between pairs of orthologous genes do not reflect differences in biological function, but rather complementarity in experimental approaches. Our results underscore two general considerations for researchers proposing novel types of analysis based on the GO: 1 that GO annotations are often incomplete, potentially in a biased manner, and subject to an "open world assumption" (absence of an annotation does not imply absence of a function, and 2 that conclusions drawn from a novel, large-scale GO analysis should whenever possible be supported by careful, in-depth examination of examples, to help ensure the

  19. Renewing the Respect for Similarity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shimon eEdelman

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available In psychology, the concept of similarity has traditionally evoked a mixture of respect, stemmingfrom its ubiquity and intuitive appeal, and concern, due to its dependence on the framing of the problemat hand and on its context. We argue for a renewed focus on similarity as an explanatory concept, bysurveying established results and new developments in the theory and methods of similarity-preservingassociative lookup and dimensionality reduction — critical components of many cognitive functions, aswell as of intelligent data management in computer vision. We focus in particular on the growing familyof algorithms that support associative memory by performing hashing that respects local similarity, andon the uses of similarity in representing structured objects and scenes. Insofar as these similarity-basedideas and methods are useful in cognitive modeling and in AI applications, they should be included inthe core conceptual toolkit of computational neuroscience.

  20. Pulmonary Function Affects Language Performance in Aging

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lewina O Lee

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available Background Good pulmonary function (PF is associated with preservation of cognitive performance, primarily of executive functions, in aging (Albert et al., 1995; Chyou et al., 1996; Emery, Finkel, & Pedersen, 2012; Yohannes & Gindo, 2013. The contribution of PF to older adults’ language abilities, however, has never been explored, to our knowledge. We addressed this gap by examining the effects of PF on older adults’ language functions, as measured by naming and sentence processing accuracy. We predicted similar effects as found for executive functions, given the positive associations between executive functions and sentence processing in aging (e.g., Goral et al., 2011. Methods Data were collected from 190 healthy adults aged 55 to 84 years (M = 71.1, SD = 8.1, with no history of neurological or psychiatric disorders. Procedure PF was measured prior to language testing. Measures included forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1 and forced vital capacity (FVC. Language functions were assessed through performance on computer-administered lexical retrieval and sentence processing tasks. Sentence processing was measured using two auditory comprehension tasks: one, of embedded sentences (ES, the other, of sentences with multiple negatives (MN. Lexical retrieval was measured using the Boston Naming Test (BNT and Action Naming Test (ANT. Performance was scored for percent accuracy. Additionally, lexical retrieval was evaluated with a phonemic fluency task (FAS, which also taps executive function abilities. Statistical Analyses Multiple regression was used to examine the association between pulmonary and language functions, adjusting for age, education, gender, history of respiratory illness, current level of physical activities, and current and past smoking. Results Better PF was associated with better sentence processing and lexical retrieval on naming tasks, but not with phonemic fluency, after adjusting for covariates. Higher FVC was

  1. Epistemic Similarities between Students' Scientific and Supernatural Beliefs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shtulman, Andrew

    2013-01-01

    The evidential support for scientific claims is quantitatively and qualitatively superior to that for supernatural claims, yet students may not appreciate this difference in light of the fact that both types of claims are learned in similar ways (through testimony rather than firsthand observation) and perform similar functions (explaining…

  2. [The effects of 6 months' multimodal training on functional performance, strength, endurance, and body mass index of older individuals. Are the benefits of training similar among women and men?].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gudlaugsson, Janus; Aspelund, Thor; Gudnason, Vilmundur; Olafsdottir, Anna Sigridur; Jonsson, Palmi V; Arngrimsson, Sigurbjorn Arni; Johannsson, Erlingur

    2013-07-01

    Good functional performance in elderly people greatly improves their changes of independence and well-being. Conversely, bad functional performance can impair their capability of managing the activities of daily life.. The main goal of this study was to investigate the effects of a 6-months' multimodal training intervention on the physical performance of males and females, possible gender differences and the outcome 6 and 12 months after its completion. This study examined 71-90 year old healthy seniors (n=117) participating in the AGES Reykjavik Study. It was a randomized and controlled cross-over trial, conducted in three 6-months' phases (time-points). After enrollment and baseline assessments, the study group was divided in two. Group 1 received 6-months' training while group 2 served as a control. In the second 6 months' phase, group 1 received no formal training while group 2 did. In the third phase, neither group received training. The groups' physical conditions were assessed after each phase. After 6-months' training, 32% improvement was seen in physical activity among males (ptraining results. Both sexes retained long-term effects of the training on physical performance and dynamic balance for at least 12 months. Multimodal training intervention has positive effects on physical performance in older individuals, the sexes respond similarly to the training and retain achieved improvement for at least 12 months. The research indicates that moderate and systemic training for this age group could be a part of conventional health service for this age group.

  3. SemFunSim: a new method for measuring disease similarity by integrating semantic and gene functional association.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liang Cheng

    Full Text Available Measuring similarity between diseases plays an important role in disease-related molecular function research. Functional associations between disease-related genes and semantic associations between diseases are often used to identify pairs of similar diseases from different perspectives. Currently, it is still a challenge to exploit both of them to calculate disease similarity. Therefore, a new method (SemFunSim that integrates semantic and functional association is proposed to address the issue.SemFunSim is designed as follows. First of all, FunSim (Functional similarity is proposed to calculate disease similarity using disease-related gene sets in a weighted network of human gene function. Next, SemSim (Semantic Similarity is devised to calculate disease similarity using the relationship between two diseases from Disease Ontology. Finally, FunSim and SemSim are integrated to measure disease similarity.The high average AUC (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (96.37% shows that SemFunSim achieves a high true positive rate and a low false positive rate. 79 of the top 100 pairs of similar diseases identified by SemFunSim are annotated in the Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD as being targeted by the same therapeutic compounds, while other methods we compared could identify 35 or less such pairs among the top 100. Moreover, when using our method on diseases without annotated compounds in CTD, we could confirm many of our predicted candidate compounds from literature. This indicates that SemFunSim is an effective method for drug repositioning.

  4. Functional similarities between the dictyostelium protein AprA and the human protein dipeptidyl-peptidase IV.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herlihy, Sarah E; Tang, Yu; Phillips, Jonathan E; Gomer, Richard H

    2017-03-01

    Autocrine proliferation repressor protein A (AprA) is a protein secreted by Dictyostelium discoideum cells. Although there is very little sequence similarity between AprA and any human protein, AprA has a predicted structural similarity to the human protein dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPPIV). AprA is a chemorepellent for Dictyostelium cells, and DPPIV is a chemorepellent for neutrophils. This led us to investigate if AprA and DPPIV have additional functional similarities. We find that like AprA, DPPIV is a chemorepellent for, and inhibits the proliferation of, D. discoideum cells, and that AprA binds some DPPIV binding partners such as fibronectin. Conversely, rAprA has DPPIV-like protease activity. These results indicate a functional similarity between two eukaryotic chemorepellent proteins with very little sequence similarity, and emphasize the usefulness of using a predicted protein structure to search a protein structure database, in addition to searching for proteins with similar sequences. © 2016 The Protein Society.

  5. Functional similarities between the dictyostelium protein AprA and the human protein dipeptidyl‐peptidase IV

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herlihy, Sarah E.; Tang, Yu; Phillips, Jonathan E.

    2017-01-01

    Abstract Autocrine proliferation repressor protein A (AprA) is a protein secreted by Dictyostelium discoideum cells. Although there is very little sequence similarity between AprA and any human protein, AprA has a predicted structural similarity to the human protein dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPPIV). AprA is a chemorepellent for Dictyostelium cells, and DPPIV is a chemorepellent for neutrophils. This led us to investigate if AprA and DPPIV have additional functional similarities. We find that like AprA, DPPIV is a chemorepellent for, and inhibits the proliferation of, D. discoideum cells, and that AprA binds some DPPIV binding partners such as fibronectin. Conversely, rAprA has DPPIV‐like protease activity. These results indicate a functional similarity between two eukaryotic chemorepellent proteins with very little sequence similarity, and emphasize the usefulness of using a predicted protein structure to search a protein structure database, in addition to searching for proteins with similar sequences. PMID:28028841

  6. Technological Similarity, Post-acquisition R&D Reorganization, and Innovation Performance in Horizontal Acquisition

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Colombo, Massimo G.; Rabbiosi, Larissa

    2014-01-01

    This paper aims to disentangle the mechanisms through which technological similarity between acquiring and acquired firms influences innovation in horizontal acquisitions. We develop a theoretical model that links technological similarity to: (i) two key aspects of post-acquisition reorganization...... of acquired R&D operations – the rationalization of the R&D operations and the replacement of the R&D top manager, and (ii) two intermediate effects that are closely associated with the post-acquisition innovation performance of the combined firm – improvements in R&D productivity and disruptions in R......&D personnel. We rely on PLS techniques to test our theoretical model using detailed information on 31 horizontal acquisitions in high- and medium-tech industries. Our results indicate that in horizontal acquisitions, technological similarity negatively affects post-acquisition innovation performance...

  7. Coupled-cluster representation of Green function employing modified spectral resolutions of similarity transformed Hamiltonians

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kowalski, K., E-mail: karol.kowalski@pnnl.gov; Bhaskaran-Nair, K.; Shelton, W. A. [William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Battelle, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, K8-91, P.O. Box 999, Richland, Washington 99352 (United States)

    2014-09-07

    In this paper we discuss a new formalism for producing an analytic coupled-cluster (CC) Green's function for an N-electron system by shifting the poles of similarity transformed Hamiltonians represented in N − 1 and N + 1 electron Hilbert spaces. Simple criteria are derived for the states in N − 1 and N + 1 electron spaces that are then corrected in the spectral resolution of the corresponding matrix representations of the similarity transformed Hamiltonian. The accurate description of excited state processes within a Green's function formalism would be of significant importance to a number of scientific communities ranging from physics and chemistry to engineering and the biological sciences. This is because the Green's function methodology provides a direct path for not only calculating properties whose underlying origins come from coupled many-body interactions but also provides a straightforward path for calculating electron transport, response, and correlation functions that allows for a direct link with experiment. As a special case of this general formulation, we discuss the application of this technique for Green's function defined by the CC with singles and doubles representation of the ground-state wave function.

  8. Coupled-cluster representation of Green function employing modified spectral resolutions of similarity transformed Hamiltonians

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kowalski, K. [William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Battelle, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, K8-91, P.O. Box 999, Richland, Washington 99352, USA; Bhaskaran-Nair, K. [William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Battelle, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, K8-91, P.O. Box 999, Richland, Washington 99352, USA; Shelton, W. A. [William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Battelle, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, K8-91, P.O. Box 999, Richland, Washington 99352, USA

    2014-09-07

    In this paper we discuss a new formalism for producing an analytic coupled-cluster (CC) Green's function for an N-electron system by shifting the poles of similarity transformed Hamiltonians represented in N - 1 and N + 1 electron Hilbert spaces. Simple criteria are derived for the states in N - 1 and N + 1 electron spaces that are then corrected in the spectral resolution of the corresponding matrix representations of the similarity transformed Hamiltonian. The accurate description of excited state processes within a Green's function formalism would be of significant importance to a number of scientific communities ranging from physics and chemistry to engineering and the biological sciences. This is because the Green's function methodology provides a direct path for not only calculating properties whose underlying origins come from coupled many-body interactions but also provides a straightforward path for calculating electron transport, response, and correlation functions that allows for a direct link with experiment. Finally, as a special case of this general formulation, we discuss the application of this technique for Green's function defined by the CC with singles and doubles representation of the ground-state wave function.

  9. Coupled-cluster representation of Green function employing modified spectral resolutions of similarity transformed Hamiltonians

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kowalski, K.; Bhaskaran-Nair, K.; Shelton, W. A.

    2014-01-01

    In this paper we discuss a new formalism for producing an analytic coupled-cluster (CC) Green's function for an N-electron system by shifting the poles of similarity transformed Hamiltonians represented in N − 1 and N + 1 electron Hilbert spaces. Simple criteria are derived for the states in N − 1 and N + 1 electron spaces that are then corrected in the spectral resolution of the corresponding matrix representations of the similarity transformed Hamiltonian. The accurate description of excited state processes within a Green's function formalism would be of significant importance to a number of scientific communities ranging from physics and chemistry to engineering and the biological sciences. This is because the Green's function methodology provides a direct path for not only calculating properties whose underlying origins come from coupled many-body interactions but also provides a straightforward path for calculating electron transport, response, and correlation functions that allows for a direct link with experiment. As a special case of this general formulation, we discuss the application of this technique for Green's function defined by the CC with singles and doubles representation of the ground-state wave function

  10. Bioengineered human IAS reconstructs with functional and molecular properties similar to intact IAS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Jagmohan

    2012-01-01

    Because of its critical importance in rectoanal incontinence, we determined the feasibility to reconstruct internal anal sphincter (IAS) from human IAS smooth muscle cells (SMCs) with functional and molecular attributes similar to the intact sphincter. The reconstructs were developed using SMCs from the circular smooth muscle layer of the human IAS, grown in smooth muscle differentiation media under sterile conditions in Sylgard-coated tissue culture plates with central Sylgard posts. The basal tone in the reconstructs and its changes were recorded following 0 Ca2+, KCl, bethanechol, isoproterenol, protein kinase C (PKC) activator phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate, and Rho kinase (ROCK) and PKC inhibitors Y-27632 and Gö-6850, respectively. Western blot (WB), immunofluorescence (IF), and immunocytochemical (IC) analyses were also performed. The reconstructs developed spontaneous tone (0.68 ± 0.26 mN). Bethanechol (a muscarinic agonist) and K+ depolarization produced contraction, whereas isoproterenol (β-adrenoceptor agonist) and Y-27632 produced a concentration-dependent decrease in the tone. Maximal decrease in basal tone with Y-27632 and Gö-6850 (each 10−5 M) was 80.45 ± 3.29 and 17.76 ± 3.50%, respectively. WB data with the IAS constructs′ SMCs revealed higher levels of RhoA/ROCK, protein kinase C-potentiated inhibitor or inhibitory phosphoprotein for myosin phosphatase (CPI-17), phospho-CPI-17, MYPT1, and 20-kDa myosin light chain vs. rectal smooth muscle. WB, IF, and IC studies of original SMCs and redispersed from the reconstructs for the relative distribution of different signal transduction proteins confirmed the feasibility of reconstruction of IAS with functional properties similar to intact IAS and demonstrated the development of myogenic tone with critical dependence on RhoA/ROCK. We conclude that it is feasible to bioengineer IAS constructs using human IAS SMCs that behave like intact IAS. PMID:22790596

  11. Resisting distraction and response inhibition trigger similar enhancements of future performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bissett, Patrick G; Grant, Lauren D; Weissman, Daniel H

    2017-10-01

    Resisting distraction and response inhibition are crucial aspects of cognitive control. Interestingly, each of these abilities transiently improves just after it is utilized. Competing views differ, however, as to whether utilizing either of these abilities (e.g., resisting distraction) enhances future performance involving the other ability (e.g., response inhibition). To distinguish between these views, we combined a Stroop-like task that requires resisting distraction with a restraint variant of the stop-signal task that requires response inhibition. We observed similar sequential-trial effects (i.e., performance enhancements) following trials in which participants (a) resisted distraction (i.e., incongruent go trials) and (b) inhibited a response (i.e., congruent stop trials). First, the congruency effect in go trials, which indexes overall distractibility, was smaller after both incongruent go trials and congruent stop trials than it was after congruent go trials. Second, stop failures were less frequent after both incongruent go trials and congruent stop trials than after congruent go trials. A control experiment ruled out the possibility that perceptual conflict or surprise engendered by occasional stop signals triggers sequential-trial effects independent of stopping. Thus, our findings support a novel, integrated view in which resisting distraction and response inhibition trigger similar sequential enhancements of future performance. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  12. The Impact of Protein Structure and Sequence Similarity on the Accuracy of Machine-Learning Scoring Functions for Binding Affinity Prediction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Hongjian; Peng, Jiangjun; Leung, Yee; Leung, Kwong-Sak; Wong, Man-Hon; Lu, Gang; Ballester, Pedro J

    2018-03-14

    It has recently been claimed that the outstanding performance of machine-learning scoring functions (SFs) is exclusively due to the presence of training complexes with highly similar proteins to those in the test set. Here, we revisit this question using 24 similarity-based training sets, a widely used test set, and four SFs. Three of these SFs employ machine learning instead of the classical linear regression approach of the fourth SF (X-Score which has the best test set performance out of 16 classical SFs). We have found that random forest (RF)-based RF-Score-v3 outperforms X-Score even when 68% of the most similar proteins are removed from the training set. In addition, unlike X-Score, RF-Score-v3 is able to keep learning with an increasing training set size, becoming substantially more predictive than X-Score when the full 1105 complexes are used for training. These results show that machine-learning SFs owe a substantial part of their performance to training on complexes with dissimilar proteins to those in the test set, against what has been previously concluded using the same data. Given that a growing amount of structural and interaction data will be available from academic and industrial sources, this performance gap between machine-learning SFs and classical SFs is expected to enlarge in the future.

  13. Psychosocial functioning and stress-processing of children with asthma in the school context: differences and similarities with children without asthma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Röder, Irma; Kroonenberg, Pieter M; Boekaerts, Monique

    2003-01-01

    To characterize children with asthma by their stress processing at school and their psychosocial functioning. To establish similarities and differences between children with and without asthma. Participants were 79 children with asthma and 359 children without asthma (ages 8-12). Children completed questionnaires on stress processing and their well-being at school. Parents filled in a questionnaire on behavior problems, and teachers provided data on school performance and absence rate. Children with asthma had higher scores on absence rates, teacher-rated well-being, internalizing behavior problems, occurrence of "rejection by peers," and use of aggression when coping with "problems with school work." However, using discriminant analyses, the groups could not reliably be distinguished from one another by these variables. Children with asthma are similar to other children with regard to their stress processing at school and their psychosocial functioning. The value of conducting multivariate analysis over several univariate tests is underscored.

  14. Cultural differences and similarities between German and Chinese internal audit functions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marc Eulerich

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available Cultural differences influence the behavior of companies, including management styles, relationships with employees, stake- and shareholders or social responsibility. Obviously, the concept of corporate governance encompassing the Internal Audit Function (IAF is seen differently in different cultures. Therefore, conformance with the globally effective “International Professional Practice Framework” (IPPF for Internal Auditors presuming a culture-free, completely homogeneous IAF with uniform working standards worldwide, seems more than difficult. The focus of this study is to compare the IAF characteristics in China and Germany, based on data from Chief Audit Executives (CAE from both countries. We identify more (culturally influenced differences than similarities between the German and Chinese IAF, although there can be found a number of fundamental political, economic and cultural similarities between both countries.

  15. Self-similar factor approximants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gluzman, S.; Yukalov, V.I.; Sornette, D.

    2003-01-01

    The problem of reconstructing functions from their asymptotic expansions in powers of a small variable is addressed by deriving an improved type of approximants. The derivation is based on the self-similar approximation theory, which presents the passage from one approximant to another as the motion realized by a dynamical system with the property of group self-similarity. The derived approximants, because of their form, are called self-similar factor approximants. These complement the obtained earlier self-similar exponential approximants and self-similar root approximants. The specific feature of self-similar factor approximants is that their control functions, providing convergence of the computational algorithm, are completely defined from the accuracy-through-order conditions. These approximants contain the Pade approximants as a particular case, and in some limit they can be reduced to the self-similar exponential approximants previously introduced by two of us. It is proved that the self-similar factor approximants are able to reproduce exactly a wide class of functions, which include a variety of nonalgebraic functions. For other functions, not pertaining to this exactly reproducible class, the factor approximants provide very accurate approximations, whose accuracy surpasses significantly that of the most accurate Pade approximants. This is illustrated by a number of examples showing the generality and accuracy of the factor approximants even when conventional techniques meet serious difficulties

  16. Performance of wave function and density functional methods for water hydrogen bond spin-spin coupling constants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    García de la Vega, J M; Omar, S; San Fabián, J

    2017-04-01

    Spin-spin coupling constants in water monomer and dimer have been calculated using several wave function and density functional-based methods. CCSD, MCSCF, and SOPPA wave functions methods yield similar results, specially when an additive approach is used with the MCSCF. Several functionals have been used to analyze their performance with the Jacob's ladder and a set of functionals with different HF exchange were tested. Functionals with large HF exchange appropriately predict 1 J O H , 2 J H H and 2h J O O couplings, while 1h J O H is better calculated with functionals that include a reduced fraction of HF exchange. Accurate functionals for 1 J O H and 2 J H H have been tested in a tetramer water model. The hydrogen bond effects on these intramolecular couplings are additive when they are calculated by SOPPA(CCSD) wave function and DFT methods. Graphical Abstract Evaluation of the additive effect of the hydrogen bond on spin-spin coupling constants of water using WF and DFT methods.

  17. High-performance permanent magnet brushless motors with balanced concentrated windings and similar slot and pole numbers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stumberger, Bojan; Stumberger, Gorazd; Hadziselimovic, Miralem; Hamler, Anton; Trlep, Mladen; Gorican, Viktor; Jesenik, Marko

    2006-01-01

    The paper presents a comparison between the performances of exterior-rotor permanent magnet brushless motors with distributed windings and the performances of exterior-rotor permanent magnet brushless motors with concentrated windings. Finite element method analysis is employed to determine the performance of each motor. It is shown that motors with concentrated windings and similar slot and pole numbers exhibit similar or better performances than motors with distributed windings for brushless AC (BLAC) operation mode and brushless DC (BLDC) operation mode as well

  18. Trajectory similarity join in spatial networks

    KAUST Repository

    Shang, Shuo

    2017-09-07

    The matching of similar pairs of objects, called similarity join, is fundamental functionality in data management. We consider the case of trajectory similarity join (TS-Join), where the objects are trajectories of vehicles moving in road networks. Thus, given two sets of trajectories and a threshold θ, the TS-Join returns all pairs of trajectories from the two sets with similarity above θ. This join targets applications such as trajectory near-duplicate detection, data cleaning, ridesharing recommendation, and traffic congestion prediction. With these applications in mind, we provide a purposeful definition of similarity. To enable efficient TS-Join processing on large sets of trajectories, we develop search space pruning techniques and take into account the parallel processing capabilities of modern processors. Specifically, we present a two-phase divide-and-conquer algorithm. For each trajectory, the algorithm first finds similar trajectories. Then it merges the results to achieve a final result. The algorithm exploits an upper bound on the spatiotemporal similarity and a heuristic scheduling strategy for search space pruning. The algorithm\\'s per-trajectory searches are independent of each other and can be performed in parallel, and the merging has constant cost. An empirical study with real data offers insight in the performance of the algorithm and demonstrates that is capable of outperforming a well-designed baseline algorithm by an order of magnitude.

  19. Neutrosophic Refined Similarity Measure Based on Cosine Function

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Said Broumi

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, the cosine similarity measure of neutrosophic refined (multi- sets is proposed and its properties are studied. The concept of this cosine similarity measure of neutrosophic refined sets is the extension of improved cosine similarity measure of single valued neutrosophic. Finally, using this cosine similarity measure of neutrosophic refined set, the application of medical diagnosis is presented.

  20. Towards Personalized Medicine: Leveraging Patient Similarity and Drug Similarity Analytics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Ping; Wang, Fei; Hu, Jianying; Sorrentino, Robert

    2014-01-01

    The rapid adoption of electronic health records (EHR) provides a comprehensive source for exploratory and predictive analytic to support clinical decision-making. In this paper, we investigate how to utilize EHR to tailor treatments to individual patients based on their likelihood to respond to a therapy. We construct a heterogeneous graph which includes two domains (patients and drugs) and encodes three relationships (patient similarity, drug similarity, and patient-drug prior associations). We describe a novel approach for performing a label propagation procedure to spread the label information representing the effectiveness of different drugs for different patients over this heterogeneous graph. The proposed method has been applied on a real-world EHR dataset to help identify personalized treatments for hypercholesterolemia. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach and suggest that the combination of appropriate patient similarity and drug similarity analytics could lead to actionable insights for personalized medicine. Particularly, by leveraging drug similarity in combination with patient similarity, our method could perform well even on new or rarely used drugs for which there are few records of known past performance. PMID:25717413

  1. Distance and Density Similarity Based Enhanced k-NN Classifier for Improving Fault Diagnosis Performance of Bearings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sharif Uddin

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available An enhanced k-nearest neighbor (k-NN classification algorithm is presented, which uses a density based similarity measure in addition to a distance based similarity measure to improve the diagnostic performance in bearing fault diagnosis. Due to its use of distance based similarity measure alone, the classification accuracy of traditional k-NN deteriorates in case of overlapping samples and outliers and is highly susceptible to the neighborhood size, k. This study addresses these limitations by proposing the use of both distance and density based measures of similarity between training and test samples. The proposed k-NN classifier is used to enhance the diagnostic performance of a bearing fault diagnosis scheme, which classifies different fault conditions based upon hybrid feature vectors extracted from acoustic emission (AE signals. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed scheme, which uses the enhanced k-NN classifier, yields better diagnostic performance and is more robust to variations in the neighborhood size, k.

  2. Effects of species' similarity and dominance on the functional and phylogenetic structure of a plant meta-community.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chalmandrier, L; Münkemüller, T; Lavergne, S; Thuiller, W

    2015-01-01

    Different assembly processes drive the spatial structure of meta-communities (beta-diversity). Recently, functional and phylogenetic diversities have been suggested as indicators of these assembly processes. Assuming that diversity is a good proxy for niche overlap, high beta-diversity along environmental gradients should be the result of environmental filtering while low beta-diversity should stem from competitive interactions. So far, studies trying to disentangle the relative importance of these assembly processes have provided mixed results. One reason for this may be that these studies often rely on a single measure of diversity and thus implicitly make a choice on how they account for species relative abundances and how species similarities are captured by functional traits or phylogeny. Here, we tested the effect of gradually scaling the importance of dominance (the weight given to dominant vs. rare species) and species similarity (the weight given to small vs. large similarities) on resulting beta-diversity patterns of an alpine plant meta-community. To this end, we combined recent extensions of the Hill numbers framework with Pagel's phylogenetic tree transformation approach. We included functional (based on the leaf-height-seed spectrum) and phylogenetic facets of beta-diversity in our analysis and explicitly accounted for effects of environmental and spatial covariates. We found that functional beta-diversity, was high when the same weight was given to dominant vs. rare species and to large vs. small species' similarities. In contrast, phylogenetic beta-diversity was low when greater weight was given to dominant species and small species' similarities. Those results suggested that different environments along the gradients filtered different species according to their functional traits, while, the same competitive lineages dominated communities across the gradients. Our results highlight that functional vs. phylogenetic facets, presence-absence vs

  3. Investigating Correlation between Protein Sequence Similarity and Semantic Similarity Using Gene Ontology Annotations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ikram, Najmul; Qadir, Muhammad Abdul; Afzal, Muhammad Tanvir

    2018-01-01

    Sequence similarity is a commonly used measure to compare proteins. With the increasing use of ontologies, semantic (function) similarity is getting importance. The correlation between these measures has been applied in the evaluation of new semantic similarity methods, and in protein function prediction. In this research, we investigate the relationship between the two similarity methods. The results suggest absence of a strong correlation between sequence and semantic similarities. There is a large number of proteins with low sequence similarity and high semantic similarity. We observe that Pearson's correlation coefficient is not sufficient to explain the nature of this relationship. Interestingly, the term semantic similarity values above 0 and below 1 do not seem to play a role in improving the correlation. That is, the correlation coefficient depends only on the number of common GO terms in proteins under comparison, and the semantic similarity measurement method does not influence it. Semantic similarity and sequence similarity have a distinct behavior. These findings are of significant effect for future works on protein comparison, and will help understand the semantic similarity between proteins in a better way.

  4. Treadmill Exercise with Increased Body Loading Enhances Post Flight Functional Performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bloomberg, J. J.; Batson, C. D.; Buxton, R. E.; Feiveson, A. H.; Kofman, I. S.; Laurie, S.; Lee, S. M. C.; Miller, C. A.; Mulavara, A. P.; Peters, B. T.; hide

    2014-01-01

    The goals of the Functional Task Test (FTT) study were to determine the effects of space flight on functional tests that are representative of high priority exploration mission tasks and to identify the key underlying physiological factors that contribute to decrements in performance. Ultimately this information will be used to assess performance risks and inform the design of countermeasures for exploration class missions. We have previously shown that for Shuttle, ISS and bed rest subjects functional tasks requiring a greater demand for dynamic control of postural equilibrium (i.e. fall recovery, seat egress/obstacle avoidance during walking, object translation, jump down) showed the greatest decrement in performance. Functional tests with reduced requirements for postural stability (i.e. hatch opening, ladder climb, manual manipulation of objects and tool use) showed little reduction in performance. These changes in functional performance were paralleled by similar decrements in sensorimotor tests designed to specifically assess postural equilibrium and dynamic gait control. The bed rest analog allows us to investigate the impact of axial body unloading in isolation on both functional tasks and on the underlying physiological factors that lead to decrements in performance and then compare them with the results obtained in our space flight study. These results indicate that body support unloading experienced during space flight plays a central role in postflight alteration of functional task performance. Given the importance of body-support loading we set out to determine if there is a relationship between the load experienced during inflight treadmill exercise (produced by a harness and bungee system) and postflight functional performance. ISS crewmembers (n=13) were tested using the FTT protocol before and after 6 months in space. Crewmembers were tested three times before flight, and on 1, 6, and 30 days after landing. To determine how differences in body

  5. The effect of target and non-target similarity on neural classification performance: A boost from confidence

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amar R Marathe

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Brain computer interaction (BCI technologies have proven effective in utilizing single-trial classification algorithms to detect target images in rapid serial visualization presentation tasks. While many factors contribute to the accuracy of these algorithms, a critical aspect that is often overlooked concerns the feature similarity between target and non-target images. In most real-world environments there are likely to be many shared features between targets and non-targets resulting in similar neural activity between the two classes. It is unknown how current neural-based target classification algorithms perform when qualitatively similar target and non-target images are presented. This study address this question by comparing behavioral and neural classification performance across two conditions: first, when targets were the only infrequent stimulus presented amongst frequent background distracters; and second when targets were presented together with infrequent non-targets containing similar visual features to the targets. The resulting findings show that behavior is slower and less accurate when targets are presented together with similar non-targets; moreover, single-trial classification yielded high levels of misclassification when infrequent non-targets are included. Furthermore, we present an approach to mitigate the image misclassification. We use confidence measures to assess the quality of single-trial classification, and demonstrate that a system in which low confidence trials are reclassified through a secondary process can result in improved performance.

  6. Priming of disability and elderly stereotype in motor performance: similar or specific effects?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ginsberg, Frederik; Rohmer, Odile; Louvet, Eva

    2012-04-01

    In three experimental studies, the effects of priming participants with the disability stereotype were investigated with respect to their subsequent motor performance. Also explored were effects of activating two similar stereotypes, persons with a disability and elderly people. In Study 1, participants were primed with the disability stereotype versus with a neutral prime, and then asked to perform on a motor coordination task. In Studies 2 and 3, a third condition was introduced: priming participants with the elderly stereotype. Results indicated that priming participants with the disability stereotype altered their motor performance: they showed decreased manual dexterity and performed slower than the non-primed participants. Priming with the elderly stereotype decreased only performance speed. These findings underline that prime-to-behavior effects may depend on activation of specific stereotype content.

  7. Are intrinsic motivational factors of work associated with functional incapacity similarly regardless of the country?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Väänänen, A; Pahkin, K; Huuhtanen, P; Kivimäki, M; Vahtera, J; Theorell, T; Kalimo, R

    2005-10-01

    Many psychosocial models of wellbeing at work emphasise the role of intrinsic motivational factors such as job autonomy, job complexity, and innovativeness. However, little is known about whether the employees of multinational enterprises differ from country to country with regard to intrinsic motivational factors, and whether these factors are associated with wellbeing similarly in the different countries. The purpose of this study was to examine the level of intrinsic motivational factors and their impact on functional incapacity in different countries in a multinational corporation. In 2000, data were collected from a globally operating corporation with a questionnaire survey. The participants were 13 795 employees (response rate 59%; 56% under age 45; 80% men; 61% blue collar employees), who worked in similar industrial occupations in five countries (Canada, China, Finland, France, and Sweden). The Chinese employees reported higher autonomy and lower complexity at work than the employees from the other countries. After adjustment for age, sex, socioeconomic status, and physical work environment, job autonomy, and job complexity at work were associated with functional incapacity in most countries, whereas in China the impact was significantly stronger. In Finland and in China employees with low innovativeness at work were more prone to functional incapacity than corresponding employees in other countries. The level of intrinsic motivational factors varied between the Chinese employees and those in other countries. In line with theoretical notions, the relation between intrinsic motivational factors of work and functional incapacity followed a similar pattern in the different countries. However, these country specific results show that a culture specific approach to employee wellbeing should also be applied.

  8. A Multi-Model Stereo Similarity Function Based on Monogenic Signal Analysis in Poisson Scale Space

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jinjun Li

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available A stereo similarity function based on local multi-model monogenic image feature descriptors (LMFD is proposed to match interest points and estimate disparity map for stereo images. Local multi-model monogenic image features include local orientation and instantaneous phase of the gray monogenic signal, local color phase of the color monogenic signal, and local mean colors in the multiscale color monogenic signal framework. The gray monogenic signal, which is the extension of analytic signal to gray level image using Dirac operator and Laplace equation, consists of local amplitude, local orientation, and instantaneous phase of 2D image signal. The color monogenic signal is the extension of monogenic signal to color image based on Clifford algebras. The local color phase can be estimated by computing geometric product between the color monogenic signal and a unit reference vector in RGB color space. Experiment results on the synthetic and natural stereo images show the performance of the proposed approach.

  9. Effect of Functional diversity on Software Performance

    OpenAIRE

    Viswanatha Rao, Balajee

    2011-01-01

    For the past few decades, there has been numerous literature produced on functional diversity and performance. However, the relationship between functional diversity and performance in software industry is clearly not explained and results are found to be inconsistent. The main focus of this research is to explore the effects of functional diversity on software project performance by conducting a qualitative study. Four metrics were chosen from literature namely decision making, creativity an...

  10. Evolutionary conservatism and convergence both lead to striking similarity in ecology, morphology and performance across continents in frogs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moen, Daniel S; Irschick, Duncan J; Wiens, John J

    2013-12-22

    Many clades contain ecologically and phenotypically similar species across continents, yet the processes generating this similarity are largely unstudied, leaving fundamental questions unanswered. Is similarity in morphology and performance across assemblages caused by evolutionary convergence or by biogeographic dispersal of evolutionarily conserved ecotypes? Does convergence to new ecological conditions erase evidence of past adaptation? Here, we analyse ecology, morphology and performance in frog assemblages from three continents (Asia, Australia and South America), assessing the importance of dispersal and convergent evolution in explaining similarity across regions. We find three striking results. First, species using the same microhabitat type are highly similar in morphology and performance across both clades and continents. Second, some species on different continents owe their similarity to dispersal and evolutionary conservatism (rather than evolutionary convergence), even over vast temporal and spatial scales. Third, in one case, an ecologically specialized ancestor radiated into diverse ecotypes that have converged with those on other continents, largely erasing traces of past adaptation to their ancestral ecology. Overall, our study highlights the roles of both evolutionary conservatism and convergence in explaining similarity in species traits over large spatial and temporal scales and demonstrates a statistical framework for addressing these questions in other systems.

  11. Molecular similarity measures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maggiora, Gerald M; Shanmugasundaram, Veerabahu

    2011-01-01

    Molecular similarity is a pervasive concept in chemistry. It is essential to many aspects of chemical reasoning and analysis and is perhaps the fundamental assumption underlying medicinal chemistry. Dissimilarity, the complement of similarity, also plays a major role in a growing number of applications of molecular diversity in combinatorial chemistry, high-throughput screening, and related fields. How molecular information is represented, called the representation problem, is important to the type of molecular similarity analysis (MSA) that can be carried out in any given situation. In this work, four types of mathematical structure are used to represent molecular information: sets, graphs, vectors, and functions. Molecular similarity is a pairwise relationship that induces structure into sets of molecules, giving rise to the concept of chemical space. Although all three concepts - molecular similarity, molecular representation, and chemical space - are treated in this chapter, the emphasis is on molecular similarity measures. Similarity measures, also called similarity coefficients or indices, are functions that map pairs of compatible molecular representations that are of the same mathematical form into real numbers usually, but not always, lying on the unit interval. This chapter presents a somewhat pedagogical discussion of many types of molecular similarity measures, their strengths and limitations, and their relationship to one another. An expanded account of the material on chemical spaces presented in the first edition of this book is also provided. It includes a discussion of the topography of activity landscapes and the role that activity cliffs in these landscapes play in structure-activity studies.

  12. Fast Depiction Invariant Visual Similarity for Content Based Image Retrieval Based on Data-driven Visual Similarity using Linear Discriminant Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wihardi, Y.; Setiawan, W.; Nugraha, E.

    2018-01-01

    On this research we try to build CBIRS based on Learning Distance/Similarity Function using Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) and Histogram of Oriented Gradient (HoG) feature. Our method is invariant to depiction of image, such as similarity of image to image, sketch to image, and painting to image. LDA can decrease execution time compared to state of the art method, but it still needs an improvement in term of accuracy. Inaccuracy in our experiment happen because we did not perform sliding windows search and because of low number of negative samples as natural-world images.

  13. Unexpected functional similarities between gatekeeper tumour suppressor genes and proto-oncogenes revealed by systems biology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Yongzhong; Epstein, Richard J

    2011-05-01

    Familial tumor suppressor genes comprise two subgroups: caretaker genes (CTs) that repair DNA, and gatekeeper genes (GKs) that trigger cell death. Since GKs may also induce cell cycle delay and thus enhance cell survival by facilitating DNA repair, we hypothesized that the prosurvival phenotype of GKs could be selected during cancer progression, and we used a multivariable systems biology approach to test this. We performed multidimensional data analysis, non-negative matrix factorization and logistic regression to compare the features of GKs with those of their putative antagonists, the proto-oncogenes (POs), as well as with control groups of CTs and functionally unrelated congenital heart disease genes (HDs). GKs and POs closely resemble each other, but not CTs or HDs, in terms of gene structure (Pexpression level and breadth (Pimplied suggest a common functional attribute that is strongly negatively selected-that is, a shared phenotype that enhances cell survival. The counterintuitive finding of similar evolutionary pressures affecting GKs and POs raises an intriguing possibility: namely, that cancer microevolution is accelerated by an epistatic cascade in which upstream suppressor gene defects subvert the normal bifunctionality of wild-type GKs by constitutively shifting the phenotype away from apoptosis towards survival. If correct, this interpretation would explain the hitherto unexplained phenomenon of frequent wild-type GK (for example, p53) overexpression in tumors.

  14. A-DaGO-Fun: an adaptable Gene Ontology semantic similarity-based functional analysis tool.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mazandu, Gaston K; Chimusa, Emile R; Mbiyavanga, Mamana; Mulder, Nicola J

    2016-02-01

    Gene Ontology (GO) semantic similarity measures are being used for biological knowledge discovery based on GO annotations by integrating biological information contained in the GO structure into data analyses. To empower users to quickly compute, manipulate and explore these measures, we introduce A-DaGO-Fun (ADaptable Gene Ontology semantic similarity-based Functional analysis). It is a portable software package integrating all known GO information content-based semantic similarity measures and relevant biological applications associated with these measures. A-DaGO-Fun has the advantage not only of handling datasets from the current high-throughput genome-wide applications, but also allowing users to choose the most relevant semantic similarity approach for their biological applications and to adapt a given module to their needs. A-DaGO-Fun is freely available to the research community at http://web.cbio.uct.ac.za/ITGOM/adagofun. It is implemented in Linux using Python under free software (GNU General Public Licence). gmazandu@cbio.uct.ac.za or Nicola.Mulder@uct.ac.za Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  15. Earthworm coelomocyte extracellular traps: structural and functional similarities with neutrophil NETs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Homa, Joanna

    2018-03-01

    Invertebrate immunity is associated with natural mechanisms that include cellular and humoral elements, similar to those that play a role in vertebrate innate immune responses. Formation of extracellular traps (ETs) is a newly discovered mechanism to combat pathogens, operating not only in vertebrate leucocytes but also in invertebrate immune cells. The ET components include extracellular DNA (exDNA), antimicrobial proteins and histones. Formation of mammalian ETs depends on enzymes such as neutrophil elastase, myeloperoxidase, the citrullination of histones and protease activity. It was confirmed that coelomocytes-immunocompetent cells of the earthworm Eisenia andrei-are also able to release ETs in a protease-dependent manner, dependent or independent of the formation of reactive oxygen species and rearrangement of the cell cytoskeleton. Similar to vertebrate leukocytes (e.g., neutrophil), coelomocytes are responsible for many immune functions like phagocytosis, cytotoxicity and secretion of humoral factors. ETs formed by coelomocyte analogues to neutrophil ETs consist of exDNA, histone H3 and attached to these structures proteins, e.g., heat shock proteins HSP27. The latter fact confirms that mechanisms of ET release are conserved in evolution. The study on Annelida adds this animal group to the list of invertebrates capable of ET release, but most importantly provides insides into innate mechanisms of ET formation in lower animal taxa.

  16. Functional Performances of CuZnAl Shape Memory Alloy Open-Cell Foams

    Science.gov (United States)

    Biffi, C. A.; Casati, R.; Bassani, P.; Tuissi, A.

    2018-01-01

    Shape memory alloys (SMAs) with cellular structure offer a unique mixture of thermo-physical-mechanical properties. These characteristics can be tuned by changing the pore size and make the shape memory metallic foams very attractive for developing new devices for structural and functional applications. In this work, CuZnAl SMA foams were produced through the liquid infiltration of space holder method. In comparison, a conventional CuZn brass alloy was foamed trough the same method. Functional performances were studied on both bulk and foamed SMA specimens. Calorimetric response shows similar martensitic transformation (MT) below 0 °C. Compressive response of CuZnAl revealed that mechanical behavior is strongly affected by sample morphology and that damping capacity of metallic foam is increased above the MT temperatures. The shape memory effect was detected in the CuZnAl foams. The conventional brass shows a compressive response similar to that of the martensitic CuZnAl, in which plastic deformation accumulation occurs up to the cellular structure densification after few thermal cycles.

  17. Small-world organization of self-similar modules in functional brain networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sigman, Mariano; Gallos, Lazaros; Makse, Hernan

    2012-02-01

    The modular organization of the brain implies the parallel nature of brain computations. These modules have to remain functionally independent, but at the same time they need to be sufficiently connected to guarantee the unitary nature of brain perception. Small-world architectures have been suggested as probable structures explaining this behavior. However, there is intrinsic tension between shortcuts generating small-worlds and the persistence of modularity. In this talk, we study correlations between the activity in different brain areas. We suggest that the functional brain network formed by the percolation of strong links is highly modular. Contrary to the common view, modules are self-similar and therefore are very far from being small-world. Incorporating the weak ties to the network converts it into a small-world preserving an underlying backbone of well-defined modules. Weak ties are shown to follow a pattern that maximizes information transfer with minimal wiring costs. This architecture is reminiscent of the concept of weak-ties strength in social networks and provides a natural solution to the puzzle of efficient infomration flow in the highly modular structure of the brain.

  18. Web service discovery among large service pools utilising semantic similarity and clustering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Fuzan; Li, Minqiang; Wu, Harris; Xie, Lingli

    2017-03-01

    With the rapid development of electronic business, Web services have attracted much attention in recent years. Enterprises can combine individual Web services to provide new value-added services. An emerging challenge is the timely discovery of close matches to service requests among large service pools. In this study, we first define a new semantic similarity measure combining functional similarity and process similarity. We then present a service discovery mechanism that utilises the new semantic similarity measure for service matching. All the published Web services are pre-grouped into functional clusters prior to the matching process. For a user's service request, the discovery mechanism first identifies matching services clusters and then identifies the best matching Web services within these matching clusters. Experimental results show that the proposed semantic discovery mechanism performs better than a conventional lexical similarity-based mechanism.

  19. Expression Pattern Similarities Support the Prediction of Orthologs Retaining Common Functions after Gene Duplication Events1[OPEN

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haberer, Georg; Panda, Arup; Das Laha, Shayani; Ghosh, Tapas Chandra; Schäffner, Anton R.

    2016-01-01

    The identification of functionally equivalent, orthologous genes (functional orthologs) across genomes is necessary for accurate transfer of experimental knowledge from well-characterized organisms to others. This frequently relies on automated, coding sequence-based approaches such as OrthoMCL, Inparanoid, and KOG, which usually work well for one-to-one homologous states. However, this strategy does not reliably work for plants due to the occurrence of extensive gene/genome duplication. Frequently, for one query gene, multiple orthologous genes are predicted in the other genome, and it is not clear a priori from sequence comparison and similarity which one preserves the ancestral function. We have studied 11 organ-dependent and stress-induced gene expression patterns of 286 Arabidopsis lyrata duplicated gene groups and compared them with the respective Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) genes to predict putative expressologs and nonexpressologs based on gene expression similarity. Promoter sequence divergence as an additional tool to substantiate functional orthology only partially overlapped with expressolog classification. By cloning eight A. lyrata homologs and complementing them in the respective four Arabidopsis loss-of-function mutants, we experimentally proved that predicted expressologs are indeed functional orthologs, while nonexpressologs or nonfunctionalized orthologs are not. Our study demonstrates that even a small set of gene expression data in addition to sequence homologies are instrumental in the assignment of functional orthologs in the presence of multiple orthologs. PMID:27303025

  20. Parallel trajectory similarity joins in spatial networks

    KAUST Repository

    Shang, Shuo

    2018-04-04

    The matching of similar pairs of objects, called similarity join, is fundamental functionality in data management. We consider two cases of trajectory similarity joins (TS-Joins), including a threshold-based join (Tb-TS-Join) and a top-k TS-Join (k-TS-Join), where the objects are trajectories of vehicles moving in road networks. Given two sets of trajectories and a threshold θ, the Tb-TS-Join returns all pairs of trajectories from the two sets with similarity above θ. In contrast, the k-TS-Join does not take a threshold as a parameter, and it returns the top-k most similar trajectory pairs from the two sets. The TS-Joins target diverse applications such as trajectory near-duplicate detection, data cleaning, ridesharing recommendation, and traffic congestion prediction. With these applications in mind, we provide purposeful definitions of similarity. To enable efficient processing of the TS-Joins on large sets of trajectories, we develop search space pruning techniques and enable use of the parallel processing capabilities of modern processors. Specifically, we present a two-phase divide-and-conquer search framework that lays the foundation for the algorithms for the Tb-TS-Join and the k-TS-Join that rely on different pruning techniques to achieve efficiency. For each trajectory, the algorithms first find similar trajectories. Then they merge the results to obtain the final result. The algorithms for the two joins exploit different upper and lower bounds on the spatiotemporal trajectory similarity and different heuristic scheduling strategies for search space pruning. Their per-trajectory searches are independent of each other and can be performed in parallel, and the mergings have constant cost. An empirical study with real data offers insight in the performance of the algorithms and demonstrates that they are capable of outperforming well-designed baseline algorithms by an order of magnitude.

  1. Parallel trajectory similarity joins in spatial networks

    KAUST Repository

    Shang, Shuo; Chen, Lisi; Wei, Zhewei; Jensen, Christian S.; Zheng, Kai; Kalnis, Panos

    2018-01-01

    The matching of similar pairs of objects, called similarity join, is fundamental functionality in data management. We consider two cases of trajectory similarity joins (TS-Joins), including a threshold-based join (Tb-TS-Join) and a top-k TS-Join (k-TS-Join), where the objects are trajectories of vehicles moving in road networks. Given two sets of trajectories and a threshold θ, the Tb-TS-Join returns all pairs of trajectories from the two sets with similarity above θ. In contrast, the k-TS-Join does not take a threshold as a parameter, and it returns the top-k most similar trajectory pairs from the two sets. The TS-Joins target diverse applications such as trajectory near-duplicate detection, data cleaning, ridesharing recommendation, and traffic congestion prediction. With these applications in mind, we provide purposeful definitions of similarity. To enable efficient processing of the TS-Joins on large sets of trajectories, we develop search space pruning techniques and enable use of the parallel processing capabilities of modern processors. Specifically, we present a two-phase divide-and-conquer search framework that lays the foundation for the algorithms for the Tb-TS-Join and the k-TS-Join that rely on different pruning techniques to achieve efficiency. For each trajectory, the algorithms first find similar trajectories. Then they merge the results to obtain the final result. The algorithms for the two joins exploit different upper and lower bounds on the spatiotemporal trajectory similarity and different heuristic scheduling strategies for search space pruning. Their per-trajectory searches are independent of each other and can be performed in parallel, and the mergings have constant cost. An empirical study with real data offers insight in the performance of the algorithms and demonstrates that they are capable of outperforming well-designed baseline algorithms by an order of magnitude.

  2. Relationship between physical performance and self-reported function in healthy individuals across the lifespan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baldwin, Jennifer N; McKay, Marnee J; Hiller, Claire E; Moloney, Niamh; Nightingale, Elizabeth J; Burns, Joshua

    2017-08-01

    Functional outcome measures in clinical trials of musculoskeletal conditions need to be meaningful to individuals. To investigate the relationship between physical performance and self/proxy-reported function in 1000 healthy children and adults. Cross-sectional observational study (1000 Norms Project). One thousand males and females aged 3-101 years, healthy by self-report and without major physical disability, were recruited. Twelve performance-based tests were analysed: vertical and long jump, two hand dexterity tests, four balance tests, stepping reaction time, 30-second chair stand, timed up-and-down stairs, and six-minute walk. Self/proxy-reported function was assessed using the Infant-Toddler Quality of Life questionnaire, Child Health Questionnaire, Assessment of Quality of Life (AQoL)-6D Adolescent, AQoL-8D, International Physical Activity Questionnaire and work ability question. Bivariate and multivariate correlational analyses were constructed for infants (3-4y), children (5-10y), adolescents (11-17y), adults (18-59y) and older adults (60+). Socio-demographic characteristics were similar to the Australian population. Among infants/children, greater jump and sit-to-stand performance correlated with higher proxy-reported function (p  0.05). Greater jump, dexterity, balance, reaction time, sit-to-stand, stair-climbing and six-minute walk performance correlated with higher self-reported function in adults (r = -0.097 to.231; p physical measures which could form the basis of age-appropriate functional scales for clinical trials of musculoskeletal conditions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Functional similarities between pigeon 'milk' and mammalian milk: induction of immune gene expression and modification of the microbiota.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Meagan J Gillespie

    Full Text Available Pigeon 'milk' and mammalian milk have functional similarities in terms of nutritional benefit and delivery of immunoglobulins to the young. Mammalian milk has been clearly shown to aid in the development of the immune system and microbiota of the young, but similar effects have not yet been attributed to pigeon 'milk'. Therefore, using a chicken model, we investigated the effect of pigeon 'milk' on immune gene expression in the Gut Associated Lymphoid Tissue (GALT and on the composition of the caecal microbiota. Chickens fed pigeon 'milk' had a faster rate of growth and a better feed conversion ratio than control chickens. There was significantly enhanced expression of immune-related gene pathways and interferon-stimulated genes in the GALT of pigeon 'milk'-fed chickens. These pathways include the innate immune response, regulation of cytokine production and regulation of B cell activation and proliferation. The caecal microbiota of pigeon 'milk'-fed chickens was significantly more diverse than control chickens, and appears to be affected by prebiotics in pigeon 'milk', as well as being directly seeded by bacteria present in pigeon 'milk'. Our results demonstrate that pigeon 'milk' has further modes of action which make it functionally similar to mammalian milk. We hypothesise that pigeon 'lactation' and mammalian lactation evolved independently but resulted in similarly functional products.

  4. Phoneme Similarity and Confusability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bailey, T.M.; Hahn, U.

    2005-01-01

    Similarity between component speech sounds influences language processing in numerous ways. Explanation and detailed prediction of linguistic performance consequently requires an understanding of these basic similarities. The research reported in this paper contrasts two broad classes of approach to the issue of phoneme similarity-theoretically…

  5. Mnesic performance and executive functions in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Isabel Introzzi

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available The Episodic Memory (EM and the Executive Functions (EF are cognitive areas that are affected in patients with diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis (MS. Nowadays there exists scarce works destined to explore the infl uence of the EF on measures of mnesic performance in MS. For this reason, we analyze the effect of the EF on the performance in a set of memory measures. We worked with a clinical group (n=36 and with a control group (n=36 compared by age and educational level. The results show that the clinical group obtained significantly low average values in all the mnesic indexes (with exception of recognition and in all the executive measures. All the executive indexes showed significant associations with some of the indexes of mnesic performance. These findings suggest that the problems in the episodic memory in EM patients could be analyzed as the manifestation of a global disorder that could be similar to the one that involves the EF.

  6. Performance of a Brazilian sample on the Portuguese translation of the BNI Screen for Higher Cerebral Functions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prigatano, George P; Souza, Lígia M N; Braga, Lucia W

    2018-03-01

    The Barrow Neurological Institute (BNI) Screen for Higher Cerebral Functions (BNIS) has been translated into several languages and found useful in evaluating multiple domains of cognitive and affective dysfunction, particularly in neuro-rehabilitation settings. Normative data from countries with high literacy rates have reported strikingly similar mean level of performance scores on this test, with age typically correlating higher with total score performance than education. In the present study, we obtain convenience sample normative data from a native Brazilian population on a Portuguese translation of the BNIS (i.e., BNIS-PT). The BNIS was translated into Portuguese by two native speaking Portuguese neuropsychologists who were also fluent in English. It was then administered to 201 normally functioning native Brazilian individuals who varied considerably in age and formal educational training. The mean BNIS total score was similar to what previous studies reported, but primarily in younger adults with at least 12 years of formal education. In this Brazilian sample, the correlation of educational level and BNIS total score was r = .68, p < .001. The correlation of age and BNIS total score was r = -.36, p < .001. This is the opposite pattern to that observed in previous standardization studies. The strong correlation of education with performance in various subtests was observed in all age groups (ages ranging from 15 to 85 years). This standardization study provides guidelines for calculating expected average performance levels on the BNIS-PT for Brazilian individuals with varying degrees of age and education. Educational level positively correlated with test performance on the BNIS-PT and was repeatedly observed to overshadow the effects of age, suggesting its important role in the development of higher cerebral functions in multiple domains in a Brazilian sample of normally functioning individuals.

  7. Gender similarities and differences.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hyde, Janet Shibley

    2014-01-01

    Whether men and women are fundamentally different or similar has been debated for more than a century. This review summarizes major theories designed to explain gender differences: evolutionary theories, cognitive social learning theory, sociocultural theory, and expectancy-value theory. The gender similarities hypothesis raises the possibility of theorizing gender similarities. Statistical methods for the analysis of gender differences and similarities are reviewed, including effect sizes, meta-analysis, taxometric analysis, and equivalence testing. Then, relying mainly on evidence from meta-analyses, gender differences are reviewed in cognitive performance (e.g., math performance), personality and social behaviors (e.g., temperament, emotions, aggression, and leadership), and psychological well-being. The evidence on gender differences in variance is summarized. The final sections explore applications of intersectionality and directions for future research.

  8. Self-similar gravitational clustering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Efstathiou, G.; Fall, S.M.; Hogan, C.

    1979-01-01

    The evolution of gravitational clustering is considered and several new scaling relations are derived for the multiplicity function. These include generalizations of the Press-Schechter theory to different densities and cosmological parameters. The theory is then tested against multiplicity function and correlation function estimates for a series of 1000-body experiments. The results are consistent with the theory and show some dependence on initial conditions and cosmological density parameter. The statistical significance of the results, however, is fairly low because of several small number effects in the experiments. There is no evidence for a non-linear bootstrap effect or a dependence of the multiplicity function on the internal dynamics of condensed groups. Empirical estimates of the multiplicity function by Gott and Turner have a feature near the characteristic luminosity predicted by the theory. The scaling relations allow the inference from estimates of the galaxy luminosity function that galaxies must have suffered considerable dissipation if they originally formed from a self-similar hierarchy. A method is also developed for relating the multiplicity function to similar measures of clustering, such as those of Bhavsar, for the distribution of galaxies on the sky. These are shown to depend on the luminosity function in a complicated way. (author)

  9. Associating Physical Activity Levels with Motor Performance and Physical Function in Childhood Survivors of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hung, Stanley H; Rankin, Anne; Virji-Babul, Naznin; Pritchard, Sheila; Fryer, Christopher; Campbell, Kristin L

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: This cross-sectional, observational study investigated whether physical activity (PA) levels are associated with motor performance and physical function in children after treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Method: Participants aged 8-13 years who had completed treatment for ALL (3-36 months post-treatment) were tested at their oncology long-term follow-up appointment at the British Columbia Children's Hospital. PA level was measured using the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Older Children (PAQ-C). Motor performance was measured using the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency, Second Edition, Short Form (BOT-2 SF), and physical function was measured using the 6-minute walk test (6MWT). Results: Thirteen children completed testing. PAQ-C scores were not associated with BOT-2 SF or 6MWT performance. Eleven children (85%) performed below the norm for the 6MWT. Children with elevated body mass index had poorer 6MWT but similar PAQ-C scores. Conclusion: PA was not found to be associated with motor performance and physical function. Participants who were overweight or obese had poorer 6MWT performance, which may indicate the need for closer monitoring of post-treatment weight status and physical function in the oncology follow-up setting.

  10. A COMPARISON OF SEMANTIC SIMILARITY MODELS IN EVALUATING CONCEPT SIMILARITY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Q. X. Xu

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available The semantic similarities are important in concept definition, recognition, categorization, interpretation, and integration. Many semantic similarity models have been established to evaluate semantic similarities of objects or/and concepts. To find out the suitability and performance of different models in evaluating concept similarities, we make a comparison of four main types of models in this paper: the geometric model, the feature model, the network model, and the transformational model. Fundamental principles and main characteristics of these models are introduced and compared firstly. Land use and land cover concepts of NLCD92 are employed as examples in the case study. The results demonstrate that correlations between these models are very high for a possible reason that all these models are designed to simulate the similarity judgement of human mind.

  11. Physiological Factors Contributing to Postflight Changes in Functional Performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bloomberg, J. J.; Feedback, D. L.; Feiverson, A. H.; Lee, S. M. C.; Mulavara, A. P.; Peters, B. T.; Platts, S. H.; Reschke, M. F.; Ryder, J.; Spiering, B. A.; hide

    2009-01-01

    Astronauts experience alterations in multiple physiological systems due to exposure to the microgravity conditions of space flight. These physiological changes include sensorimotor disturbances, cardiovascular deconditioning and loss of muscle mass and strength. These changes might affect the ability of crewmembers to perform critical mission tasks immediately after landing on lunar and Martian surfaces. To date, changes in functional performance have not been systematically studied or correlated with physiological changes. To understand how changes in physiological function impact functional performance an interdisciplinary pre/postflight testing regimen (Functional Task Test, FTT) has been developed that systematically evaluates both astronaut postflight functional performance and related physiological changes. The overall objectives of the FTT are to: Develop a set of functional tasks that represent critical mission tasks for Constellation. Determine the ability to perform these tasks after flight. Identify the key physiological factors that contribute to functional decrements. Use this information to develop targeted countermeasures. The functional test battery was designed to address high priority tasks identified by the Constellation program as critical for mission success. The set of functional tests making up the FTT include the: 1) Seat Egress and Walk Test, 2) Ladder Climb Test, 3) Recovery from Fall/Stand Test, 4) Rock Translation Test, 5) Jump Down Test, 6) Torque Generation Test, and 7) Construction Activity Board Test. Corresponding physiological measures include assessments of postural and gait control, dynamic visual acuity, fine motor control, plasma volume, orthostatic intolerance, upper and lower body muscle strength, power, fatigue, control and neuromuscular drive. Crewmembers will perform both functional and physiological tests before and after short (Shuttle) and long-duration (ISS) space flight. Data will be collected on R+0 (Shuttle only), R

  12. The production and perception of emotionally expressive walking sounds: similarities between musical performance and everyday motor activity.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bruno L Giordano

    Full Text Available Several studies have investigated the encoding and perception of emotional expressivity in music performance. A relevant question concerns how the ability to communicate emotions in music performance is acquired. In accordance with recent theories on the embodiment of emotion, we suggest here that both the expression and recognition of emotion in music might at least in part rely on knowledge about the sounds of expressive body movements. We test this hypothesis by drawing parallels between musical expression of emotions and expression of emotions in sounds associated with a non-musical motor activity: walking. In a combined production-perception design, two experiments were conducted, and expressive acoustical features were compared across modalities. An initial performance experiment tested for similar feature use in walking sounds and music performance, and revealed that strong similarities exist. Features related to sound intensity, tempo and tempo regularity were identified as been used similarly in both domains. Participants in a subsequent perception experiment were able to recognize both non-emotional and emotional properties of the sound-generating walkers. An analysis of the acoustical correlates of behavioral data revealed that variations in sound intensity, tempo, and tempo regularity were likely used to recognize expressed emotions. Taken together, these results lend support the motor origin hypothesis for the musical expression of emotions.

  13. Summary of functional and performance test procedures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mitzel, Jens; Gülzow, Erich; Friedrich, K. Andreas

    Different Test Modules (TM) are defined for the functional and performance characterization of a PEMFC stack. The master document TM2.00 defines requirements and methodology for parameter variation, stability and data acquisition.......Different Test Modules (TM) are defined for the functional and performance characterization of a PEMFC stack. The master document TM2.00 defines requirements and methodology for parameter variation, stability and data acquisition....

  14. Muscle Functions and Functional Performance among Older Persons with and without Low Back Pain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nor Azizah Ishak

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available This study aims to compare muscle functions and functional performances between older persons with and without low back pain (LBP and to determine the association between muscle functions and functional performances. This is a cross-sectional study, involving 95 older persons (age = 70.27±7.26 years. Anthropometric characteristics, muscle functions, and functional performances were measured. Data were analyzed using ANOVA, Pearson’s correlation, and multiple linear regression. The functional performances showed no significant differences (females LBP versus non-LBP, males LBP versus non-LBP (p<0.05. For muscle functions, significant differences were found (females LBP versus non-LBP for abdominal muscle strength (p=0.006 and back muscle strength (p=0.07. In the LBP group, significant correlations were found between back and abdominal muscle strength and hand grip strength (r=0.377 and r=0.396, resp., multifidus control and lower limb function (r=0.363 in females, and back muscle strength and lower limb function (r=0.393 in males (all p<0.05. Regression analysis showed that abdominal and back muscle strengths were significant predictors of hand grip strength (p=0.041 and p=0.049, resp., and multifidus control was a significant predictor of lower limb function in females (p=0.047. This study demonstrates that older women with LBP exhibit poorer muscle functions compared to older women without LBP.

  15. The role of executive functioning in memory performance in pediatric focal epilepsy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sepeta, Leigh N.; Casaletto, Kaitlin Blackstone; Terwilliger, Virginia; Facella-Ervolini, Joy; Sady, Maegan; Mayo, Jessica; Gaillard, William D.; Berl, Madison M.

    2016-01-01

    Objective Learning and memory are essential for academic success and everyday functioning, but the pattern of memory skills and its relationship to executive functioning in children with focal epilepsy is not fully delineated. We address a gap in the literature by examining the relationship between memory and executive functioning in a pediatric focal epilepsy population. Methods Seventy children with focal epilepsy and 70 typically developing children matched on age, intellectual functioning, and gender underwent neuropsychological assessment, including measures of intelligence (WASI/DAS), as well as visual (CMS Dot Locations) and verbal episodic memory (WRAML Story Memory and CVLT-C). Executive functioning was measured directly (WISC-IV Digit Span Backward; CELF-IV Recalling Sentences) and by parent report (Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF)). Results Children with focal epilepsy had lower delayed free recall scores than controls across visual and verbal memory tasks (p = 0.02; partial η2 = .12). In contrast, recognition memory performance was similar for patients and controls (p = 0.36; partial η2 = .03). Children with focal epilepsy demonstrated difficulties in working memory (p = 0.02; partial η2 = .08) and planning/organization (p = 0.02) compared to controls. Working memory predicted 9–19% of the variance in delayed free recall for verbal and visual memory; organization predicted 9–10% of the variance in verbal memory. Patients with both left and right focal epilepsy demonstrated more difficulty on verbal versus visual tasks (p = 0.002). Memory performance did not differ by location of seizure foci (temporal vs. extra-temporal, frontal vs. extra-frontal). Significance Children with focal epilepsy demonstrated memory ability within age-level expectations, but delayed free recall was inefficient compared to typically developing controls. Memory difficulties were not related to general cognitive impairment or seizure localization

  16. Sexual Function and Body Image are Similar after Laparoscopy-Assisted and Open Ileal Pouch-Anal Anastomosis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kjaer, Mie Dilling; Laursen, Stig Borbjerg; Qvist, Niels

    2014-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (IPAA) is performed in patients with ulcerative colitis and familial adenomatous polyposis where the majority of patients are sexually active. Laparoscopic surgery is becoming the preferred technique for most colorectal interventions, and we examined posto...... better body image among laparoscopy-treated women, the two surgical techniques seem equal with respect to postoperative sexual function....... postoperative sexual function and body image compared to those after open surgery IPAA. METHODS: Patients treated with IPAA in the period from October 2008 to March 2012 were included. Evaluation of sexual function, body image, and quality of life was performed using the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI......), the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF), the Body Image Questionnaire (BIQ), and the Short Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (SIBDQ). RESULTS: We included 72 patients (38 laparoscopy-assisted and 34 open). Response rate was 74 %. There were no differences in demographics, functional outcome...

  17. Performance analysis, quality function deployment and structured methods

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maier, M. W.

    Quality function deployment, (QFD), an approach to synthesizing several elements of system modeling and design into a single unit, is presented. Behavioral, physical, and performance modeling are usually considered as separate aspects of system design without explicit linkages. Structured methodologies have developed linkages between behavioral and physical models before, but have not considered the integration of performance models. QFD integrates performance models with traditional structured models. In this method, performance requirements such as cost, weight, and detection range are partitioned into matrices. Partitioning is done by developing a performance model, preferably quantitative, for each requirement. The parameters of the model become the engineering objectives in a QFD analysis and the models are embedded in a spreadsheet version of the traditional QFD matrices. The performance model and its parameters are used to derive part of the functional model by recognizing that a given performance model implies some structure to the functionality of the system.

  18. Effects of Elastic Resistance Exercise on Muscle Strength and Functional Performance in Healthy Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Oliveira, Poliana Alves; Blasczyk, Juscelino Castro; Souza Junior, Gerson; Lagoa, Karina Ferreira; Soares, Milene; de Oliveira, Ricardo Jacó; Filho, Paulo José Barbosa Gutierres; Carregaro, Rodrigo Luiz; Martins, Wagner Rodrigues

    2017-04-01

    Elastic Resistance Exercise (ERE) has already demonstrated its effectiveness in older adults and, when combined with the resistance generated by fixed loads, in adults. This review summarizes the effectiveness of ERE performed as isolated method on muscle strength and functional performance in healthy adults. A database search was performed (MEDLine, Cochrane Library, PEDro and Web of Knowledge) to identify controlled clinical trials in English language. The mean difference (MD) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) and overall effect size were calculated for all comparisons. The PEDro scale was used assess the methodological quality. From the 93 articles identified by the search strategy, 5 met the inclusion criteria, in which 3 presented high quality (PEDro > 6). Meta-analyses demonstrated that the effects of ERE were superior when compared with passive control on functional performance and muscle strength. When compared with active controls, the effect of ERE was inferior on function performance and with similar effect on muscle strength. ERE are effective to improve functional performance and muscle strength when compared with no intervention, in healthy adults. ERE are not superior to other methods of resistance training to improve functional performance and muscle strength in health adults.

  19. Functionality of system components: Conservation of protein function in protein feature space

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Lars Juhl; Ussery, David; Brunak, Søren

    2003-01-01

    well on organisms other than the one on which it was trained. We evaluate the performance of such a method, ProtFun, which relies on protein features as its sole input, and show that the method gives similar performance for most eukaryotes and performs much better than anticipated on archaea......Many protein features useful for prediction of protein function can be predicted from sequence, including posttranslational modifications, subcellular localization, and physical/chemical properties. We show here that such protein features are more conserved among orthologs than paralogs, indicating...... they are crucial for protein function and thus subject to selective pressure. This means that a function prediction method based on sequence-derived features may be able to discriminate between proteins with different function even when they have highly similar structure. Also, such a method is likely to perform...

  20. The semantic similarity ensemble

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrea Ballatore

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Computational measures of semantic similarity between geographic terms provide valuable support across geographic information retrieval, data mining, and information integration. To date, a wide variety of approaches to geo-semantic similarity have been devised. A judgment of similarity is not intrinsically right or wrong, but obtains a certain degree of cognitive plausibility, depending on how closely it mimics human behavior. Thus selecting the most appropriate measure for a specific task is a significant challenge. To address this issue, we make an analogy between computational similarity measures and soliciting domain expert opinions, which incorporate a subjective set of beliefs, perceptions, hypotheses, and epistemic biases. Following this analogy, we define the semantic similarity ensemble (SSE as a composition of different similarity measures, acting as a panel of experts having to reach a decision on the semantic similarity of a set of geographic terms. The approach is evaluated in comparison to human judgments, and results indicate that an SSE performs better than the average of its parts. Although the best member tends to outperform the ensemble, all ensembles outperform the average performance of each ensemble's member. Hence, in contexts where the best measure is unknown, the ensemble provides a more cognitively plausible approach.

  1. Sleep Extension before Sleep Loss: Effects on Performance and Neuromuscular Function.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arnal, Pierrick J; Lapole, Thomas; Erblang, Mégane; Guillard, Mathias; Bourrilhon, Cyprien; Léger, Damien; Chennaoui, Mounir; Millet, Guillaume Y

    2016-08-01

    This study aimed to investigate the effects of six nights of sleep extension on motor performance and associated neuromuscular function before and after one night of total sleep deprivation (TSD). Twelve healthy men participated in two experimental conditions (randomized crossover design): extended sleep (EXT, 9.8 ± 0.1 h time in bed) and habitual sleep (HAB, 8.2 ± 0.1 h time in bed). In each condition, subjects performed six nights of either EXT or HAB at home followed by an assessment of motor performance and neuromuscular function at baseline (D0) and after one night of TSD, i.e., 34-37 h of continuous wakefulness (D1). Maximal voluntary contractions with superimposed femoral nerve electrical and transcranial magnetic stimulations and stimulations on relaxed muscles were investigated before and after submaximal isometric knee extensor exercises performed until task failure. Time to exhaustion was longer in EXT compared with HAB (+3.9% ± 7.7% and +8.1% ± 12.3% at D0 and D1, respectively). Performance at D1 decreased from D0 similarly between conditions (-7.2% ± 5.6% and -3.7% ± 7.3% in HAB and EXT, respectively). At D1, the RPE during exercise was lower in EXT compared with HAB (-7.2% ± 7.5%) with no difference at D0. No difference was observed in voluntary activation between the two conditions. Six nights of sleep extension improved sustained contraction time to exhaustion, and this result cannot be explained by smaller reductions in voluntary activation, measured by both nerve and transcranial magnetic stimulation. The beneficial effect on motor performance in the EXT condition was likely due to reduced RPE after TSD.

  2. Pleurotomy with subxyphoid pleural drain affords similar effects to pleural integrity in pulmonary function after off-pump coronary artery bypass graft.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guizilini, Solange; Bolzan, Douglas W; Faresin, Sonia M; Ferraz, Raquel F; Tavolaro, Kelly; Cancio, Andrea A; Gomes, Walter J

    2012-01-25

    Exacerbation of pulmonary dysfunction has been reported in patients receiving a pleural drain inserted through the intercostal space in comparison to patients with an intact pleura undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Evidence suggests that shifting the site of pleural drain insertion to the subxyphoid position minimizes chest wall trauma and preserves respiratory function in the early postoperative period. The aim of this study was to compare the pulmonary function parameters, clinical outcomes, and pain score between patients undergoing pleurotomy with pleural drain placed in the subxyphoid position and patients with intact pleural cavity after off-pump CABG (OPCAB) using left internal thoracic artery (LITA). Seventy-one patients were allocated into two groups: I (n = 38 open left pleural cavity and pleural drain inserted in the subxyphoid position); II (n = 33 intact pleural cavity). Pulmonary function tests and clinical parameters were recorded preoperatively and on postoperative days (POD) 1, 3 and 5. Arterial blood gas analysis and shunt fraction were evaluated preoperatively and in POD1. Pain score was assessed on POD1. To monitor pleural effusion and atelectasis chest radiography was performed routinely 1 day before operation and until POD5. In both groups a significant impairment was found in lung function parameters until on POD5. However, no significant difference in forced vital capacity and forced expiratory volume in 1 second were seen between groups. A significant decrease in partial pressure of arterial oxygen and an increase in shunt fraction values were observed on POD1 in both groups, but no statistical difference was found when the groups were compared. Pleural effusion and atelectasis until on POD5 were similar in both groups. There were no statistical differences in pain score, duration of mechanical ventilation and postoperative hospital stay between groups. Subxyphoid insertion of pleural drain provides similar effects to

  3. Efficient similarity-based data clustering by optimal object to cluster reallocation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rossignol, Mathias; Lagrange, Mathieu; Cont, Arshia

    2018-01-01

    We present an iterative flat hard clustering algorithm designed to operate on arbitrary similarity matrices, with the only constraint that these matrices be symmetrical. Although functionally very close to kernel k-means, our proposal performs a maximization of average intra-class similarity, instead of a squared distance minimization, in order to remain closer to the semantics of similarities. We show that this approach permits the relaxing of some conditions on usable affinity matrices like semi-positiveness, as well as opening possibilities for computational optimization required for large datasets. Systematic evaluation on a variety of data sets shows that compared with kernel k-means and the spectral clustering methods, the proposed approach gives equivalent or better performance, while running much faster. Most notably, it significantly reduces memory access, which makes it a good choice for large data collections. Material enabling the reproducibility of the results is made available online.

  4. Motor unit recruitment by size does not provide functional advantages for motor performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dideriksen, Jakob L; Farina, Dario

    2013-12-15

    It is commonly assumed that the orderly recruitment of motor units by size provides a functional advantage for the performance of movements compared with a random recruitment order. On the other hand, the excitability of a motor neuron depends on its size and this is intrinsically linked to its innervation number. A range of innervation numbers among motor neurons corresponds to a range of sizes and thus to a range of excitabilities ordered by size. Therefore, if the excitation drive is similar among motor neurons, the recruitment by size is inevitably due to the intrinsic properties of motor neurons and may not have arisen to meet functional demands. In this view, we tested the assumption that orderly recruitment is necessarily beneficial by determining if this type of recruitment produces optimal motor output. Using evolutionary algorithms and without any a priori assumptions, the parameters of neuromuscular models were optimized with respect to several criteria for motor performance. Interestingly, the optimized model parameters matched well known neuromuscular properties, but none of the optimization criteria determined a consistent recruitment order by size unless this was imposed by an association between motor neuron size and excitability. Further, when the association between size and excitability was imposed, the resultant model of recruitment did not improve the motor performance with respect to the absence of orderly recruitment. A consistent observation was that optimal solutions for a variety of criteria of motor performance always required a broad range of innervation numbers in the population of motor neurons, skewed towards the small values. These results indicate that orderly recruitment of motor units in itself does not provide substantial functional advantages for motor control. Rather, the reason for its near-universal presence in human movements is that motor functions are optimized by a broad range of innervation numbers.

  5. Comparison of computational performance of GA and PSO optimization techniques when designing similar systems - Typical PWR core case

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Souza Lima, Carlos A. [Instituto de Engenharia Nuclear - Divisao de Reatores/PPGIEN, Rua Helio de Almeida 75, Cidade Universitaria - Ilha do Fundao, P.O. Box: 68550 - Zip Code: 21941-972, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil); Instituto Politecnico, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Pos-Graduacao em Modelagem Computacional, Rua Alberto Rangel - s/n, Vila Nova, Nova Friburgo, Zip Code: 28630-050, Nova Friburgo (Brazil); Lapa, Celso Marcelo F.; Pereira, Claudio Marcio do N.A. [Instituto de Engenharia Nuclear - Divisao de Reatores/PPGIEN, Rua Helio de Almeida 75, Cidade Universitaria - Ilha do Fundao, P.O. Box: 68550 - Zip Code: 21941-972, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil); Instituto Nacional de Ciencia e Tecnologia de Reatores Nucleares Inovadores (INCT) (Brazil); Cunha, Joao J. da [Eletronuclear Eletrobras Termonuclear - Gerencia de Analise de Seguranca Nuclear, Rua da Candelaria, 65, 7 andar. Centro, Zip Code: 20091-906, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil); Alvim, Antonio Carlos M. [Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, COPPE/Nuclear, Cidade Universitaria - Ilha do Fundao s/n, P.O.Box 68509 - Zip Code: 21945-970, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil); Instituto Nacional de Ciencia e Tecnologia de Reatores Nucleares Inovadores (INCT) (Brazil)

    2011-06-15

    Research highlights: > Performance of PSO and GA techniques applied to similar system design. > This work uses ANGRA1 (two loop PWR) core as a prototype. > Results indicate that PSO technique is more adequate than GA to solve this kind of problem. - Abstract: This paper compares the performance of two optimization techniques, particle swarm optimization (PSO) and genetic algorithm (GA) applied to the design a typical reduced scale two loop Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) core, at full power in single phase forced circulation flow. This comparison aims at analyzing the performance in reaching the global optimum, considering that both heuristics are based on population search methods, that is, methods whose population (candidate solution set) evolve from one generation to the next using a combination of deterministic and probabilistic rules. The simulated PWR, similar to ANGRA 1 power plant, was used as a case example to compare the performance of PSO and GA. Results from simulations indicated that PSO is more adequate to solve this kind of problem.

  6. Effects of exercise training on performance and function in ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Effects of exercise training on performance and function in individuals with cerebral palsy: ... performance capabilities, and the effect of exercise training interventions, ... The physiology underlying the functional and physical impairments in CP ...

  7. Neutrosophic Similarity Score Based Weighted Histogram for Robust Mean-Shift Tracking

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Keli Hu

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Visual object tracking is a critical task in computer vision. Challenging things always exist when an object needs to be tracked. For instance, background clutter is one of the most challenging problems. The mean-shift tracker is quite popular because of its efficiency and performance in a range of conditions. However, the challenge of background clutter also disturbs its performance. In this article, we propose a novel weighted histogram based on neutrosophic similarity score to help the mean-shift tracker discriminate the target from the background. Neutrosophic set (NS is a new branch of philosophy for dealing with incomplete, indeterminate, and inconsistent information. In this paper, we utilize the single valued neutrosophic set (SVNS, which is a subclass of NS to improve the mean-shift tracker. First, two kinds of criteria are considered as the object feature similarity and the background feature similarity, and each bin of the weight histogram is represented in the SVNS domain via three membership functions T(Truth, I(indeterminacy, and F(Falsity. Second, the neutrosophic similarity score function is introduced to fuse those two criteria and to build the final weight histogram. Finally, a novel neutrosophic weighted mean-shift tracker is proposed. The proposed tracker is compared with several mean-shift based trackers on a dataset of 61 public sequences. The results revealed that our method outperforms other trackers, especially when confronting background clutter.

  8. Functional performance of school children diagnosed with developmental delay up to two years of age

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dornelas, Lílian de Fátima; Magalhães, Lívia de Castro

    2016-01-01

    Abstract Objective: To compare the functional performance of students diagnosed with developmental delay (DD) up to two years of age with peers exhibiting typical development. Methods: Cross-sectional study with functional performance assessment of children diagnosed with DD up to two years of age compared to those with typical development at seven to eight years of age. Each group consisted of 45 children, selected by non-random sampling, evaluated for motor skills, quality of home environment, school participation and performance. ANOVA and the Binomial test for two proportions were used to assess differences between groups. Results: The group with DD had lower motor skills when compared to the typical group. While 66.7% of children in the typical group showed adequate school participation, receiving aid in cognitive and behavioral tasks similar to that offered to other children at the same level, only 22.2% of children with DD showed the same performance. Although 53.3% of the children with DD achieved an academic performance expected for the school level, there were limitations in some activities. Only two indicators of family environment, diversity and activities with parents at home, showed statistically significant difference between the groups, with advantage being shown for the typical group. Conclusions: Children with DD have persistent difficulties at school age, with motor deficit, restrictions in school activity performance and low participation in the school context, as well as significantly lower functional performance when compared to children without DD. A systematic monitoring of this population is recommended to identify needs and minimize future problems. PMID:26553573

  9. Functional performance of school children diagnosed with developmental delay up to two years of age

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lílian de Fátima Dornelas

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Objective: To compare the functional performance of students diagnosed with developmental delay (DD up to two years of age with peers exhibiting typical development. Methods: Cross-sectional study with functional performance assessment of children diagnosed with DD up to two years of age compared to those with typical development at seven to eight years of age. Each group consisted of 45 children, selected by non-random sampling, evaluated for motor skills, quality of home environment, school participation and performance. ANOVA and the Binomial test for two proportions were used to assess differences between groups. Results: The group with DD had lower motor skills when compared to the typical group. While 66.7% of children in the typical group showed adequate school participation, receiving aid in cognitive and behavioral tasks similar to that offered to other children at the same level, only 22.2% of children with DD showed the same performance. Although 53.3% of the children with DD achieved an academic performance expected for the school level, there were limitations in some activities. Only two indicators of family environment, diversity and activities with parents at home, showed statistically significant difference between the groups, with advantage being shown for the typical group. Conclusions: Children with DD have persistent difficulties at school age, with motor deficit, restrictions in school activity performance and low participation in the school context, as well as significantly lower functional performance when compared to children without DD. A systematic monitoring of this population is recommended to identify needs and minimize future problems.

  10. GenomeRunner web server: regulatory similarity and differences define the functional impact of SNP sets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dozmorov, Mikhail G; Cara, Lukas R; Giles, Cory B; Wren, Jonathan D

    2016-08-01

    The growing amount of regulatory data from the ENCODE, Roadmap Epigenomics and other consortia provides a wealth of opportunities to investigate the functional impact of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Yet, given the large number of regulatory datasets, researchers are posed with a challenge of how to efficiently utilize them to interpret the functional impact of SNP sets. We developed the GenomeRunner web server to automate systematic statistical analysis of SNP sets within a regulatory context. Besides defining the functional impact of SNP sets, GenomeRunner implements novel regulatory similarity/differential analyses, and cell type-specific regulatory enrichment analysis. Validated against literature- and disease ontology-based approaches, analysis of 39 disease/trait-associated SNP sets demonstrated that the functional impact of SNP sets corresponds to known disease relationships. We identified a group of autoimmune diseases with SNPs distinctly enriched in the enhancers of T helper cell subpopulations, and demonstrated relevant cell type-specificity of the functional impact of other SNP sets. In summary, we show how systematic analysis of genomic data within a regulatory context can help interpreting the functional impact of SNP sets. GenomeRunner web server is freely available at http://www.integrativegenomics.org/ mikhail.dozmorov@gmail.com Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  11. Influence of Disruptive Behavior Disorders on Academic Performance and School Functions of Youths with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Chao-Yu; Huang, Wei-Lieh; Kao, Wei-Chih; Gau, Susan Shur-Fen

    2017-12-01

    Childhood attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and comorbid oppositional defiant disorder/conduct disorder (ODD/CD) are associated with negative school outcomes. The study aimed to examine the impact of ADHD and ODD/CD on various school functions. 395 youths with ADHD (244 with ADHD + ODD/CD and 151 with ADHD only) and 156 controls received semi-structured psychiatric interviews. School functions were assessed and compared between each group with a multiple-level model. The results showed that youths with ADHD had poorer performance across different domains of school functioning. Youths with ADHD + ODD/CD had more behavioral problems but similar academic performance than those with ADHD only. The multiple linear regression models revealed that ADHD impaired academic performance while ODD/CD aggravated behavioral problems. Our findings imply that comorbid ODD/CD may specifically contribute to social difficulties in youths with ADHD. Measures of early detection and intervention for ODD/CD should be conducted to prevent adverse outcomes.

  12. On similarity and scaling of the radiative transfer equation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mitrescu, C.; Stephens, G.L.

    2004-01-01

    The present paper shows how the well-known similarity and scaling concepts are properties of the radiative transfer equation and not specifically of the degree of anisotropy of the phase function. It is shown that the key assumption regarding the angular dependence of the radiative field is essential in determining both the value for the parameter used to scale the radiative transfer, as well as the number of streams used in calculating the radiances for various atmospheric problems. Simulations performed on realistic type of cirrus clouds, characterized by strongly anisotropic functions, demonstrates the superior computational advantage for accurately simulating radiances. A new approach for determining the scaling parameter is introduced

  13. Function Follows Performance in Evolutionary Computational Processing

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pasold, Anke; Foged, Isak Worre

    2011-01-01

    As the title ‘Function Follows Performance in Evolutionary Computational Processing’ suggests, this paper explores the potentials of employing multiple design and evaluation criteria within one processing model in order to account for a number of performative parameters desired within varied...

  14. A Study on Relationships between Functional Performance and Task Performance Measure through Experiments in NPP MCR

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jang, In Seok; Seong, Poong Hyun; Park, Jin Kyun

    2011-01-01

    Further improvements in levels of organization, management, man-machine interfaces, education, training, etc. are required, if high operating reliability of operators in huge and complex plants such as chemical plants and electrical power generating plants is to be maintained. Improvement requires good understanding of operators' behavior, including defining what is good performance for operators, especially in emergency situations. Human performance measures, therefore, are important to enhance performance and to reduce the probability of incidents and accidents in Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs). Operators' performance measures are used for multi-objectives such as control room design, human system interface evaluation, training, procedure and so on. There are two kinds of representative methods to measure operators' performance. These methods are now known as the functional performance measure and task performance measure. Functional performance measures are basically based on the plant process parameters. Functional performance measures indicate how well the operators controlled selected critical parameters. The parameters selected in this paper are derived from the four Critical Safety Functions (CSFs) identified in the emergency operating procedures such as achievement of subcriticality, maintenance of core cooling, maintenance of heat sink and maintenance of containment integrity. Task performance measures are based on the task analysis. Task analysis is to determine the tasks required and how operators are performed. In this paper, task analysis is done with ideal path for an accident completed by experts and Emergency Operation Procedure (EOP). However, most literatures related to operators' performance have been using one of these measures and there is no research to find out the relationships between two measures. In this paper, the relationships between functional performance measure and task performance measure are investigated using experiments. Shortly

  15. A self-similar hierarchy of the Korean stock market

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lim, Gyuchang; Min, Seungsik; Yoo, Kun-Woo

    2013-01-01

    A scaling analysis is performed on market values of stocks listed on Korean stock exchanges such as the KOSPI and the KOSDAQ. Different from previous studies on price fluctuations, market capitalizations are dealt with in this work. First, we show that the sum of the two stock exchanges shows a clear rank-size distribution, i.e., the Zipf's law, just as each separate one does. Second, by abstracting Zipf's law as a γ-sequence, we define a self-similar hierarchy consisting of many levels, with the numbers of firms at each level forming a geometric sequence. We also use two exponential functions to describe the hierarchy and derive a scaling law from them. Lastly, we propose a self-similar hierarchical process and perform an empirical analysis on our data set. Based on our findings, we argue that all money invested in the stock market is distributed in a hierarchical way and that a slight difference exists between the two exchanges.

  16. Evaluation of Functional Correlation of Task-Specific Muscle Synergies with Motor Performance in Patients Poststroke

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Si Li

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available The central nervous system produces movements by activating specifically programmed muscle synergies that are also altered with injuries in the brain, such as stroke. In this study, we hypothesize that there exists a positive correlation between task-specific muscle synergy and motor functions at joint and task levels in patients following stroke. The purpose here is to define and evaluate neurophysiological metrics based on task-specific muscle synergy for assessing motor functions in patients. A patient group of 10 subjects suffering from stroke and a control group of nine age-matched healthy subjects were recruited to participate in this study. Electromyography (EMG signals and movement kinematics were recorded in patients and control subjects while performing arm reaching tasks. Muscle synergies of individual patients were extracted off-line from EMG records of each patient, and a baseline pattern of muscle synergy was obtained from the pooled EMG data of all nine control subjects. Peak velocities and movement durations of each reaching movement were computed from measured kinematics. Similarity indices of matching components to those of the baseline synergy were defined by synergy vectors and time profiles, respectively, as well as by a combined similarity of vector and time profile. Results showed that pathological synergies of patients were altered from the characteristics of baseline synergy with missing components, or varied vector patterns and time profiles. The kinematic performance measured by peak velocities and movement durations was significantly poorer for the patient group than the control group. In patients, all three similarity indices were found to correlate significantly to the kinematics of movements for the reaching tasks. The correlation to the Fugl-Meyer score of arm was the highest with the vector index, the lowest with the time profile index, and in between with the combined index. These findings illustrate that the

  17. Functional Movement Screening and Paddle-Sport Performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrew Hatchett

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of the study reported here was to determine the relationship between an endurance paddle-sport athlete’s total functional movement screening (FMS score and individual race performance. Fifty elite level endurance canoeists and kayakers completed the seven-stage FMS protocol prior to the 2016 United States Canoe and Kayak Association National Championship race. Time taken to finish the race was then associated to overall FMS score and respective sub-scores. Total FMS score and various sub-scores were significantly related to race performance. Female and male athletes differed in which sub-scores were shown to be significantly correlated to finishing time. Outcomes from this study indicate that limitations in functional movement are related to endurance paddle-sport race performance.

  18. UPF201 Archaeal Specific Family Members Reveals Structural Similarity to RNA-Binding Proteins but Low Likelihood for RNA-Binding Function

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rao, K.N.; Swaminathan, S.; Burley, S. K.

    2008-12-11

    We have determined X-ray crystal structures of four members of an archaeal specific family of proteins of unknown function (UPF0201; Pfam classification: DUF54) to advance our understanding of the genetic repertoire of archaea. Despite low pairwise amino acid sequence identities (10-40%) and the absence of conserved sequence motifs, the three-dimensional structures of these proteins are remarkably similar to one another. Their common polypeptide chain fold, encompassing a five-stranded antiparallel {beta}-sheet and five {alpha}-helices, proved to be quite unexpectedly similar to that of the RRM-type RNA-binding domain of the ribosomal L5 protein, which is responsible for binding the 5S- rRNA. Structure-based sequence alignments enabled construction of a phylogenetic tree relating UPF0201 family members to L5 ribosomal proteins and other structurally similar RNA binding proteins, thereby expanding our understanding of the evolutionary purview of the RRM superfamily. Analyses of the surfaces of these newly determined UPF0201 structures suggest that they probably do not function as RNA binding proteins, and that this domain specific family of proteins has acquired a novel function in archaebacteria, which awaits experimental elucidation.

  19. Similar patterns of neural activity predict memory function during encoding and retrieval.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kragel, James E; Ezzyat, Youssef; Sperling, Michael R; Gorniak, Richard; Worrell, Gregory A; Berry, Brent M; Inman, Cory; Lin, Jui-Jui; Davis, Kathryn A; Das, Sandhitsu R; Stein, Joel M; Jobst, Barbara C; Zaghloul, Kareem A; Sheth, Sameer A; Rizzuto, Daniel S; Kahana, Michael J

    2017-07-15

    Neural networks that span the medial temporal lobe (MTL), prefrontal cortex, and posterior cortical regions are essential to episodic memory function in humans. Encoding and retrieval are supported by the engagement of both distinct neural pathways across the cortex and common structures within the medial temporal lobes. However, the degree to which memory performance can be determined by neural processing that is common to encoding and retrieval remains to be determined. To identify neural signatures of successful memory function, we administered a delayed free-recall task to 187 neurosurgical patients implanted with subdural or intraparenchymal depth electrodes. We developed multivariate classifiers to identify patterns of spectral power across the brain that independently predicted successful episodic encoding and retrieval. During encoding and retrieval, patterns of increased high frequency activity in prefrontal, MTL, and inferior parietal cortices, accompanied by widespread decreases in low frequency power across the brain predicted successful memory function. Using a cross-decoding approach, we demonstrate the ability to predict memory function across distinct phases of the free-recall task. Furthermore, we demonstrate that classifiers that combine information from both encoding and retrieval states can outperform task-independent models. These findings suggest that the engagement of a core memory network during either encoding or retrieval shapes the ability to remember the past, despite distinct neural interactions that facilitate encoding and retrieval. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. Large margin classification with indefinite similarities

    KAUST Repository

    Alabdulmohsin, Ibrahim; Cisse, Moustapha; Gao, Xin; Zhang, Xiangliang

    2016-01-01

    Classification with indefinite similarities has attracted attention in the machine learning community. This is partly due to the fact that many similarity functions that arise in practice are not symmetric positive semidefinite, i.e. the Mercer

  1. Diabetes, child care, and performance of family functions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ewa Kobos

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Introduction : Parents caring for a child with diabetes may experience a burden on both a practical and an emotional level. Aim of the research : Analysis of the correlations between the care burden level and the perceived influence of type 1 diabetes in children on the performance of family functions. Material and methods : The study included 112 caregivers of children with diabetes. The following inclusion criteria were taken into account: full family, direct caregiver of the child, the child’s age 3–16 years, disease duration of at least 6 months, and no chronic diseases in siblings. The study material was collected using an interview questionnaire and the Caregiver Burden Scale. Correlation analysis was performed using the Spearman correlation coefficient. The significance level was defined as p = 0.05. Results : A higher burden level of a caregiver in the individual subscales of the CB Scale was associated with a significant decrease in the intensity of performance of the cultural and social function as well as consumption function, the increased amount of time spent with a sick child, and an increase in parental disagreements. The overall burden level differentiated the performance of the religious function. An increase in the burden level on the overall effort subscale was accompanied by lower interest in sex and less frequent sexual intercourse. The higher level of caregiver burden occurs in families where permanent job income has fallen. The differences were shown in the performance of control-socialisation function due to the sense of burden on the environment subscale. Conclusions : The burden level of a caregiver is important in the perceived influence of the child’s illness on the functioning of the family. Stimulating a caregiver in dealing with the problems that are the consequence of the disease, as well as activating and preparing other family members to participate in the care of a sick child, and financial support may

  2. Comparison of computational performance of GA and PSO optimization techniques when designing similar systems - Typical PWR core case

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Souza Lima, Carlos A.; Lapa, Celso Marcelo F.; Pereira, Claudio Marcio do N.A.; Cunha, Joao J. da; Alvim, Antonio Carlos M.

    2011-01-01

    Research highlights: → Performance of PSO and GA techniques applied to similar system design. → This work uses ANGRA1 (two loop PWR) core as a prototype. → Results indicate that PSO technique is more adequate than GA to solve this kind of problem. - Abstract: This paper compares the performance of two optimization techniques, particle swarm optimization (PSO) and genetic algorithm (GA) applied to the design a typical reduced scale two loop Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) core, at full power in single phase forced circulation flow. This comparison aims at analyzing the performance in reaching the global optimum, considering that both heuristics are based on population search methods, that is, methods whose population (candidate solution set) evolve from one generation to the next using a combination of deterministic and probabilistic rules. The simulated PWR, similar to ANGRA 1 power plant, was used as a case example to compare the performance of PSO and GA. Results from simulations indicated that PSO is more adequate to solve this kind of problem.

  3. Qualitative similarities in the visual short-term memory of pigeons and people.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gibson, Brett; Wasserman, Edward; Luck, Steven J

    2011-10-01

    Visual short-term memory plays a key role in guiding behavior, and individual differences in visual short-term memory capacity are strongly predictive of higher cognitive abilities. To provide a broader evolutionary context for understanding this memory system, we directly compared the behavior of pigeons and humans on a change detection task. Although pigeons had a lower storage capacity and a higher lapse rate than humans, both species stored multiple items in short-term memory and conformed to the same basic performance model. Thus, despite their very different evolutionary histories and neural architectures, pigeons and humans have functionally similar visual short-term memory systems, suggesting that the functional properties of visual short-term memory are subject to similar selective pressures across these distant species.

  4. Normative Functional Performance Values in High School Athletes: The Functional Pre-Participation Evaluation Project.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Onate, James A; Starkel, Cambrie; Clifton, Daniel R; Best, Thomas M; Borchers, James; Chaudhari, Ajit; Comstock, R Dawn; Cortes, Nelson; Grooms, Dustin R; Hertel, Jay; Hewett, Timothy E; Miller, Meghan Maume; Pan, Xueliang; Schussler, Eric; Van Lunen, Bonnie L

    2018-01-01

      The fourth edition of the Preparticipation Physical Evaluation recommends functional testing for the musculoskeletal portion of the examination; however, normative data across sex and grade level are limited. Establishing normative data can provide clinicians reference points with which to compare their patients, potentially aiding in the development of future injury-risk assessments and injury-mitigation programs.   To establish normative functional performance and limb-symmetry data for high school-aged male and female athletes in the United States.   Cross-sectional study.   Athletic training facilities and gymnasiums across the United States.   A total of 3951 male and female athletes who participated on high school-sponsored basketball, football, lacrosse, or soccer teams enrolled in this nationwide study.   Functional performance testing consisted of 3 evaluations. Ankle-joint range of motion, balance, and lower extremity muscular power and landing control were assessed via the weight-bearing ankle-dorsiflexion-lunge, single-legged anterior-reach, and anterior single-legged hop-for-distance (SLHOP) tests, respectively. We used 2-way analyses of variance and χ 2 analyses to examine the effects of sex and grade level on ankle-dorsiflexion-lunge, single-legged anterior-reach, and SLHOP test performance and symmetry.   The SLHOP performance differed between sexes (males = 187.8% ± 33.1% of limb length, females = 157.5% ± 27.8% of limb length; t = 30.3, P performance. We observed differences for SLHOP and ankle-dorsiflexion-lunge performance among grade levels, but these differences were not clinically meaningful.   We demonstrated differences in normative data for lower extremity functional performance during preparticipation physical evaluations across sex and grade levels. The results of this study will allow clinicians to compare sex- and grade-specific functional performances and implement approaches for preventing musculoskeletal

  5. [Functional performance of school children diagnosed with developmental delay up to two years of age].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dornelas, Lílian de Fátima; Magalhães, Lívia de Castro

    2016-01-01

    To compare the functional performance of students diagnosed with developmental delay (DD) up to two years of age with peers exhibiting typical development. Cross-sectional study with functional performance assessment of children diagnosed with DD up to two years of age compared to those with typical development at seven to eight years of age. Each group consisted of 45 children, selected by non-random sampling, evaluated for motor skills, quality of home environment, school participation and performance. ANOVA and the Binomial test for two proportions were used to assess differences between groups. The group with DD had lower motor skills when compared to the typical group. While 66.7% of children in the typical group showed adequate school participation, receiving aid in cognitive and behavioral tasks similar to that offered to other children at the same level, only 22.2% of children with DD showed the same performance. Although 53.3% of the children with DD achieved an academic performance expected for the school level, there were limitations in some activities. Only two indicators of family environment, diversity and activities with parents at home, showed statistically significant difference between the groups, with advantage being shown for the typical group. Children with DD have persistent difficulties at school age, with motor deficit, restrictions in school activity performance and low participation in the school context, as well as significantly lower functional performance when compared to children without DD. A systematic monitoring of this population is recommended to identify needs and minimize future problems. Copyright © 2015 Sociedade de Pediatria de São Paulo. Publicado por Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

  6. Jaw lever analysis of Hawaiian gobioid stream fishes: a simulation study of morphological diversity and functional performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maie, Takashi; Schoenfuss, Heiko L; Blob, Richard W

    2009-08-01

    Differences in feeding behavior and performance among the five native Hawaiian gobioid stream fishes (Sicyopterus stimpsoni, Lentipes concolor, Awaous guamensis, Stenogobius hawaiiensis, and Eleotris sandwicensis) have been proposed based on the skeletal anatomy of their jaws and dietary specialization. However, performance of the feeding apparatus likely depends on the proportions and configurations of the jaw muscles and the arrangement of the jaw skeleton. We used a published mathematical model of muscle function to evaluate potential differences in jaw closing performance and their correlations with morphology among these species. For example, high output force calculated for the adductor mandibulae muscles (A2 and A3) of both A. guamensis and E. sandwicensis matched expectations based on the morphology of these species because these muscles are larger than in the other species. In contrast, Stenogobius hawaiiensis exhibited an alternative morphological strategy for achieving high relative output forces of both A2 and A3, in which the placement and configuration of the muscles conveyed high mechanical advantage despite only moderate cross-sectional areas. These differing anatomical pathways to similar functional performance suggest a pattern of many-to-one mapping of morphology to performance. In addition, a functional differentiation between A2 and A3 was evident for all species, in which A2 was better suited for producing forceful jaw closing and A3 for rapid jaw closing. Thus, the diversity of feeding performance of Hawaiian stream gobies seems to reflect a maintenance of functional breadth through the retention of some primitive traits in combination with novel functional capacities in several species. (c) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  7. Pleurotomy with subxyphoid pleural drain affords similar effects to pleural integrity in pulmonary function after off-pump coronary artery bypass graft

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guizilini Solange

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Exacerbation of pulmonary dysfunction has been reported in patients receiving a pleural drain inserted through the intercostal space in comparison to patients with an intact pleura undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG. Evidence suggests that shifting the site of pleural drain insertion to the subxyphoid position minimizes chest wall trauma and preserves respiratory function in the early postoperative period. The aim of this study was to compare the pulmonary function parameters, clinical outcomes, and pain score between patients undergoing pleurotomy with pleural drain placed in the subxyphoid position and patients with intact pleural cavity after off-pump CABG (OPCAB using left internal thoracic artery (LITA. Methods Seventy-one patients were allocated into two groups: I (n = 38 open left pleural cavity and pleural drain inserted in the subxyphoid position; II (n = 33 intact pleural cavity. Pulmonary function tests and clinical parameters were recorded preoperatively and on postoperative days (POD 1, 3 and 5. Arterial blood gas analysis and shunt fraction were evaluated preoperatively and in POD1. Pain score was assessed on POD1. To monitor pleural effusion and atelectasis chest radiography was performed routinely 1 day before operation and until POD5. Results In both groups a significant impairment was found in lung function parameters until on POD5. However, no significant difference in forced vital capacity and forced expiratory volume in 1 second were seen between groups. A significant decrease in partial pressure of arterial oxygen and an increase in shunt fraction values were observed on POD1 in both groups, but no statistical difference was found when the groups were compared. Pleural effusion and atelectasis until on POD5 were similar in both groups. There were no statistical differences in pain score, duration of mechanical ventilation and postoperative hospital stay between groups. Conclusion Subxyphoid

  8. Clustering and visualizing similarity networks of membrane proteins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Geng-Ming; Mai, Te-Lun; Chen, Chi-Ming

    2015-08-01

    We proposed a fast and unsupervised clustering method, minimum span clustering (MSC), for analyzing the sequence-structure-function relationship of biological networks, and demonstrated its validity in clustering the sequence/structure similarity networks (SSN) of 682 membrane protein (MP) chains. The MSC clustering of MPs based on their sequence information was found to be consistent with their tertiary structures and functions. For the largest seven clusters predicted by MSC, the consistency in chain function within the same cluster is found to be 100%. From analyzing the edge distribution of SSN for MPs, we found a characteristic threshold distance for the boundary between clusters, over which SSN of MPs could be properly clustered by an unsupervised sparsification of the network distance matrix. The clustering results of MPs from both MSC and the unsupervised sparsification methods are consistent with each other, and have high intracluster similarity and low intercluster similarity in sequence, structure, and function. Our study showed a strong sequence-structure-function relationship of MPs. We discussed evidence of convergent evolution of MPs and suggested applications in finding structural similarities and predicting biological functions of MP chains based on their sequence information. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  9. Assessment of patient functional performance in different knee arthroplasty designs during unconstrained squat.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Verdini, Federica; Zara, Claudio; Leo, Tommaso; Mengarelli, Alessandro; Cardarelli, Stefano; Innocenti, Bernardo

    2017-01-01

    In this paper, squat named by Authors unconstrained because performed without constrains related to feet position, speed, knee maximum angle to be reached, was tested as motor task revealing differences in functional performance after knee arthroplasty. It involves large joints ranges of motion, does not compromise joint safety and requires accurate control strategies to maintain balance. Motion capture techniques were used to study squat on a healthy control group (CTR) and on three groups, each characterised by a specific knee arthroplasty design: a Total Knee Arthroplasty (TKA), a Mobile Bearing and a Fixed Bearing Unicompartmental Knee Arthroplasty (respectively MBUA and FBUA). Squat was analysed during descent, maintenance and ascent phase and described by speed, angular kinematics of lower and upper body, the Center of Pressure (CoP) trajectory and muscle activation timing of quadriceps and biceps femoris. Compared to CTR, for TKA and MBUA knee maximum flexion was lower, vertical speed during descent and ascent reduced and the duration of whole movement was longer. CoP mean distance was higher for all arthroplasty groups during descent as higher was, CoP mean velocity for MBUA and TKA during ascent and descent. Unconstrained squat is able to reveal differences in the functional performance among control and arthroplasty groups and between different arthroplasty designs. Considering the similarity index calculated for the variables showing statistically significance, FBUA performance appears to be closest to that of the CTR group. III a.

  10. Assessment of patient functional performance in different knee arthroplasty designs during unconstrained squat

    Science.gov (United States)

    Verdini, Federica; Zara, Claudio; Leo, Tommaso; Mengarelli, Alessandro; Cardarelli, Stefano; Innocenti, Bernardo

    2017-01-01

    Summary Background In this paper, squat named by Authors unconstrained because performed without constrains related to feet position, speed, knee maximum angle to be reached, was tested as motor task revealing differences in functional performance after knee arthroplasty. It involves large joints ranges of motion, does not compromise joint safety and requires accurate control strategies to maintain balance. Methods Motion capture techniques were used to study squat on a healthy control group (CTR) and on three groups, each characterised by a specific knee arthroplasty design: a Total Knee Arthroplasty (TKA), a Mobile Bearing and a Fixed Bearing Unicompartmental Knee Arthroplasty (respectively MBUA and FBUA). Squat was analysed during descent, maintenance and ascent phase and described by speed, angular kinematics of lower and upper body, the Center of Pressure (CoP) trajectory and muscle activation timing of quadriceps and biceps femoris. Results Compared to CTR, for TKA and MBUA knee maximum flexion was lower, vertical speed during descent and ascent reduced and the duration of whole movement was longer. CoP mean distance was higher for all arthroplasty groups during descent as higher was, CoP mean velocity for MBUA and TKA during ascent and descent. Conclusions Unconstrained squat is able to reveal differences in the functional performance among control and arthroplasty groups and between different arthroplasty designs. Considering the similarity index calculated for the variables showing statistically significance, FBUA performance appears to be closest to that of the CTR group. Level of evidence III a. PMID:29387646

  11. "Seed-Milarity" confers to hsa-miR-210 and hsa-miR-147b similar functional activity.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thomas Bertero

    Full Text Available Specificity of interaction between a microRNA (miRNA and its targets crucially depends on the seed region located in its 5'-end. It is often implicitly considered that two miRNAs sharing the same biological activity should display similarity beyond the strict six nucleotide region that forms the seed, in order to form specific complexes with the same mRNA targets. We have found that expression of hsa-miR-147b and hsa-miR-210, though triggered by different stimuli (i.e. lipopolysaccharides and hypoxia, respectively, induce very similar cellular effects in term of proliferation, migration and apoptosis. Hsa-miR-147b only shares a "minimal" 6-nucleotides seed sequence with hsa-miR-210, but is identical with hsa-miR-147a over 20 nucleotides, except for one base located in the seed region. Phenotypic changes induced after heterologous expression of miR-147a strikingly differ from those induced by miR-147b or miR-210. In particular, miR-147a behaves as a potent inhibitor of cell proliferation and migration. These data fit well with the gene expression profiles observed for miR-147b and miR-210, which are very similar, and the gene expression profile of miR-147a, which is distinct from the two others. Bioinformatics analysis of all human miRNA sequences indicates multiple cases of miRNAs from distinct families exhibiting the same kind of similarity that would need to be further characterized in terms of putative functional redundancy. Besides, it implies that functional impact of some miRNAs can be masked by robust expression of miRNAs belonging to distinct families.

  12. Functionalized graphene hydrogel-based high-performance supercapacitors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Yuxi; Lin, Zhaoyang; Huang, Xiaoqing; Wang, Yang; Huang, Yu; Duan, Xiangfeng

    2013-10-25

    Functionalized graphene hydrogels are prepared by a one-step low-temperature reduction process and exhibit ultrahigh specific capacitances and excellent cycling stability in the aqueous electrolyte. Flexible solid-state supercapacitors based on functionalized graphene hydrogels are demonstrated with superior capacitive performances and extraordinary mechanical flexibility. © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  13. Modularization, inter-functional integration and operational performance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Boer, Henrike Engele Elisabeth; Boer, Harry

    2014-01-01

    for firms to indeed use product modularity beneficially, in particular inter-functional integration between manufacturing and purchasing, design and sales, respectively. The purpose of the paper is to investigate the direct performance effects of modularization, as well as the mediating effects of the three...... forms of integration in the modularization-performance relationship....

  14. Competitive interactions between forest trees are driven by species' trait hierarchy, not phylogenetic or functional similarity: implications for forest community assembly.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kunstler, Georges; Lavergne, Sébastien; Courbaud, Benoît; Thuiller, Wilfried; Vieilledent, Ghislain; Zimmermann, Niklaus E; Kattge, Jens; Coomes, David A

    2012-08-01

    The relative importance of competition vs. environmental filtering in the assembly of communities is commonly inferred from their functional and phylogenetic structure, on the grounds that similar species compete most strongly for resources and are therefore less likely to coexist locally. This approach ignores the possibility that competitive effects can be determined by relative positions of species on a hierarchy of competitive ability. Using growth data, we estimated 275 interaction coefficients between tree species in the French mountains. We show that interaction strengths are mainly driven by trait hierarchy and not by functional or phylogenetic similarity. On the basis of this result, we thus propose that functional and phylogenetic convergence in local tree community might be due to competition-sorting species with different competitive abilities and not only environmental filtering as commonly assumed. We then show a functional and phylogenetic convergence of forest structure with increasing plot age, which supports this view. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd/CNRS.

  15. Functionally graded hardmetals and cermets: preparation, performance and production scale up

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dreyer, K.; Kassel, D.; Daub, H.-W.; Berg, H. van den; Lengauer, W.; Garcia, J.; Ucakar, V.

    2001-01-01

    Sintering experiments were carried out to establish graded microstructures in hardmetals and cermets. The formation of these microstructural features was investigated as a function of nitrogen pressure, sintering temperature, sintering period and sintering profile. The nitrogen pressure influences the formation of carbonitride layers at the surface. Decreasing sintering temperature yields similar results as increasing nitrogen pressure. Upon prolonged sintering time a small growth of the outer carbonitride layer can only be obtained if a substantial WC grain growth is accepted. Variation of the sintering profile after dense sintering does not principally change the type of the graded microstructure. The laboratory experiments were scaled up in an industrial sinter/HIP furnace and showing good correspondence with each other. First turning cutting tests with different alloys show excellent performance in comparison to ungraded materials. (author)

  16. Functional Task Test: 3. Skeletal Muscle Performance Adaptations to Space Flight

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ryder, Jeffrey W.; Wickwire, P. J.; Buxton, R. E.; Bloomberg, J. J.; Ploutz-Snyder, L.

    2011-01-01

    The functional task test is a multi-disciplinary study investigating how space-flight induced changes to physiological systems impacts functional task performance. Impairment of neuromuscular function would be expected to negatively affect functional performance of crewmembers following exposure to microgravity. This presentation reports the results for muscle performance testing in crewmembers. Functional task performance will be presented in the abstract "Functional Task Test 1: sensory motor adaptations associated with postflight alternations in astronaut functional task performance." METHODS: Muscle performance measures were obtained in crewmembers before and after short-duration space flight aboard the Space Shuttle and long-duration International Space Station (ISS) missions. The battery of muscle performance tests included leg press and bench press measures of isometric force, isotonic power and total work. Knee extension was used for the measurement of central activation and maximal isometric force. Upper and lower body force steadiness control were measured on the bench press and knee extension machine, respectively. Tests were implemented 60 and 30 days before launch, on landing day (Shuttle crew only), and 6, 10 and 30 days after landing. Seven Space Shuttle crew and four ISS crew have completed the muscle performance testing to date. RESULTS: Preliminary results for Space Shuttle crew reveal significant reductions in the leg press performance metrics of maximal isometric force, power and total work on R+0 (pperformance metrics were observed in returning Shuttle crew and these adaptations are likely contributors to impaired functional tasks that are ambulatory in nature (See abstract Functional Task Test: 1). Interestingly, no significant changes in central activation capacity were detected. Therefore, impairments in muscle function in response to short-duration space flight are likely myocellular rather than neuromotor in nature.

  17. MEASURING THE PERFORMANCE OF SIMILARITY PROPAGATION IN AN SEMANTIC SEARCH ENGINE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. K. Jayanthi

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available In the current scenario, web page result personalization is playing a vital role. Nearly 80 % of the users expect the best results in the first page itself without having any persistence to browse longer in URL mode. This research work focuses on two main themes: Semantic web search through online and Domain based search through offline. The first part is to find an effective method which allows grouping similar results together using BookShelf Data Structure and organizing the various clusters. The second one is focused on the academic domain based search through offline. This paper focuses on finding documents which are similar and how Vector space can be used to solve it. So more weightage is given for the principles and working methodology of similarity propagation. Cosine similarity measure is used for finding the relevancy among the documents.

  18. Renewing functionalized graphene as electrodes for high-performance supercapacitors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fang, Yan [National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Zhongguancun, Beiyitiao No.11, Beijing, 100190 (China); Laboratory of Advanced Materials, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084 (China); Luo, Bin; Jia, Yuying; Li, Xianglong; Wang, Bin; Song, Qi [National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Zhongguancun, Beiyitiao No.11, Beijing, 100190 (China); Kang, Feiyu [Laboratory of Advanced Materials, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084 (China); Zhi, Linjie [National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Zhongguancun, Beiyitiao No.11, Beijing, 100190 (China); School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Jungong Road 516, 200093, Shanghai (China)

    2012-12-11

    An acid-assisted ultrarapid thermal strategy is developed for constructing specifically functionalized graphene. The electrochemical performance of functionalized graphene can be boosted via elaborate coupling between the pseudocapacitance and the electronic double layer capacitance through rationally tailoring the structure of graphene sheets. This presents an opportunity for developing further high-performance graphene-based electrodes to bridge the performance gap between traditional capacitors and batteries. (Copyright copyright 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

  19. Renewing functionalized graphene as electrodes for high-performance supercapacitors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fang, Yan; Luo, Bin; Jia, Yuying; Li, Xianglong; Wang, Bin; Song, Qi; Kang, Feiyu; Zhi, Linjie

    2012-12-11

    An acid-assisted ultrarapid thermal strategy is developed for constructing specifically functionalized graphene. The electrochemical performance of functionalized graphene can be boosted via elaborate coupling between the pseudocapacitance and the electronic double layer capacitance through rationally tailoring the structure of graphene sheets. This presents an opportunity for developing further high-performance graphene-based electrodes to bridge the performance gap between traditional capacitors and batteries. Copyright © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  20. Bike Desks in the Classroom: Energy Expenditure, Physical Health, Cognitive Performance, Brain Functioning, and Academic Performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Torbeyns, Tine; de Geus, Bas; Bailey, Stephen; Decroix, Lieselot; Van Cutsem, Jeroen; De Pauw, Kevin; Meeusen, Romain

    2017-06-01

    Physical activity is positively associated with physical health, cognitive performance, brain functioning and academic performance. The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of bike desks in the classroom on adolescents' energy expenditure, physical health, cognitive performance, brain functioning and academic performance. Forty-four adolescents were randomly assigned to control group (CG) or intervention group (IG). During 5 months, the IG used a bike desk for 4 class hours/week. Energy expenditure was measured during 6 consecutive days. Anthropometric parameters, aerobic fitness, academic performance, cognitive performance and brain functioning were assessed before (T0) and after (T1) the intervention. Energy expenditure of the IG was significantly higher during the class hours in which they used the bike desks relative to normal class hours. The CG had a significantly higher BMI at T1 relative to T0 while this was not significantly different for the IG. Aerobic fitness was significantly better in the IG at T1 relative to T0. No significant effects on academic performance cognitive performance and brain functioning were observed. As the implementation of bike desks in the classroom did not interfere with adolescents' academic performance, this can be seen as an effective means of reducing in-class sedentary time and improving adolescents' physical health.

  1. Functional High Performance Financial IT

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Berthold, Jost; Filinski, Andrzej; Henglein, Fritz

    2011-01-01

    at the University of Copenhagen that attacks this triple challenge of increased performance, transparency and productivity in the financial sector by a novel integration of financial mathematics, domain-specific language technology, parallel functional programming, and emerging massively parallel hardware. HIPERFIT......The world of finance faces the computational performance challenge of massively expanding data volumes, extreme response time requirements, and compute-intensive complex (risk) analyses. Simultaneously, new international regulatory rules require considerably more transparency and external...... auditability of financial institutions, including their software systems. To top it off, increased product variety and customisation necessitates shorter software development cycles and higher development productivity. In this paper, we report about HIPERFIT, a recently etablished strategic research center...

  2. Similarity indices I: what do they measure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Johnston, J.W.

    1976-11-01

    A method for estimating the effects of environmental effusions on ecosystems is described. The characteristics of 25 similarity indices used in studies of ecological communities were investigated. The type of data structure, to which these indices are frequently applied, was described as consisting of vectors of measurements on attributes (species) observed in a set of samples. A general similarity index was characterized as the result of a two-step process defined on a pair of vectors. In the first step an attribute similarity score is obtained for each attribute by comparing the attribute values observed in the pair of vectors. The result is a vector of attribute similarity scores. These are combined in the second step to arrive at the similarity index. The operation in the first step was characterized as a function, g, defined on pairs of attribute values. The second operation was characterized as a function, F, defined on the vector of attribute similarity scores from the first step. Usually, F was a simple sum or weighted sum of the attribute similarity scores. It is concluded that similarity indices should not be used as the test statistic to discriminate between two ecological communities

  3. Similarity indices I: what do they measure.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Johnston, J.W.

    1976-11-01

    A method for estimating the effects of environmental effusions on ecosystems is described. The characteristics of 25 similarity indices used in studies of ecological communities were investigated. The type of data structure, to which these indices are frequently applied, was described as consisting of vectors of measurements on attributes (species) observed in a set of samples. A general similarity index was characterized as the result of a two-step process defined on a pair of vectors. In the first step an attribute similarity score is obtained for each attribute by comparing the attribute values observed in the pair of vectors. The result is a vector of attribute similarity scores. These are combined in the second step to arrive at the similarity index. The operation in the first step was characterized as a function, g, defined on pairs of attribute values. The second operation was characterized as a function, F, defined on the vector of attribute similarity scores from the first step. Usually, F was a simple sum or weighted sum of the attribute similarity scores. It is concluded that similarity indices should not be used as the test statistic to discriminate between two ecological communities.

  4. Executive functioning in preschool children: performance on A-not-B and other delayed response format tasks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Espy, K A; Kaufmann, P M; McDiarmid, M D; Glisky, M L

    1999-11-01

    The A-not-B (AB) task has been hypothesized to measure executive/frontal lobe function; however, the developmental and measurement characteristics of this task have not been investigated. Performances on AB and comparison tasks adapted from developmental and neuroscience literature was examined in 117 preschool children (ages 23-66 months). Age significantly predicted performance on AB, Delayed Alternation, Spatial Reversal, Color Reversal, and Self-Control tasks. A four-factor analytic model best fit task performance data. AB task indices loaded on two factors with measures from the Self-Control and Delayed Alternation tasks, respectively. AB indices did not load with those from the reversal tasks despite similarities in task administration and presumed cognitive demand (working memory). These results indicate that AB is sensitive to individual differences in age-related performance in preschool children and suggest that AB performance is related to both working memory and inhibition processes in this age range.

  5. Performance of exchange-correlation functionals in density functional theory calculations for liquid metal: A benchmark test for sodium

    Science.gov (United States)

    Han, Jeong-Hwan; Oda, Takuji

    2018-04-01

    The performance of exchange-correlation functionals in density-functional theory (DFT) calculations for liquid metal has not been sufficiently examined. In the present study, benchmark tests of Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE), Armiento-Mattsson 2005 (AM05), PBE re-parameterized for solids, and local density approximation (LDA) functionals are conducted for liquid sodium. The pair correlation function, equilibrium atomic volume, bulk modulus, and relative enthalpy are evaluated at 600 K and 1000 K. Compared with the available experimental data, the errors range from -11.2% to 0.0% for the atomic volume, from -5.2% to 22.0% for the bulk modulus, and from -3.5% to 2.5% for the relative enthalpy depending on the DFT functional. The generalized gradient approximation functionals are superior to the LDA functional, and the PBE and AM05 functionals exhibit the best performance. In addition, we assess whether the error tendency in liquid simulations is comparable to that in solid simulations, which would suggest that the atomic volume and relative enthalpy performances are comparable between solid and liquid states but that the bulk modulus performance is not. These benchmark test results indicate that the results of liquid simulations are significantly dependent on the exchange-correlation functional and that the DFT functional performance in solid simulations can be used to roughly estimate the performance in liquid simulations.

  6. Kinesiophobia, Pain, Muscle Functions, and Functional Performances among Older Persons with Low Back Pain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nor Azizah Ishak

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Objectives. This study aims (1 to determine the association between kinesiophobia and pain, muscle functions, and functional performances and (2 to determine whether kinesiophobia predicts pain, muscle functions, and functional performance among older persons with low back pain (LBP. Methods. This is a correlational study, involving 63 institutionalized older persons (age = 70.98±7.90 years diagnosed with LBP. Anthropometric characteristics (BMI and functional performances (lower limb function, balance and mobility, and hand grip strength were measured. Muscle strength (abdominal and back muscle strength was assessed using the Baseline® Mechanical Push/Pull Dynamometer, while muscle control (transverse abdominus and multifidus was measured by using the Pressure Biofeedback Unit. The pain intensity and the level of kinesiophobia were measured using Numerical Rating Scale and Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia, respectively. Data were analyzed using Pearson’s correlation coefficients and multivariate linear regressions. Results. No significant correlations were found between kinesiophobia and pain and muscle functions (all p>0.05. Kinesiophobia was significantly correlated with mobility and balance (p=0.038, r=0.263. Regressions analysis showed that kinesiophobia was a significant predictor of mobility and balance (p=0.038. Conclusion. We can conclude that kinesiophobia predicted mobility and balance in older persons with LBP. Kinesiophobia should be continuously assessed in clinical settings to recognize the obstacles that may affect patient’s compliance towards a rehabilitation program in older persons with LBP.

  7. Functional Performance and Associations between Performance Tests and Neurological Assessment Differ in Men and Women with Parkinson’s Disease

    OpenAIRE

    Medijainen, Kadri; Pääsuke, Mati; Lukmann, Aet; Taba, Pille

    2015-01-01

    Background. Neurological assessment of a patient with Parkinson's disease (PD) is expected to reflect upon functional performance. As women are known to report more limitations even for same observed functional performance level, present study was designed to examine whether associations between neurological assessments and functional performance differ across genders. Methods. 14 men and 14 women with PD participated. Functional performance was assessed by measuring walking speeds on 10-mete...

  8. Face Recognition Performance Improvement using a Similarity Score of Feature Vectors based on Probabilistic Histograms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    SRIKOTE, G.

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available This paper proposes an improved performance algorithm of face recognition to identify two face mismatch pairs in cases of incorrect decisions. The primary feature of this method is to deploy the similarity score with respect to Gaussian components between two previously unseen faces. Unlike the conventional classical vector distance measurement, our algorithms also consider the plot of summation of the similarity index versus face feature vector distance. A mixture of Gaussian models of labeled faces is also widely applicable to different biometric system parameters. By comparative evaluations, it has been shown that the efficiency of the proposed algorithm is superior to that of the conventional algorithm by an average accuracy of up to 1.15% and 16.87% when compared with 3x3 Multi-Region Histogram (MRH direct-bag-of-features and Principal Component Analysis (PCA-based face recognition systems, respectively. The experimental results show that similarity score consideration is more discriminative for face recognition compared to feature distance. Experimental results of Labeled Face in the Wild (LFW data set demonstrate that our algorithms are suitable for real applications probe-to-gallery identification of face recognition systems. Moreover, this proposed method can also be applied to other recognition systems and therefore additionally improves recognition scores.

  9. Similar inflammatory responses following sprint interval training performed in hypoxia and normoxia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alan James Richardson

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Sprint interval training (SIT is an efficient intervention capable of improving aerobic capacity and exercise performance. This experiment aimed to determine differences in training adaptations and the inflammatory responses following 2 weeks of SIT (30s maximal work, 4 min recovery; 4-7 repetitions performed in normoxia or hypoxia. Forty-two untrained participants [(mean ± SD, age 21 ±1 yrs, body mass 72.1 ±11.4 kg and height 173 ±10 cm] were equally and randomly assigned to one of three groups; control (CONT; no training, n = 14, normoxic (NORM; SIT in FiO2: 0.21, n = 14 and normobaric hypoxic (HYP; SIT in FiO2: 0.15, n = 14. Participants completed a V̇O2peak test, a time to exhaustion (TTE trial (power = 80% V̇O2peak and had haematological [haemoglobin (Hb, haematocrit (Hct] and inflammatory markers [interleukin-6 (IL-6, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα] measured in a resting state, pre and post SIT. V̇O2peak (mL.kg-1.min-1 improved in HYP (+11.9% and NORM (+9.8%, but not CON (+0.9%. Similarly TTE improved in HYP (+32.2% and NORM (+33.0%, but not CON (+3.4% whilst the power at the anaerobic threshold (AT; W.kg-1 also improved in HYP (+13.3% and NORM (+8.0%, but not CON (-0.3%. AT (mL.kg-1.min-1 improved in HYP (+9.5%, but not NORM (+5% or CON (-0.3%. No between group change occurred in 30 s sprint performance or Hb and Hct. IL-6 increased in HYP (+17.4% and NORM (+20.1%, but not CON (+1.2% respectively. TNF-α increased in HYP (+10.8% NORM (+12.9% and CON (+3.4%.SIT in HYP and NORM increased VO2peak, power at AT and TTE performance in untrained individuals, improvements in AT occurred only when SIT was performed in HYP. Increases in IL-6 and TNFα reflect a training induced inflammatory response to SIT; hypoxic conditions do not exacerbate this.

  10. The Nonlocal Sparse Reconstruction Algorithm by Similarity Measurement with Shearlet Feature Vector

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wu Qidi

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Due to the limited accuracy of conventional methods with image restoration, the paper supplied a nonlocal sparsity reconstruction algorithm with similarity measurement. To improve the performance of restoration results, we proposed two schemes to dictionary learning and sparse coding, respectively. In the part of the dictionary learning, we measured the similarity between patches from degraded image by constructing the Shearlet feature vector. Besides, we classified the patches into different classes with similarity and trained the cluster dictionary for each class, by cascading which we could gain the universal dictionary. In the part of sparse coding, we proposed a novel optimal objective function with the coding residual item, which can suppress the residual between the estimate coding and true sparse coding. Additionally, we show the derivation of self-adaptive regularization parameter in optimization under the Bayesian framework, which can make the performance better. It can be indicated from the experimental results that by taking full advantage of similar local geometric structure feature existing in the nonlocal patches and the coding residual suppression, the proposed method shows advantage both on visual perception and PSNR compared to the conventional methods.

  11. Improved Functional Performance in Geriatric Patients During Hospital Stay

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Karlsen, Anders; Loeb, Mads Rohde; Andersen, Kristine Bramsen

    2017-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: The aim of this work was to evaluate the time course of changes in strength and functional performance in elderly hospitalized medical patients. DESIGN: This was a prospective observational study in elderly medical patients of age 65 years or older at a geriatric department.Measurement......OBJECTIVE: The aim of this work was to evaluate the time course of changes in strength and functional performance in elderly hospitalized medical patients. DESIGN: This was a prospective observational study in elderly medical patients of age 65 years or older at a geriatric department.......Measurements were obtained on days 2 to 4, day 5 to 8, and days 9 to 13. Functional performance was measured with De Morton Mobility Index (DEMMI) test and a 30-second chair stand test (30-s CST). Muscular strength was measured with handgrip strength. Activity level was determined with accelerometry (Activ...... in 30-s CST (P performance of the lower extremities in geriatric patients improves moderately over the time of a hospital stay...

  12. Gestational diabetes, preeclampsia and cytokine release: similarities and differences in endothelial cell function.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rao, Rashmi; Sen, Suvajit; Han, Bing; Ramadoss, Sivakumar; Chaudhuri, Gautam

    2014-01-01

    Gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia as well as intra-uterine infection during pregnancy affects the function of the endothelium both in the mother and the fetus leading to endothelial dysfunction. Gestational diabetes is also associated with an increased incidence of pre-eclampsia and it is likely that both the hyperglycemia as well as the release of cytokines especially TNFα during hyperglycemia may play an important role in the pathogenesis of endothelial dysfunction leading to preeclampsia. Similarly, some but not all studies have suggested that infection of the mother under certain circumstances can also lead to preeclampsia as women with either a bacterial or viral infection were at a higher risk of developing preeclampsia, compared to women without infection and infection also leads to a release in TNFα. Endothelial cells exposed to either high glucose or TNFα leads to an increase in the production of H2O2 and to a decrease in endothelial cell proliferation. The cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in this phenomenon are discussed.Gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia as well as intra-uterine infection during pregnancy has profound effects on the fetus and long term effects on the neonate. All three conditions affect the function of the endothelium both in the mother and the fetus leading to endothelial dysfunction. Gestational diabetes is also associated with an increased incidence of pre-eclampsia and it is likely that both the hyperglycemia as well as the release of cytokines especially TNFα during hyperglycemia may play an important role in the pathogenesis of endothelial dysfunction leading to preeclampsia. It has also been suggested although not universally accepted that under certain circumstances maternal infection may also predispose to pre-eclampsia. Pre-eclampsia is also associated with the release of TNFα and endothelial dysfunction. However, the cellular and molecular mechanism(s) leading to the endothelial dysfunction by either

  13. Distinct contributions of functional and deep neural network features to representational similarity of scenes in human brain and behavior.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Groen, Iris Ia; Greene, Michelle R; Baldassano, Christopher; Fei-Fei, Li; Beck, Diane M; Baker, Chris I

    2018-03-07

    Inherent correlations between visual and semantic features in real-world scenes make it difficult to determine how different scene properties contribute to neural representations. Here, we assessed the contributions of multiple properties to scene representation by partitioning the variance explained in human behavioral and brain measurements by three feature models whose inter-correlations were minimized a priori through stimulus preselection. Behavioral assessments of scene similarity reflected unique contributions from a functional feature model indicating potential actions in scenes as well as high-level visual features from a deep neural network (DNN). In contrast, similarity of cortical responses in scene-selective areas was uniquely explained by mid- and high-level DNN features only, while an object label model did not contribute uniquely to either domain. The striking dissociation between functional and DNN features in their contribution to behavioral and brain representations of scenes indicates that scene-selective cortex represents only a subset of behaviorally relevant scene information.

  14. Natural texture retrieval based on perceptual similarity measurement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Ying; Dong, Junyu; Lou, Jianwen; Qi, Lin; Liu, Jun

    2018-04-01

    A typical texture retrieval system performs feature comparison and might not be able to make human-like judgments of image similarity. Meanwhile, it is commonly known that perceptual texture similarity is difficult to be described by traditional image features. In this paper, we propose a new texture retrieval scheme based on texture perceptual similarity. The key of the proposed scheme is that prediction of perceptual similarity is performed by learning a non-linear mapping from image features space to perceptual texture space by using Random Forest. We test the method on natural texture dataset and apply it on a new wallpapers dataset. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed texture retrieval scheme with perceptual similarity improves the retrieval performance over traditional image features.

  15. Study of functional-performance deficits in athletes with previous ankle sprains

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    hamid Babaee

    2008-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background: Despite the importance of functional-performance deficits in athletes with history of ankle sprain few, studies have been carried out in this area. The aim of this research was to study relationship between previous ankle sprains and functional-performance deficits in athletes. Materials and methods: The subjects were 40 professional athletes selected through random sampling among volunteer participants in soccer, basketball, volleyball and handball teams of Lorestan province. The subjects were divided into 2 groups: Injured group (athletes with previous ankle sprains and healthy group (athletes without previous ankle sprains. In this descriptive study we used Functional-performance tests (figure 8 hop test and side hop test to determine ankle deficits and limitations. They participated in figure 8 hop test including hopping in 8 shape course with the length of 5 meters and side hop test including 10 side hop repetitions in course with the length of 30 centimeters. Time were recorded via stopwatch. Results: After data gathering and assessing information distributions, Pearson correlation was used to assess relationships, and independent T test to assess differences between variables. Finally the results showed that there is a significant relationship between previous ankle sprains and functional-performance deficits in the athletes. Conclusion: The athletes who had previous ankle sprains indicated functional-performance deficits more than healthy athletes in completion of mentioned functional-performance tests. The functional-performance tests (figure 8 hop test and side hop test are sensitive and suitable to assess and detect functional-performance deficits in athletes. Therefore we can use the figure 8 hop and side hop tests for goals such as prevention, assessment and rehabilitation of ankle sprains without spending too much money and time.

  16. A similarity based agglomerative clustering algorithm in networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Zhiyuan; Wang, Xiujuan; Ma, Yinghong

    2018-04-01

    The detection of clusters is benefit for understanding the organizations and functions of networks. Clusters, or communities, are usually groups of nodes densely interconnected but sparsely linked with any other clusters. To identify communities, an efficient and effective community agglomerative algorithm based on node similarity is proposed. The proposed method initially calculates similarities between each pair of nodes, and form pre-partitions according to the principle that each node is in the same community as its most similar neighbor. After that, check each partition whether it satisfies community criterion. For the pre-partitions who do not satisfy, incorporate them with others that having the biggest attraction until there are no changes. To measure the attraction ability of a partition, we propose an attraction index that based on the linked node's importance in networks. Therefore, our proposed method can better exploit the nodes' properties and network's structure. To test the performance of our algorithm, both synthetic and empirical networks ranging in different scales are tested. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can obtain superior clustering results compared with six other widely used community detection algorithms.

  17. Study for the design method of multi-agent diagnostic system to improve diagnostic performance for similar abnormality

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Minowa, Hirotsugu; Gofuku, Akio

    2014-01-01

    Accidents on industrial plants cause large loss on human, economic, social credibility. In recent, studies of diagnostic methods using techniques of machine learning such as support vector machine is expected to detect the occurrence of abnormality in a plant early and correctly. There were reported that these diagnostic machines has high accuracy to diagnose the operating state of industrial plant under mono abnormality occurrence. But the each diagnostic machine on the multi-agent diagnostic system may misdiagnose similar abnormalities as a same abnormality if abnormalities to diagnose increases. That causes that a single diagnostic machine may show higher diagnostic performance than one of multi-agent diagnostic system because decision-making considering with misdiagnosis is difficult. Therefore, we study the design method for multi-agent diagnostic system to diagnose similar abnormality correctly. This method aimed to realize automatic generation of diagnostic system where the generation process and location of diagnostic machines are optimized to diagnose correctly the similar abnormalities which are evaluated from the similarity of process signals by statistical method. This paper explains our design method and reports the result evaluated our method applied to the process data of the fast-breeder reactor Monju

  18. Functional Task Test: 1. Sensorimotor changes Associated with Postflight Alterations in Astronaut Functional Task Performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bloomberg, J. J.; Arzeno, N. H.; Buxton, R. E.; Feiveson, A. H.; Kofman, I. S.; Lee, S. M. C.; Miller, C. A.; Mulavara, A. P.; Platts, S. H.; Peters, B. T.; hide

    2011-01-01

    Space flight is known to cause alterations in multiple physiological systems including changes in sensorimotor, cardiovascular, and neuromuscular systems. These changes may affect a crewmember s ability to perform critical mission tasks immediately after landing on a planetary surface. The overall goal of this project is to determine the effects of space flight on functional tests that are representative of high priority exploration mission tasks and to identify the key underlying physiological factors that contribute to decrements in performance. This presentation will focus on the sensorimotor contributions to postflight functional performance.

  19. Defining the Physiological Factors that Contribute to Postflight Changes in Functional Performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bloomberg, J. J.; Arzeno, N.; Buxton, R.; Feiveson, A. H.; Kofman, I.; Lawrence, E.; Lee, S. M. C.; Mulavara, A. P.; Peters, B. T.; Platts, S. H.; hide

    2009-01-01

    Astronauts experience alterations in multiple physiological systems due to exposure to the microgravity conditions of space flight. These physiological changes include sensorimotor disturbances, cardiovascular deconditioning and loss of muscle mass and strength. These changes might affect the ability of crewmembers to perform critical mission tasks immediately after landing on lunar and Martian surfaces. To date, changes in functional performance have not been systematically studied or correlated with physiological changes. To understand how changes in physiological function impact functional performance an interdisciplinary pre/postflight testing regimen (Functional Task Test, FTT) has been developed that systematically evaluates both astronaut postflight functional performance and related physiological changes. The overall objective of the FTT is to identify the key underlying physiological factors that contribute to performance of functional tests that are representative of critical mission tasks. This study will identify which physiological systems contribute the most to impaired performance on each functional test. This will allow us to identify the physiological systems that play the largest role in decrement in functional performance. Using this information we can then design and implement countermeasures that specifically target the physiological systems most responsible for the altered functional performance associated with space flight. The functional test battery was designed to address high priority tasks identified by the Constellation program as critical for mission success. The set of functional tests making up the FTT include the: 1) Seat Egress and Walk Test, 2) Ladder Climb Test, 3) Recovery from Fall/Stand Test, 4) Rock Translation Test, 5) Jump Down Test, 6) Torque Generation Test, and 7) Construction Activity Board Test. Corresponding physiological measures include assessments of postural and gait control, dynamic visual acuity, fine motor

  20. A general framework for regularized, similarity-based image restoration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kheradmand, Amin; Milanfar, Peyman

    2014-12-01

    Any image can be represented as a function defined on a weighted graph, in which the underlying structure of the image is encoded in kernel similarity and associated Laplacian matrices. In this paper, we develop an iterative graph-based framework for image restoration based on a new definition of the normalized graph Laplacian. We propose a cost function, which consists of a new data fidelity term and regularization term derived from the specific definition of the normalized graph Laplacian. The normalizing coefficients used in the definition of the Laplacian and associated regularization term are obtained using fast symmetry preserving matrix balancing. This results in some desired spectral properties for the normalized Laplacian such as being symmetric, positive semidefinite, and returning zero vector when applied to a constant image. Our algorithm comprises of outer and inner iterations, where in each outer iteration, the similarity weights are recomputed using the previous estimate and the updated objective function is minimized using inner conjugate gradient iterations. This procedure improves the performance of the algorithm for image deblurring, where we do not have access to a good initial estimate of the underlying image. In addition, the specific form of the cost function allows us to render the spectral analysis for the solutions of the corresponding linear equations. In addition, the proposed approach is general in the sense that we have shown its effectiveness for different restoration problems, including deblurring, denoising, and sharpening. Experimental results verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm on both synthetic and real examples.

  1. Influence of heat treatment on fatigue performances for self-piercing riveting similar and dissimilar titanium, aluminium and copper alloys

    OpenAIRE

    Zhang, Xianlian; He, Xiaocong; Xing, Baoying; Zhao, Lun; Lu, Yi; Gu, Fengshou; Ball, Andrew

    2016-01-01

    The fatigue performances of self-piercing riveting (SPR) joints connecting similar and dissimilar sheets of TA1 titanium alloy (TA1), Al5052 aluminium alloy (Al5052) and H62 copper alloy (H62) were studied in this paper. The specimens of similar TA1 sheets treated with stress relief annealing were prepared to investigate the influence of relief annealing on the mechanical properties of SPR joints. Fatigue tests were conducted to characterize the fatigue lives and failure modes of the joints. ...

  2. Robust design principles for reducing variation in functional performance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christensen, Martin Ebro; Howard, Thomas J.

    2016-01-01

    This paper identifies, describes and classifies a comprehensive collection of variation reduction principles (VRP) that can be used to increase the robustness of a product and reduce its variation in functional performance. Performance variation has a negative effect on the reliability and percei......This paper identifies, describes and classifies a comprehensive collection of variation reduction principles (VRP) that can be used to increase the robustness of a product and reduce its variation in functional performance. Performance variation has a negative effect on the reliability...... and perceived quality of a product and efforts should be made to minimise it. The design principles are identified by a systematic decomposition of the Taguchi Transfer Function in combination with the use of existing literature and the authors’ experience. The paper presents 15 principles and describes...... their advantages and disadvantages along with example cases. Subsequently, the principles are classified based on their applicability in the various development and production stages. The VRP are to be added to existing robust design methodologies, helping the designer to think beyond robust design tool and method...

  3. Rift Valley fever virus NSs protein functions and the similarity to other bunyavirus NSs proteins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ly, Hoai J; Ikegami, Tetsuro

    2016-07-02

    Rift Valley fever is a mosquito-borne zoonotic disease that affects both ruminants and humans. The nonstructural (NS) protein, which is a major virulence factor for Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV), is encoded on the S-segment. Through the cullin 1-Skp1-Fbox E3 ligase complex, the NSs protein promotes the degradation of at least two host proteins, the TFIIH p62 and the PKR proteins. NSs protein bridges the Fbox protein with subsequent substrates, and facilitates the transfer of ubiquitin. The SAP30-YY1 complex also bridges the NSs protein with chromatin DNA, affecting cohesion and segregation of chromatin DNA as well as the activation of interferon-β promoter. The presence of NSs filaments in the nucleus induces DNA damage responses and causes cell-cycle arrest, p53 activation, and apoptosis. Despite the fact that NSs proteins have poor amino acid similarity among bunyaviruses, the strategy utilized to hijack host cells are similar. This review will provide and summarize an update of recent findings pertaining to the biological functions of the NSs protein of RVFV as well as the differences from those of other bunyaviruses.

  4. Accurate protein structure annotation through competitive diffusion of enzymatic functions over a network of local evolutionary similarities.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eric Venner

    Full Text Available High-throughput Structural Genomics yields many new protein structures without known molecular function. This study aims to uncover these missing annotations by globally comparing select functional residues across the structural proteome. First, Evolutionary Trace Annotation, or ETA, identifies which proteins have local evolutionary and structural features in common; next, these proteins are linked together into a proteomic network of ETA similarities; then, starting from proteins with known functions, competing functional labels diffuse link-by-link over the entire network. Every node is thus assigned a likelihood z-score for every function, and the most significant one at each node wins and defines its annotation. In high-throughput controls, this competitive diffusion process recovered enzyme activity annotations with 99% and 97% accuracy at half-coverage for the third and fourth Enzyme Commission (EC levels, respectively. This corresponds to false positive rates 4-fold lower than nearest-neighbor and 5-fold lower than sequence-based annotations. In practice, experimental validation of the predicted carboxylesterase activity in a protein from Staphylococcus aureus illustrated the effectiveness of this approach in the context of an increasingly drug-resistant microbe. This study further links molecular function to a small number of evolutionarily important residues recognizable by Evolutionary Tracing and it points to the specificity and sensitivity of functional annotation by competitive global network diffusion. A web server is at http://mammoth.bcm.tmc.edu/networks.

  5. In-depth performance evaluation of PFP and ESG sequence-based function prediction methods in CAFA 2011 experiment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chitale Meghana

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Many Automatic Function Prediction (AFP methods were developed to cope with an increasing growth of the number of gene sequences that are available from high throughput sequencing experiments. To support the development of AFP methods, it is essential to have community wide experiments for evaluating performance of existing AFP methods. Critical Assessment of Function Annotation (CAFA is one such community experiment. The meeting of CAFA was held as a Special Interest Group (SIG meeting at the Intelligent Systems in Molecular Biology (ISMB conference in 2011. Here, we perform a detailed analysis of two sequence-based function prediction methods, PFP and ESG, which were developed in our lab, using the predictions submitted to CAFA. Results We evaluate PFP and ESG using four different measures in comparison with BLAST, Prior, and GOtcha. In addition to the predictions submitted to CAFA, we further investigate performance of a different scoring function to rank order predictions by PFP as well as PFP/ESG predictions enriched with Priors that simply adds frequently occurring Gene Ontology terms as a part of predictions. Prediction accuracies of each method were also evaluated separately for different functional categories. Successful and unsuccessful predictions by PFP and ESG are also discussed in comparison with BLAST. Conclusion The in-depth analysis discussed here will complement the overall assessment by the CAFA organizers. Since PFP and ESG are based on sequence database search results, our analyses are not only useful for PFP and ESG users but will also shed light on the relationship of the sequence similarity space and functions that can be inferred from the sequences.

  6. On different forms of self similarity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aswathy, R.K.; Mathew, Sunil

    2016-01-01

    Fractal geometry is mainly based on the idea of self-similar forms. To be self-similar, a shape must able to be divided into parts that are smaller copies, which are more or less similar to the whole. There are different forms of self similarity in nature and mathematics. In this paper, some of the topological properties of super self similar sets are discussed. It is proved that in a complete metric space with two or more elements, the set of all non super self similar sets are dense in the set of all non-empty compact sub sets. It is also proved that the product of self similar sets are super self similar in product metric spaces and that the super self similarity is preserved under isometry. A characterization of super self similar sets using contracting sub self similarity is also presented. Some relevant counterexamples are provided. The concepts of exact super and sub self similarity are introduced and a necessary and sufficient condition for a set to be exact super self similar in terms of condensation iterated function systems (Condensation IFS’s) is obtained. A method to generate exact sub self similar sets using condensation IFS’s and the denseness of exact super self similar sets are also discussed.

  7. Effects of hippotherapy on gross motor function and functional performance of children with cerebral palsy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Eun Sook; Rha, Dong Wook; Shin, Jung Soon; Kim, Soohyeon; Jung, Soojin

    2014-11-01

    The purpose of our study was to investigate the effects of hippotherapy on gross motor function and functional performance in children with spastic cerebral palsy (CP). We recruited 34 children (M:F=15:19, age: 3-12 years) with spastic CP who underwent hippotherapy for 45 minutes twice a week for 8 weeks. Twenty-one children with spastic CP were recruited for control group. The distribution of gross motor function classification system level and mean age were not significantly different between the two groups. Outcome measures, including the Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM)-66, GMFM-88 and the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory: Functional Skills Scale (PEDI-FSS), were assessed before therapy and after the 8-weeks intervention as outcome measures. There were no significant differences between intervention and control groups in mean baseline total scores of GMFM-66, GMFM-88 or PEDI-FSS. After the 8-weeks intervention, mean GMFM-66 and GMFM-88 scores were significantly improved in both groups. However, the hippotherapy group had significantly greater improvement in dimension E and GMFM-66 total score than the control group. The total PEDI-FSS score and the sub-scores of its 3 domains were significantly improved in the hippotherapy group, but not in the control group. The results of our study demonstrate the beneficial effects of hippotherapy on gross motor function and functional performance in children with CP compared to control group. The significant improvement in PEDI-FSS scores suggests that hippotherapy may be useful to maximize the functional performance of children with CP.

  8. Morphological similarities between DBM and a microeconomic model of sprawl

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caruso, Geoffrey; Vuidel, Gilles; Cavailhès, Jean; Frankhauser, Pierre; Peeters, Dominique; Thomas, Isabelle

    2011-03-01

    We present a model that simulates the growth of a metropolitan area on a 2D lattice. The model is dynamic and based on microeconomics. Households show preferences for nearby open spaces and neighbourhood density. They compete on the land market. They travel along a road network to access the CBD. A planner ensures the connectedness and maintenance of the road network. The spatial pattern of houses, green spaces and road network self-organises, emerging from agents individualistic decisions. We perform several simulations and vary residential preferences. Our results show morphologies and transition phases that are similar to Dieletric Breakdown Models (DBM). Such similarities were observed earlier by other authors, but we show here that it can be deducted from the functioning of the land market and thus explicitly connected to urban economic theory.

  9. Examination of relationship between 30 second wingate test performance and spirometric respiratory functions in young adults

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    C Arslan

    2009-07-01

    Full Text Available Objective: This work has been planed to investigate whether the correlation between one of the important component of the sports performance spirometric respiratory function (SRF and 30 s Wingate Test (WT parameters of young adults who have different physical fitness level. Materials and Methods: This work included a total of 166 subjects those are 98 young boys (20.30±1.93 and 68 young girls (19.65±2.18. The subjects were divided into two groups namely regular exercises group (EG who make a regular exercises during 4.0±1.50 years and sedentary groups (SG. Both group’s subjects have similar age, height, weight and body mass index (BMI kg/m2. All the subjects were performed spirometric respiratory function test and WT power performance test. Statistical analyses were performed by SPSS computer program and the groups were compared to each other by using Independent Samples t test calculation and the correlation relation levels were calculated by using linear regression analysis. Results: In the view of physical peculiarities, it has not been found any difference between research groups that EG and SG (P>0.05. In the meaning of the measured spirometric respiratory functions and WT power performance, with the advantage of making regular sports, according to SG groups, the boys and girls EG groups showed differences (P<0.05. The correlational relationship between the spirometric and WT power parameters; it has been observed significant correlation between peak power (PP, mean power (MP, peak power/weight (PP/Wkg, mean power/weight (MP/Wkg form WT parameters and VC, FVC, FEV1, FEV1/FVC (% FEF25-75, PEF and MVV form respiration function (P<0.05 and P<0.001. On the other hand, it has not been found any significant correlation between WT anaerobic fatigue index (AFI % and respiratory functions (P<0.05. Conclusion: In this work, the tested spirometric respiratory functions have got an active role in the WT power parameters. It has been confirmed that

  10. Retrieval evaluation and distance learning from perceived similarity between endomicroscopy videos.

    Science.gov (United States)

    André, Barbara; Vercauteren, Tom; Buchner, Anna M; Wallace, Michael B; Ayache, Nicholas

    2011-01-01

    Evaluating content-based retrieval (CBR) is challenging because it requires an adequate ground-truth. When the available groundtruth is limited to textual metadata such as pathological classes, retrieval results can only be evaluated indirectly, for example in terms of classification performance. In this study we first present a tool to generate perceived similarity ground-truth that enables direct evaluation of endomicroscopic video retrieval. This tool uses a four-points Likert scale and collects subjective pairwise similarities perceived by multiple expert observers. We then evaluate against the generated ground-truth a previously developed dense bag-of-visual-words method for endomicroscopic video retrieval. Confirming the results of previous indirect evaluation based on classification, our direct evaluation shows that this method significantly outperforms several other state-of-the-art CBR methods. In a second step, we propose to improve the CBR method by learning an adjusted similarity metric from the perceived similarity ground-truth. By minimizing a margin-based cost function that differentiates similar and dissimilar video pairs, we learn a weight vector applied to the visual word signatures of videos. Using cross-validation, we demonstrate that the learned similarity distance is significantly better correlated with the perceived similarity than the original visual-word-based distance.

  11. Contrasting ecosystem-effects of morphologically similar copepods.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Blake Matthews

    Full Text Available Organisms alter the biotic and abiotic conditions of ecosystems. They can modulate the availability of resources to other species (ecosystem engineering and shape selection pressures on other organisms (niche construction. Very little is known about how the engineering effects of organisms vary among and within species, and, as a result, the ecosystem consequences of species diversification and phenotypic evolution are poorly understood. Here, using a common gardening experiment, we test whether morphologically similar species and populations of Diaptomidae copepods (Leptodiaptomus ashlandi, Hesperodiaptomus franciscanus, Skistodiaptomus oregonensis have similar or different effects on the structure and function of freshwater ecosystems. We found that copepod species had contrasting effects on algal biomass, ammonium concentrations, and sedimentation rates, and that copepod populations had contrasting effects on prokaryote abundance, sedimentation rates, and gross primary productivity. The average size of ecosystem-effect contrasts between species was similar to those between populations, and was comparable to those between fish species and populations measured in previous common gardening experiments. Our results suggest that subtle morphological variation among and within species can cause multifarious and divergent ecosystem-effects. We conclude that using morphological trait variation to assess the functional similarity of organisms may underestimate the importance of species and population diversity for ecosystem functioning.

  12. The effect of caffeine ingestion on functional performance in older adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duncan, M J; Clarke, N D; Tallis, J; Guimarães-Ferreira, L; Leddington Wright, S

    2014-12-01

    Caffeine is a widely used nutritional supplement which has been shown to enhance both physical and cognitive performance in younger adults. However, few studies have assessed the effect of caffeine ingestion on performance, particularly functional performance in older adults. The present study aims to assess the effect of acute caffeine ingestion on functional performance, manual dexterity and readiness to invest effort in older adults. 19 apparently healthy, volunteers (10 females and 9 males aged 61-79; 66 ± 2 years) performed tests of functional fitness and manual dexterity post ingestion of caffeine (3mg*kg-1) or placebo in a randomised order. Pre and 60 minutes post ingestion, participants also completed measures of readiness to invest physical (RTIPE) and mental (RTIME) effort. A series of repeated measures ANOVAS indicated enhanced performance in the following functional fitness tests; arm curls (P = .04), 8 foot up and go (P = .007), six minute walk (P = .016). Manual dexterity was also improved in the presence of caffeine (P = .001). RTIME increased (P = .015) pre to post ingestion in the caffeine condition but not in the placebo condition. There were no significant main effects or interactions for RTIPE or gender in any analysis (all P > .05). The results of this study suggest that acute caffeine ingestion positively enhances functional performance, manual dexterity and readiness to invest effort in apparently healthy older adults.

  13. Microvascular endothelial function and cognitive performance: The ELSA-Brasil cohort study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brant, Luisa; Bos, Daniel; Araujo, Larissa Fortunato; Ikram, M Arfan; Ribeiro, Antonio Lp; Barreto, Sandhi M

    2018-06-01

    Impaired microvascular endothelial function may be implicated in the etiology of cognitive decline. Yet, current data on this association are inconsistent. Our objective is to investigate the relation of microvascular endothelial function to cognitive performance in the ELSA-Brasil cohort study. A total of 1521 participants from ELSA-Brasil free of dementia underwent peripheral arterial tonometry (PAT) to quantify microvascular endothelial function (PAT-ratio and mean baseline pulse amplitude (BPA)) and cognitive tests that covered the domains of memory, verbal fluency, and executive function at baseline. Cognitive tests in participants aged 55 years old and above were repeated during the second examination (mean follow-up: 3.5 (0.3) years). Linear regression and generalized linear models were used to evaluate the association between endothelial function, global cognitive performance, and performance on specific cognitive domains. In unadjusted cross-sectional analyses, we found that BPA and PAT-ratio were associated with worse global cognitive performance (mean difference for BPA: -0.07, 95% CI: -0.11; -0.03, p<0.01; mean difference for PAT-ratio: 0.11, 95% CI: 0.01; 0.20, p=0.02), worse performance on learning, recall, and word recognition tests (BPA: -0.87, 95% CI: -1.21; -0.52, p<0.01; PAT-ratio: 1.58, 95% CI: 0.80; 2.36, p<0.01), and only BPA was associated with worse performance in verbal fluency tests (-0.70, 95% CI: -1.19; -0.21, p<0.01). Adjustments for age, sex, and level of education rendered the associations statistically non-significant. Longitudinally, there was no association between microvascular endothelial and cognitive functions. The associations between microvascular endothelial function and cognition are explained by age, sex, and educational level. Measures of microvascular endothelial function may be of limited value with regard to preclinical cognitive deficits.

  14. Lung structure and function similarities between primary ciliary dyskinesia and mild cystic fibrosis: a pilot study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maglione, Marco; Montella, Silvia; Mollica, Carmine; Carnovale, Vincenzo; Iacotucci, Paola; De Gregorio, Fabiola; Tosco, Antonella; Cervasio, Mariarosaria; Raia, Valeria; Santamaria, Francesca

    2017-04-12

    Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) and cystic fibrosis (CF) are increasingly compared. There are no chest magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) comparative studies of PCD and CF. We assessed clinical, functional, microbiological and MRI findings in PCD and mild CF patients in order to evaluate different expression of lung disease. Twenty PCD (15.1 years) and 20 CF subjects with mild respiratory impairment (16 years, 70% with pancreatic insufficiency) underwent MRI, spirometry, and sputum cultures when clinically stable. MRI was scored using the modified Helbich system. PCD was diagnosed later than CF (9.9 versus 0.6 years, p = 0.03), despite earlier symptoms (0.1 versus 0.6 years, p = 0.02). In the year preceding the study, patients from both groups underwent two systemic antibiotic courses (p = 0.48). MRI total scores were 11.6 ± 0.7 and 9.1 ± 1 in PCD and CF, respectively. FEV 1 and FVC Z-scores were -1.75 (range, -4.6-0.7) and -0.6 (-3.9-1.8) in PCD, and -0.9 (range, -5.4-2.3) and -0.3 (-3.4-2.5) in CF, respectively. No difference was found between lung function or structure, despite a higher MRI subscore of collapse/consolidation in PCD versus CF (1.6 ± 0.1 and 0.6 ± 0.2, p < 0.001). These findings were confirmed after data-control for diagnostic delay. Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus were more frequent in CF than in PCD (p = 0.05 and p = 0.003, respectively). MRI is a valuable radiation-free tool for comparative PCD and CF lung disease assessment. Patients with PCD may exhibit similar MRI and lung function changes as CF subjects with mild pulmonary disease. Delay in PCD diagnosis is unlikely the only determinant of similarities.

  15. Altered Functional Performance in Patients with Fibromyalgia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Costa, Isis da Silva; Gamundí, Antoni; Miranda, José G Vivas; França, Lucas G Souza; De Santana, Charles Novaes; Montoya, Pedro

    2017-01-01

    Fibromyalgia is a common chronic pain condition that exerts a considerable impact on patients' daily activities and quality of life. Objectives: The main objective of the present study was to evaluate kinematic parameters of gait, functional performance, and balance in women with fibromyalgia syndrome. Methods: The study included 26 female patients with fibromyalgia (49.2 ± 8.0 years) according to the criteria of the American College of Rheumatology, as well as 16 pain-free women (43.5 ± 8.5 years). Gait and balance parameters were extracted from video recordings of participants performing several motor tasks. Non-linear dynamic of body sway time series was also analyzed by computing the Hurst exponent. In addition, functional performance and clinical pain were obtained by using standardized motor tests (Berg's balance scale, 6-min walking test, timed up and go task, Romberg's balance test) and self-report questionnaires (Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire). Results: Walking speed was significantly diminished ( p fibromyalgia and pain-free controls on body sway in the medial-lateral and anterior-posterior axes (all ps gait and balance were significantly associated with high levels of pain, depression, stiffness, anxiety, and fatigue in fibromyalgia. Conclusion: Our data revealed that both gait and balance were severely impaired in FM, and that subjective complaints associated with FM could contribute to functional disability in these patients. These findings suggest that optimal rehabilitation and fall prevention in fibromyalgia require a comprehensive assessment of both psychological responses to pain and physical impairments during postural control and gait.

  16. Associations of Adiposity and Aerobic Fitness with Executive Function and Math Performance in Danish Adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Tao; Tarp, Jakob; Domazet, Sidsel Louise; Thorsen, Anne Kær; Froberg, Karsten; Andersen, Lars Bo; Bugge, Anna

    2015-10-01

    To examine the associations of adiposity and aerobic fitness with executive function and math performance in Danish adolescents. Cross-sectional analyses were conducted with data on 525 adolescents attending sixth and seventh grades from 14 schools in the 5 main regions of Denmark. A modified Eriksen flanker task was used to assess inhibitory control, a key aspect of executive function. Academic performance was assessed by a customized math test. Aerobic fitness was assessed by an intermittent shuttle-run test (Andersen test). Body mass index (BMI) was negatively associated with accuracy on incongruent trials during the flanker task (P = .005). A higher BMI was associated with a larger accuracy interference score (P = .01). Similarly, waist circumference (WC) was negatively associated with accuracy on incongruent trials (P = .008). A higher WC was associated with a larger reaction time (RT) interference score (P = .02) and accuracy interference score (P = .009). Higher aerobic fitness was associated with a faster RT on congruent trials (P = .009) and incongruent trials (P = .003). Higher aerobic fitness was associated with a smaller RT interference score (P = .04). Aerobic fitness was positively associated with math score (P math score (P > .05). These results suggest that aerobic fitness is positively associated with both inhibitory control and math performance in adolescents. Adiposity is negatively associated with inhibitory control in adolescents. Adiposity is not associated with math performance. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. Neurocognitive similarities between severe chronic schizophrenia and behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chan, Hui-Minn; Stolwyk, Rene; Neath, Joanna; Kelso, Wendy; Walterfang, Mark; Mocellin, Ramon; Pantelis, Christos; Velakoulis, Dennis

    2015-02-28

    This study focuses on a group of patients with chronic schizophrenia who have a more severe form of the disorder, as indicated by socio-functional decline, treatment resistance, and recurrent hospitalisation. Previous research has suggested that the pattern and severity of cognitive deficits in people with severe chronic schizophrenia is similar to that observed in behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD). In the current study, we compared neurocognitive performance in 16 cognitive domains in 7 inpatients with severe chronic schizophrenia, 13 community-dwelling outpatients with chronic schizophrenia, 12 patients with bvFTD, and 18 healthy controls. Our findings revealed more similar cognitive profiles between the schizophrenia inpatient and bvFTD groups compared to the schizophrenia outpatient group, who outperformed the former groups. The current results provide preliminary evidence for a distinct schizophrenia subgroup, distinguishable from other chronic schizophrenia patients by poorer clinical and functional status, who have levels of cognitive impairment comparable to those seen in bvFTD patients. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Is performance better when brain functions are typically lateralized?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Geuze, Reint; Zickert, Nele; Beking, Tess; Groothuis, Antonius

    2014-01-01

    Lateralization refers to the dominant involvement of one homologous region of the brain over the other in functional task performance. Direction and strength of lateralization depend on the functional task. It is well known that language is lateralized to the left hemisphere, even in most

  19. Relationship between kinesiophobia and performance in a functional capacity evaluation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Reneman, MF; Jorritsma, W; Dijkstra, SJ; Dijkstra, PU

    2003-01-01

    Fear of movement and (re) injury (kinesiophobia) has been postulated to play an important role in the performance in a Functional Capacity Evaluation (FCE). This study was performed to analyze the relationship between kinesiophobia and performance in an FCE. Kinesiophobia and FCE performance of 54

  20. No difference between mechanical perturbation training with compliant surface and manual perturbation training on knee functional performance after ACL rupture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nawasreh, Zakariya; Logerstedt, David; Failla, Mathew; Snyder-Mackler, Lynn

    2017-10-27

    Manual perturbation training improves dynamic knee stability and functional performance after anterior cruciate ligament rupture (ACL-rupture). However, it is limited to static standing position and does not allow time-specific perturbations at different phase of functional activities. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether administering mechanical perturbation training including compliant surface provides effects similar to manual perturbation training on knee functional measures after an acute ACL-rupture. Sixteen level I/II athletes with ACL-ruptures participated in this preliminary study. Eight patients received mechanical (Mechanical) and eight subjects received manual perturbation training (Manual). All patients completed a functional testing (isometric quadriceps strength, single-legged hop tests) and patient-reported measures (Knee Outcome Survey-Activities of Daily Living Scale (KOS-ADLS), Global Rating Score (GRS), International Knee Documentation Committee 2000 (IKDC 2000) at pre- and post-training. 2 × 2 ANOVA was used for data analysis. No significant group-by-time interactions were found for all measures (p > 0.18). Main effects of time were found for single hop (Pre-testing: 85.14% ± 21.07; Post-testing: 92.49% ± 17.55), triple hop (Pre-testing: 84.64% ± 14.17; Post-testing: 96.64% ± 11.14), KOS-ADLS (Pre-testing: 81.13% ± 11.12; Post-testing: 88.63% ± 12.63), GRS (Pre-testing: 68.63% ± 15.73; Post-testing: 78.81% ± 13.85), and IKDC 2000 (Pre-testing: 66.66% ± 9.85; Post-testing: 76.05% ± 14.62) (p training using compliant surfaces induce effects similar to manual perturbation training on knee functional performance after acute ACL-rupture. The clinical significance is both modes of training improve patients' functional-performance and limb-to-limb movement symmetry, and enhancing the patients' self-reported of knee functional measures after ACL rupture. Mechanical

  1. Self-similarity of high-pT hadron production in π-p and π- A collisions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tokarev, M.V.; Panebrattsev, Yu.A.; Skoro, G.P.; Zborovsky, I.

    2002-01-01

    Self-similar properties of hadron production in π - p and π - A collisions over a high-p T region are studied. The analysis if experimental data is performed in the framework of z-scaling. The scaling variable depends on the anomalous fractal dimension of the incoming pion. Its value is found to be δ π ≅ 0.1. Independence of the scaling function Ψ(z) on the collision energy is shown. A-dependence of data z-presentation confirms self-similarity of particle formation in πA collisions

  2. Multiple victimization experiences of urban elementary school students: associations with psychosocial functioning and academic performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holt, Melissa K; Finkelhor, David; Kantor, Glenda Kaufman

    2007-05-01

    This study explored the victimization experiences of urban elementary school students to determine whether subsets of youth emerged with similar victimization profiles (e.g., no victimization, multiple types of victimization). It also evaluated whether multiple victimization was associated with greater psychological distress and lower academic performance. Participants were 689 fifth grade students from an urban, ethnically diverse school district in the Northeast. Youth completed self-report measures in school about bullying victimization, victimization in the home and community, and psychosocial functioning. Cluster analysis suggested the existence of three distinct youth profiles: those with minimal victimization, those victimized primarily by their peers, and those with multiple types of victimizations. As hypothesized, youth with multiple victimizations experienced more psychological distress and earned lower grades than their peers. Findings highlight the heterogeneity of youth victimization experiences and their relations to functioning, and have implications for treatment planning among practitioners working with youth.

  3. Prospective and retrospective ECG-gating for CT coronary angiography perform similarly accurate at low heart rates

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stolzmann, Paul, E-mail: paul.stolzmann@usz.ch [Institute of Diagnostic Radiology, University Hospital Zurich, Raemistrasse 100, 8091 Zurich (Switzerland); Goetti, Robert; Baumueller, Stephan [Institute of Diagnostic Radiology, University Hospital Zurich, Raemistrasse 100, 8091 Zurich (Switzerland); Plass, Andre; Falk, Volkmar [Clinic for Cardiovascular Surgery, University Hospital Zurich (Switzerland); Scheffel, Hans; Feuchtner, Gudrun; Marincek, Borut [Institute of Diagnostic Radiology, University Hospital Zurich, Raemistrasse 100, 8091 Zurich (Switzerland); Alkadhi, Hatem [Institute of Diagnostic Radiology, University Hospital Zurich, Raemistrasse 100, 8091 Zurich (Switzerland); Cardiac MR PET CT Program, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA (United States); Leschka, Sebastian [Institute of Diagnostic Radiology, University Hospital Zurich, Raemistrasse 100, 8091 Zurich (Switzerland)

    2011-07-15

    Objective: To compare, in patients with suspicion of coronary artery disease (CAD) and low heart rates, image quality, diagnostic performance, and radiation dose values of prospectively and retrospectively electrocardiography (ECG)-gated dual-source computed tomography coronary angiography (CTCA) for the diagnosis of significant coronary stenoses. Materials and methods: Two-hundred consecutive patients with heart rates {<=}70 bpm were retrospectively enrolled; 100 patients undergoing prospectively ECG-gated CTCA (group 1) and 100 patients undergoing retrospectively-gated CTCA (group 2). Coronary artery segments were assessed for image quality and significant luminal diameter narrowing. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive values (PPV), negative predictive values (NPV), and accuracy of both CTCA groups were determined using conventional catheter angiography (CCA) as reference standard. Radiation dose values were calculated. Results: Both groups were comparable regarding gender, body weight, cardiovascular risk profile, severity of CAD, mean heart rate, heart rate variability, and Agatston score (all p > 0.05). There was no significant difference in the rate of non-assessable coronary segments between group 1 (1.6%, 24/1404) and group 2 (1.4%, 19/1385; p = 0.77); non-diagnostic image quality was significantly (p < 0.001) more often attributed to stair step artifacts in group 1. Segment-based sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, and accuracy were 98%, 98%, 88%, 100%, and 100% among group 1; 96%, 99%, 90%, 100%, and 98% among group 2, respectively. Parameters of diagnostic performance were similar (all p > 0.05). Mean effective radiation dose of prospectively ECG-gated CTCA (2.2 {+-} 0.4 mSv) was significantly (p < 0.0001) smaller than that of retrospectively ECG-gated CTCA (8.1 {+-} 0.6 mSv). Conclusion: Prospectively ECG-gated CTCA yields similar image quality, performs as accurately as retrospectively ECG-gated CTCA in patients having heart rates {<=}70 bpm

  4. The ALMT Gene Family Performs Multiple Functions in Plants

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jie Liu

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available The aluminium activated malate transporter (ALMT gene family is named after the first member of the family identified in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.. The product of this gene controls resistance to aluminium (Al toxicity. ALMT genes encode transmembrane proteins that function as anion channels and perform multiple functions involving the transport of organic anions (e.g., carboxylates and inorganic anions in cells. They share a PF11744 domain and are classified in the Fusaric acid resistance protein-like superfamily, CL0307. The proteins typically have five to seven transmembrane regions in the N-terminal half and a long hydrophillic C-terminal tail but predictions of secondary structure vary. Although widely spread in plants, relatively little information is available on the roles performed by other members of this family. In this review, we summarized functions of ALMT gene families, including Al resistance, stomatal function, mineral nutrition, microbe interactions, fruit acidity, light response and seed development.

  5. Similar or different? The role of the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex in similarity detection.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Béatrice Garcin

    Full Text Available Patients with frontal lobe syndrome can exhibit two types of abnormal behaviour when asked to place a banana and an orange in a single category: some patients categorize them at a concrete level (e.g., "both have peel", while others continue to look for differences between these objects (e.g., "one is yellow, the other is orange". These observations raise the question of whether abstraction and similarity detection are distinct processes involved in abstract categorization, and that depend on separate areas of the prefrontal cortex (PFC. We designed an original experimental paradigm for a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI study involving healthy subjects, confirming the existence of two distinct processes relying on different prefrontal areas, and thus explaining the behavioural dissociation in frontal lesion patients. We showed that: 1 Similarity detection involves the anterior ventrolateral PFC bilaterally with a right-left asymmetry: the right anterior ventrolateral PFC is only engaged in detecting physical similarities; 2 Abstraction per se activates the left dorsolateral PFC.

  6. An ecologically valid performance-based social functioning assessment battery for schizophrenia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, Chuan; He, Yi; Cheung, Eric F C; Yu, Xin; Chan, Raymond C K

    2013-12-30

    Psychiatrists pay more attention to the social functioning outcome of schizophrenia nowadays. How to evaluate the real world function among schizophrenia is a challenging task due to culture difference, there is no such kind of instrument in terms of the Chinese setting. This study aimed to report the validation of an ecologically valid performance-based everyday functioning assessment for schizophrenia, namely the Beijing Performance-based Functional Ecological Test (BJ-PERFECT). Fifty community-dwelling adults with schizophrenia and 37 healthy controls were recruited. Fifteen of the healthy controls were re-tested one week later. All participants were administered the University of California, San Diego, Performance-based Skill Assessment-Brief version (UPSA-B) and the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB). The finalized assessment included three subdomains: transportation, financial management and work ability. The test-retest and inter-rater reliabilities were good. The total score significantly correlated with the UPSA-B. The performance of individuals with schizophrenia was significantly more impaired than healthy controls, especially in the domain of work ability. Among individuals with schizophrenia, functional outcome was influenced by premorbid functioning, negative symptoms and neurocognition such as processing speed, visual learning and attention/vigilance. © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Physical Performance Is Associated with Executive Functioning in Older African American Women

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Brooke C. Schneider

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available An older adult's ability to perform physical tasks is predictive of disability onset and is associated with declines in cognition. Risk factors for physical performance declines among African Americans, a group with the highest rates of disability, remain understudied. This study sought to identify demographic, health, and cognitive factors associated with lower-extremity physical performance in a sample of 106 African American women ages 56 to 91. After controlling for global cognitive functioning (Mini Mental State Exam, physical performance was associated with executive functioning (Stroop Color/Word, but not visuospatial construction (WASI Block Design or processing speed (Trail Making Test, Part A. Executive functioning remained associated with physical performance after entry of demographic variables, exercise, depression, disease burden, and body mass index (BMI. Age, and BMI were also significant in this model. Executive functioning, age and BMI are associated with lower-extremity physical performance among older African American women.

  8. Representation of Semantic Similarity in the Left Intraparietal Sulcus: Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Evidence

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Veerle Neyens

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available According to a recent study, semantic similarity between concrete entities correlates with the similarity of activity patterns in left middle IPS during category naming. We examined the replicability of this effect under passive viewing conditions, the potential role of visuoperceptual similarity, where the effect is situated compared to regions that have been previously implicated in visuospatial attention, and how it compares to effects of object identity and location. Forty-six subjects participated. Subjects passively viewed pictures from two categories, musical instruments and vehicles. Semantic similarity between entities was estimated based on a concept-feature matrix obtained in more than 1,000 subjects. Visuoperceptual similarity was modeled based on the HMAX model, the AlexNet deep convolutional learning model, and thirdly, based on subjective visuoperceptual similarity ratings. Among the IPS regions examined, only left middle IPS showed a semantic similarity effect. The effect was significant in hIP1, hIP2, and hIP3. Visuoperceptual similarity did not correlate with similarity of activity patterns in left middle IPS. The semantic similarity effect in left middle IPS was significantly stronger than in the right middle IPS and also stronger than in the left or right posterior IPS. The semantic similarity effect was similar to that seen in the angular gyrus. Object identity effects were much more widespread across nearly all parietal areas examined. Location effects were relatively specific for posterior IPS and area 7 bilaterally. To conclude, the current findings replicate the semantic similarity effect in left middle IPS under passive viewing conditions, and demonstrate its anatomical specificity within a cytoarchitectonic reference frame. We propose that the semantic similarity effect in left middle IPS reflects the transient uploading of semantic representations in working memory.

  9. Trajectory similarity join in spatial networks

    KAUST Repository

    Shang, Shuo; Chen, Lisi; Wei, Zhewei; Jensen, Christian S.; Zheng, Kai; Kalnis, Panos

    2017-01-01

    With these applications in mind, we provide a purposeful definition of similarity. To enable efficient TS-Join processing on large sets of trajectories, we develop search space pruning techniques and take into account the parallel processing capabilities of modern processors. Specifically, we present a two-phase divide-and-conquer algorithm. For each trajectory, the algorithm first finds similar trajectories. Then it merges the results to achieve a final result. The algorithm exploits an upper bound on the spatiotemporal similarity and a heuristic scheduling strategy for search space pruning. The algorithm's per-trajectory searches are independent of each other and can be performed in parallel, and the merging has constant cost. An empirical study with real data offers insight in the performance of the algorithm and demonstrates that is capable of outperforming a well-designed baseline algorithm by an order of magnitude.

  10. Detecting local ligand-binding site similarity in nonhomologous proteins by surface patch comparison.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sael, Lee; Kihara, Daisuke

    2012-04-01

    Functional elucidation of proteins is one of the essential tasks in biology. Function of a protein, specifically, small ligand molecules that bind to a protein, can be predicted by finding similar local surface regions in binding sites of known proteins. Here, we developed an alignment free local surface comparison method for predicting a ligand molecule which binds to a query protein. The algorithm, named Patch-Surfer, represents a binding pocket as a combination of segmented surface patches, each of which is characterized by its geometrical shape, the electrostatic potential, the hydrophobicity, and the concaveness. Representing a pocket by a set of patches is effective to absorb difference of global pocket shape while capturing local similarity of pockets. The shape and the physicochemical properties of surface patches are represented using the 3D Zernike descriptor, which is a series expansion of mathematical 3D function. Two pockets are compared using a modified weighted bipartite matching algorithm, which matches similar patches from the two pockets. Patch-Surfer was benchmarked on three datasets, which consist in total of 390 proteins that bind to one of 21 ligands. Patch-Surfer showed superior performance to existing methods including a global pocket comparison method, Pocket-Surfer, which we have previously introduced. Particularly, as intended, the accuracy showed large improvement for flexible ligand molecules, which bind to pockets in different conformations. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  11. Similarity-based pattern analysis and recognition

    CERN Document Server

    Pelillo, Marcello

    2013-01-01

    This accessible text/reference presents a coherent overview of the emerging field of non-Euclidean similarity learning. The book presents a broad range of perspectives on similarity-based pattern analysis and recognition methods, from purely theoretical challenges to practical, real-world applications. The coverage includes both supervised and unsupervised learning paradigms, as well as generative and discriminative models. Topics and features: explores the origination and causes of non-Euclidean (dis)similarity measures, and how they influence the performance of traditional classification alg

  12. The Functional Task Test (FTT): An Interdisciplinary Testing Protocol to Investigate the Factors Underlying Changes in Astronaut Functional Performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bloomberg, J. J.; Lawrence, E. L.; Arzeno, N. M.; Buxton, R. E.; Feiveson, A. H.; Kofman, I. S.; Lee, S. M. C.; Mulavara, A. P.; Peters, B. T.; Platts. S. H.; hide

    2011-01-01

    Exposure to space flight causes adaptations in multiple physiological systems including changes in sensorimotor, cardiovascular, and neuromuscular systems. These changes may affect a crewmember s ability to perform critical mission tasks immediately after landing on a planetary surface. The overall goal of this project is to determine the effects of space flight on functional tests that are representative of high priority exploration mission tasks and to identify the key underlying physiological factors that contribute to decrements in performance. To achieve this goal we developed an interdisciplinary testing protocol (Functional Task Test, FTT) that evaluates both astronaut functional performance and related physiological changes. Functional tests include ladder climbing, hatch opening, jump down, manual manipulation of objects and tool use, seat egress and obstacle avoidance, recovery from a fall and object translation tasks. Physiological measures include assessments of postural and gait control, dynamic visual acuity, fine motor control, plasma volume, orthostatic intolerance, upper- and lower-body muscle strength, power, endurance, control, and neuromuscular drive. Crewmembers perform this integrated test protocol before and after short (Shuttle) and long-duration (ISS) space flight. Data are collected on two sessions before flight, on landing day (Shuttle only) and 1, 6 and 30 days after landing. Preliminary results from both Shuttle and ISS crewmembers indicate decrement in performance of the functional tasks after both short and long-duration space flight. On-going data collection continues to improve the statistical power required to map changes in functional task performance to alterations in physiological systems. The information obtained from this study will be used to design and implement countermeasures that specifically target the physiological systems most responsible for the altered functional performance associated with space flight.

  13. Visual search performance among persons with schizophrenia as a function of target eccentricity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elahipanah, Ava; Christensen, Bruce K; Reingold, Eyal M

    2010-03-01

    The current study investigated one possible mechanism of impaired visual attention among patients with schizophrenia: a reduced visual span. Visual span is the region of the visual field from which one can extract information during a single eye fixation. This study hypothesized that schizophrenia-related visual search impairment is mediated, in part, by a smaller visual span. To test this hypothesis, 23 patients with schizophrenia and 22 healthy controls completed a visual search task where the target was pseudorandomly presented at different distances from the center of the display. Response times were analyzed as a function of search condition (feature vs. conjunctive), display size, and target eccentricity. Consistent with previous reports, patient search times were more adversely affected as the number of search items increased in the conjunctive search condition. It was important however, that patients' conjunctive search times were also impacted to a greater degree by target eccentricity. Moreover, a significant impairment in patients' visual search performance was only evident when targets were more eccentric and their performance was more similar to healthy controls when the target was located closer to the center of the search display. These results support the hypothesis that a narrower visual span may underlie impaired visual search performance among patients with schizophrenia. Copyright 2010 APA, all rights reserved

  14. Improved cosine similarity measures of simplified neutrosophic setsfor medical diagnoses

    OpenAIRE

    Jun Ye

    2014-01-01

    In pattern recognition and medical diagnosis, similarity measure is an important mathematicaltool. To overcome some disadvantages of existing cosine similarity measures of simplified neutrosophicsets (SNSs) in vector space, this paper proposed improved cosine similarity measures of SNSs based oncosine function, including single valued neutrosophic cosine similarity measures and interval neutro-sophic cosine similarity measures. Then, weighted cosine similarity measures of SNSs were introduced...

  15. Similar range of motion and function after resurfacing large-head or standard total hip arthroplasty

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Penny, Jeannette Østergaard; Ovesen, Ole; Varmarken, Jens-Erik

    2013-01-01

    BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Large-size hip articulations may improve range of motion (ROM) and function compared to a 28-mm THA, and the low risk of dislocation allows the patients more activity postoperatively. On the other hand, the greater extent of surgery for resurfacing hip arthroplasty (RHA......° (35), 232° (36), and 225° (30) respectively, but the differences were not statistically significant. The 3 groups were similar regarding Harris hip score, UCLA activity score, step rate, and sick leave. INTERPRETATION: Head size had no influence on range of motion. The lack of restriction allowed...... for large articulations did not improve the clinical and patient-perceived outcomes. The more extensive surgical procedure of RHA did not impair the rehabilitation. This project is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov under # NCT01113762....

  16. Meta-Analysis of the Relationship between Deep Brain Stimulation in Patients with Parkinson’s Disease and Performance in Evaluation Tests for Executive Brain Functions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. M. Martínez-Martínez

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Parkinson’s disease (PD is a neurodegenerative condition, which compromises the motor functions and causes the alteration of some executive brain functions. The presence of changes in cognitive symptoms in PD could be due to the procedure of deep brain stimulation (DBS. We searched in several databases for studies that compared performance in executive function tests before and after the DBS procedure in PE and then performed a meta-analysis. After the initial search, there were 15 articles that specifically evaluated the functions of verbal fluency, working memory, cognitive flexibility, abstract thinking, and inhibition. It was found that there were differences in the evaluation of the cognitive functions in terms of the protocols, which generated heterogeneity in the results of the meta-analysis. Likewise, a tendency to diminish functions like verbal fluency and inhibition was found, being this consistent with similar studies. In the other functions evaluated, no difference was found between pre- and postsurgery scores. Monitoring of this type of function is recommended after the procedure.

  17. Information filtering based on transferring similarity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Duo; Zhou, Tao; Liu, Jian-Guo; Liu, Run-Ran; Jia, Chun-Xiao; Wang, Bing-Hong

    2009-07-01

    In this Brief Report, we propose an index of user similarity, namely, the transferring similarity, which involves all high-order similarities between users. Accordingly, we design a modified collaborative filtering algorithm, which provides remarkably higher accurate predictions than the standard collaborative filtering. More interestingly, we find that the algorithmic performance will approach its optimal value when the parameter, contained in the definition of transferring similarity, gets close to its critical value, before which the series expansion of transferring similarity is convergent and after which it is divergent. Our study is complementary to the one reported in [E. A. Leicht, P. Holme, and M. E. J. Newman, Phys. Rev. E 73, 026120 (2006)], and is relevant to the missing link prediction problem.

  18. Improved cosine similarity measures of simplified neutrosophic sets for medical diagnoses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ye, Jun

    2015-03-01

    In pattern recognition and medical diagnosis, similarity measure is an important mathematical tool. To overcome some disadvantages of existing cosine similarity measures of simplified neutrosophic sets (SNSs) in vector space, this paper proposed improved cosine similarity measures of SNSs based on cosine function, including single valued neutrosophic cosine similarity measures and interval neutrosophic cosine similarity measures. Then, weighted cosine similarity measures of SNSs were introduced by taking into account the importance of each element. Further, a medical diagnosis method using the improved cosine similarity measures was proposed to solve medical diagnosis problems with simplified neutrosophic information. The improved cosine similarity measures between SNSs were introduced based on cosine function. Then, we compared the improved cosine similarity measures of SNSs with existing cosine similarity measures of SNSs by numerical examples to demonstrate their effectiveness and rationality for overcoming some shortcomings of existing cosine similarity measures of SNSs in some cases. In the medical diagnosis method, we can find a proper diagnosis by the cosine similarity measures between the symptoms and considered diseases which are represented by SNSs. Then, the medical diagnosis method based on the improved cosine similarity measures was applied to two medical diagnosis problems to show the applications and effectiveness of the proposed method. Two numerical examples all demonstrated that the improved cosine similarity measures of SNSs based on the cosine function can overcome the shortcomings of the existing cosine similarity measures between two vectors in some cases. By two medical diagnoses problems, the medical diagnoses using various similarity measures of SNSs indicated the identical diagnosis results and demonstrated the effectiveness and rationality of the diagnosis method proposed in this paper. The improved cosine measures of SNSs based on cosine

  19. Multi-Scale Scattering Transform in Music Similarity Measuring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Ruobai

    Scattering transform is a Mel-frequency spectrum based, time-deformation stable method, which can be used in evaluating music similarity. Compared with Dynamic time warping, it has better performance in detecting similar audio signals under local time-frequency deformation. Multi-scale scattering means to combine scattering transforms of different window lengths. This paper argues that, multi-scale scattering transform is a good alternative of dynamic time warping in music similarity measuring. We tested the performance of multi-scale scattering transform against other popular methods, with data designed to represent different conditions.

  20. Surf similarity and solitary wave runup

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fuhrman, David R.; Madsen, Per A.

    2008-01-01

    The notion of surf similarity in the runup of solitary waves is revisited. We show that the surf similarity parameter for solitary waves may be effectively reduced to the beach slope divided by the offshore wave height to depth ratio. This clarifies its physical interpretation relative to a previ...... functional dependence on their respective surf similarity parameters. Important equivalencies in the runup of sinusoidal and solitary waves are thus revealed.......The notion of surf similarity in the runup of solitary waves is revisited. We show that the surf similarity parameter for solitary waves may be effectively reduced to the beach slope divided by the offshore wave height to depth ratio. This clarifies its physical interpretation relative...... to a previous parameterization, which was not given in an explicit form. Good coherency with experimental (breaking) runup data is preserved with this simpler parameter. A recasting of analytical (nonbreaking) runup expressions for sinusoidal and solitary waves additionally shows that they contain identical...

  1. Abundance estimation of spectrally similar minerals

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Debba, Pravesh

    2009-07-01

    Full Text Available This paper evaluates a spectral unmixing method for estimating the partial abundance of spectrally similar minerals in complex mixtures. The method requires formulation of a linear function of individual spectra of individual minerals. The first...

  2. The effect of chronic heart failure and type 2 diabetes on insulin-stimulated endothelial function is similar and additive

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Falskov, Britt; Hermann, Thomas Steffen; Rask-Madsen, Christian

    2011-01-01

    AIM: Chronic heart failure is associated with endothelial dysfunction and insulin resistance. The aim of this investigation was to study insulin-stimulated endothelial function and glucose uptake in skeletal muscles in patients with heart failure in comparison to patients with type 2 diabetes. ME...... in similar vascular insulin resistance and reduced muscular insulin-stimulated glucose uptake. The effects of systolic heart failure and type 2 diabetes appear to be additive.......AIM: Chronic heart failure is associated with endothelial dysfunction and insulin resistance. The aim of this investigation was to study insulin-stimulated endothelial function and glucose uptake in skeletal muscles in patients with heart failure in comparison to patients with type 2 diabetes...

  3. Monin-Obukhov Similarity Functions of the Structure Parameter of Temperature and Turbulent Kinetic Energy Dissipation Rate in the Stable Boundary Layer

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hartogensis, O.K.; Debruin, H.A.R.

    2005-01-01

    The Monin-Obukhov similarity theory (MOST) functions fepsi; and fT, of the dissipation rate of turbulent kinetic energy (TKE), ¿, and the structure parameter of temperature, CT2, were determined for the stable atmospheric surface layer using data gathered in the context of CASES-99. These data cover

  4. Comparative evaluation of maintenance performance using subsurvival functions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Paulsen, J.L.; Cooke, R.; Nyman, R.

    1997-01-01

    Subsurvival functions are applied to operational data for the control rod drive systems of Nordic nuclear reactors to evaluate maintenance performance. Competing failure modes are preventive and corrective maintenance. Maintenance indicators are defined and evaluated for 8 plants. (C) 1997 Elsevier...

  5. Children with Congenital Hypothyroidism Have Similar Neuroradiological Abnormal Findings as Healthy Ones

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marianna Rachmiel

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Objective. To assess the neuroradiological findings of children with congenital hypothyroidism (CHT compared to healthy controls (HC. Patients and Methods. Thirty children with CHT, mean age 12.5 ± 1.6 years, 14 (44.8% males, were compared with 38 HC mean age 11.7 ± 1.7 years, 16 (45.7% males. Clinical data were collected from medical charts and questionnaires seeking information on family history, birth and perinatal period events, medications, and overall health history. Neurocognitive function was assessed for global intelligence, visual and verbal memory, and executive functioning using standardized tests. Neuroimaging was performed using 1.5 T magnetic resonance imaging and assessed by two pediatric radiologists. Results. Children with CHT had a similar proportion of incidental findings as did the children in the HC group, at 43.3% and 39.5%, respectively, . Abnormalities of the sellar region were reported in 13.3% of CHT group and 7.9% of HC group, . Other incidental findings included cerebellar ectopia, choroidal fissure and pineal cysts, and multiple increased signal intensity foci. Neuroradiological findings were not associated with clinical and neurocognitive abnormalities. Conclusion. Neuroimaging of children with CHT demonstrated a similar incidence of structural abnormalities as in the healthy population. There is no association between those findings and neurocognitive function.

  6. Self-similarity in high Atwood number Rayleigh-Taylor experiments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mikhaeil, Mark; Suchandra, Prasoon; Pathikonda, Gokul; Ranjan, Devesh

    2017-11-01

    Self-similarity is a critical concept in turbulent and mixing flows. In the Rayleigh-Taylor instability, theory and simulations have shown that the flow exhibits properties of self-similarity as the mixing Reynolds number exceeds 20000 and the flow enters the turbulent regime. Here, we present results from the first large Atwood number (0.7) Rayleigh-Taylor experimental campaign for mixing Reynolds number beyond 20000 in an effort to characterize the self-similar nature of the instability. Experiments are performed in a statistically steady gas tunnel facility, allowing for the evaluation of turbulence statistics. A visualization diagnostic is used to study the evolution of the mixing width as the instability grows. This allows for computation of the instability growth rate. For the first time in such a facility, stereoscopic particle image velocimetry is used to resolve three-component velocity information in a plane. Velocity means, fluctuations, and correlations are considered as well as their appropriate scaling. Probability density functions of velocity fields, energy spectra, and higher-order statistics are also presented. The energy budget of the flow is described, including the ratio of the kinetic energy to the released potential energy. This work was supported by the DOE-NNSA SSAA Grant DE-NA0002922.

  7. EVALUATION OF SEMANTIC SIMILARITY FOR SENTENCES IN NATURAL LANGUAGE BY MATHEMATICAL STATISTICS METHODS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. E. Pismak

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Subject of Research. The paper is focused on Wiktionary articles structural organization in the aspect of its usage as the base for semantic network. Wiktionary community references, article templates and articles markup features are analyzed. The problem of numerical estimation for semantic similarity of structural elements in Wiktionary articles is considered. Analysis of existing software for semantic similarity estimation of such elements is carried out; algorithms of their functioning are studied; their advantages and disadvantages are shown. Methods. Mathematical statistics methods were used to analyze Wiktionary articles markup features. The method of semantic similarity computing based on statistics data for compared structural elements was proposed.Main Results. We have concluded that there is no possibility for direct use of Wiktionary articles as the source for semantic network. We have proposed to find hidden similarity between article elements, and for that purpose we have developed the algorithm for calculation of confidence coefficients proving that each pair of sentences is semantically near. The research of quantitative and qualitative characteristics for the developed algorithm has shown its major performance advantage over the other existing solutions in the presence of insignificantly higher error rate. Practical Relevance. The resulting algorithm may be useful in developing tools for automatic Wiktionary articles parsing. The developed method could be used in computing of semantic similarity for short text fragments in natural language in case of algorithm performance requirements are higher than its accuracy specifications.

  8. Revisiting Inter-Genre Similarity

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sturm, Bob L.; Gouyon, Fabien

    2013-01-01

    We revisit the idea of ``inter-genre similarity'' (IGS) for machine learning in general, and music genre recognition in particular. We show analytically that the probability of error for IGS is higher than naive Bayes classification with zero-one loss (NB). We show empirically that IGS does...... not perform well, even for data that satisfies all its assumptions....

  9. Using sequence similarity networks for visualization of relationships across diverse protein superfamilies.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Holly J Atkinson

    Full Text Available The dramatic increase in heterogeneous types of biological data--in particular, the abundance of new protein sequences--requires fast and user-friendly methods for organizing this information in a way that enables functional inference. The most widely used strategy to link sequence or structure to function, homology-based function prediction, relies on the fundamental assumption that sequence or structural similarity implies functional similarity. New tools that extend this approach are still urgently needed to associate sequence data with biological information in ways that accommodate the real complexity of the problem, while being accessible to experimental as well as computational biologists. To address this, we have examined the application of sequence similarity networks for visualizing functional trends across protein superfamilies from the context of sequence similarity. Using three large groups of homologous proteins of varying types of structural and functional diversity--GPCRs and kinases from humans, and the crotonase superfamily of enzymes--we show that overlaying networks with orthogonal information is a powerful approach for observing functional themes and revealing outliers. In comparison to other primary methods, networks provide both a good representation of group-wise sequence similarity relationships and a strong visual and quantitative correlation with phylogenetic trees, while enabling analysis and visualization of much larger sets of sequences than trees or multiple sequence alignments can easily accommodate. We also define important limitations and caveats in the application of these networks. As a broadly accessible and effective tool for the exploration of protein superfamilies, sequence similarity networks show great potential for generating testable hypotheses about protein structure-function relationships.

  10. Using sequence similarity networks for visualization of relationships across diverse protein superfamilies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Atkinson, Holly J; Morris, John H; Ferrin, Thomas E; Babbitt, Patricia C

    2009-01-01

    The dramatic increase in heterogeneous types of biological data--in particular, the abundance of new protein sequences--requires fast and user-friendly methods for organizing this information in a way that enables functional inference. The most widely used strategy to link sequence or structure to function, homology-based function prediction, relies on the fundamental assumption that sequence or structural similarity implies functional similarity. New tools that extend this approach are still urgently needed to associate sequence data with biological information in ways that accommodate the real complexity of the problem, while being accessible to experimental as well as computational biologists. To address this, we have examined the application of sequence similarity networks for visualizing functional trends across protein superfamilies from the context of sequence similarity. Using three large groups of homologous proteins of varying types of structural and functional diversity--GPCRs and kinases from humans, and the crotonase superfamily of enzymes--we show that overlaying networks with orthogonal information is a powerful approach for observing functional themes and revealing outliers. In comparison to other primary methods, networks provide both a good representation of group-wise sequence similarity relationships and a strong visual and quantitative correlation with phylogenetic trees, while enabling analysis and visualization of much larger sets of sequences than trees or multiple sequence alignments can easily accommodate. We also define important limitations and caveats in the application of these networks. As a broadly accessible and effective tool for the exploration of protein superfamilies, sequence similarity networks show great potential for generating testable hypotheses about protein structure-function relationships.

  11. Measuring time series regularity using nonlinear similarity-based sample entropy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xie Hongbo; He Weixing; Liu Hui

    2008-01-01

    Sampe Entropy (SampEn), a measure quantifying regularity and complexity, is believed to be an effective analyzing method of diverse settings that include both deterministic chaotic and stochastic processes, particularly operative in the analysis of physiological signals that involve relatively small amount of data. However, the similarity definition of vectors is based on Heaviside function, of which the boundary is discontinuous and hard, may cause some problems in the validity and accuracy of SampEn. Sigmoid function is a smoothed and continuous version of Heaviside function. To overcome the problems SampEn encountered, a modified SampEn (mSampEn) based on nonlinear Sigmoid function was proposed. The performance of mSampEn was tested on the independent identically distributed (i.i.d.) uniform random numbers, the MIX stochastic model, the Rossler map, and the Hennon map. The results showed that mSampEn was superior to SampEn in several aspects, including giving entropy definition in case of small parameters, better relative consistency, robust to noise, and more independence on record length when characterizing time series generated from either deterministic or stochastic system with different regularities

  12. Detecting Local Ligand-Binding Site Similarity in Non-Homologous Proteins by Surface Patch Comparison

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sael, Lee; Kihara, Daisuke

    2012-01-01

    Functional elucidation of proteins is one of the essential tasks in biology. Function of a protein, specifically, small ligand molecules that bind to a protein, can be predicted by finding similar local surface regions in binding sites of known proteins. Here, we developed an alignment free local surface comparison method for predicting a ligand molecule which binds to a query protein. The algorithm, named Patch-Surfer, represents a binding pocket as a combination of segmented surface patches, each of which is characterized by its geometrical shape, the electrostatic potential, the hydrophobicity, and the concaveness. Representing a pocket by a set of patches is effective to absorb difference of global pocket shape while capturing local similarity of pockets. The shape and the physicochemical properties of surface patches are represented using the 3D Zernike descriptor, which is a series expansion of mathematical 3D function. Two pockets are compared using a modified weighted bipartite matching algorithm, which matches similar patches from the two pockets. Patch-Surfer was benchmarked on three datasets, which consist in total of 390 proteins that bind to one of 21 ligands. Patch-Surfer showed superior performance to existing methods including a global pocket comparison method, Pocket-Surfer, which we have previously introduced. Particularly, as intended, the accuracy showed large improvement for flexible ligand molecules, which bind to pockets in different conformations. PMID:22275074

  13. Similarity, Not Complexity, Determines Visual Working Memory Performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jackson, Margaret C.; Linden, David E. J.; Roberts, Mark V.; Kriegeskorte, Nikolaus; Haenschel, Corinna

    2015-01-01

    A number of studies have shown that visual working memory (WM) is poorer for complex versus simple items, traditionally accounted for by higher information load placing greater demands on encoding and storage capacity limits. Other research suggests that it may not be complexity that determines WM performance per se, but rather increased…

  14. Similar effects of substance P on learning and memory function between hippocampus and striatal marginal division

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Yan; Zeng, Changchun; Shu, Siyun; Liu, Xuemei; Li, Chuhua

    2014-01-01

    Substance P is an endogenous neurokinin that is present in the central and peripheral nervous systems. The neuropeptide substance P and its high-affinity receptor neurokinin 1 receptor are known to play an important role in the central nervous system in inflammation, blood pressure, motor behavior and anxiety. The effects of substance P in the hippocampus and the marginal division of the striatum on memory remain poorly understood. Compared with the hippocampus as a control, immunofluorescence showed high expression of the substance P receptor, neurokinin 1, in the marginal division of the striatum of normal rats. Unilateral or bilateral injection of an antisense oligonucleotide against neurokinin 1 receptor mRNA in the rat hippocampus or marginal division of the striatum effectively reduced neurokinin 1 receptor expression. Independent of injection site, rats that received this antisense oligonucleotide showed obviously increased footshock times in a Y-maze test. These results indicate that the marginal division of the striatum plays a similar function in learning and memory to the hippocampus, which is a valuable addition to our mechanistic understanding of the learning and memory functions of the marginal division of the striatum. PMID:25206901

  15. Deep Convolutional Neural Networks Outperform Feature-Based But Not Categorical Models in Explaining Object Similarity Judgments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jozwik, Kamila M.; Kriegeskorte, Nikolaus; Storrs, Katherine R.; Mur, Marieke

    2017-01-01

    Recent advances in Deep convolutional Neural Networks (DNNs) have enabled unprecedentedly accurate computational models of brain representations, and present an exciting opportunity to model diverse cognitive functions. State-of-the-art DNNs achieve human-level performance on object categorisation, but it is unclear how well they capture human behavior on complex cognitive tasks. Recent reports suggest that DNNs can explain significant variance in one such task, judging object similarity. Here, we extend these findings by replicating them for a rich set of object images, comparing performance across layers within two DNNs of different depths, and examining how the DNNs’ performance compares to that of non-computational “conceptual” models. Human observers performed similarity judgments for a set of 92 images of real-world objects. Representations of the same images were obtained in each of the layers of two DNNs of different depths (8-layer AlexNet and 16-layer VGG-16). To create conceptual models, other human observers generated visual-feature labels (e.g., “eye”) and category labels (e.g., “animal”) for the same image set. Feature labels were divided into parts, colors, textures and contours, while category labels were divided into subordinate, basic, and superordinate categories. We fitted models derived from the features, categories, and from each layer of each DNN to the similarity judgments, using representational similarity analysis to evaluate model performance. In both DNNs, similarity within the last layer explains most of the explainable variance in human similarity judgments. The last layer outperforms almost all feature-based models. Late and mid-level layers outperform some but not all feature-based models. Importantly, categorical models predict similarity judgments significantly better than any DNN layer. Our results provide further evidence for commonalities between DNNs and brain representations. Models derived from visual features

  16. Enhancing Functional Performance using Sensorimotor Adaptability Training Programs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bloomberg, J. J.; Mulavara, A. P.; Peters, B. T.; Brady, R.; Audas, C.; Ruttley, T. M.; Cohen, H. S.

    2009-01-01

    During the acute phase of adaptation to novel gravitational environments, sensorimotor disturbances have the potential to disrupt the ability of astronauts to perform functional tasks. The goal of this project is to develop a sensorimotor adaptability (SA) training program designed to facilitate recovery of functional capabilities when astronauts transition to different gravitational environments. The project conducted a series of studies that investigated the efficacy of treadmill training combined with a variety of sensory challenges designed to increase adaptability including alterations in visual flow, body loading, and support surface stability.

  17. Improving performance of content-based image retrieval schemes in searching for similar breast mass regions: an assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Xiaohui; Park, Sang Cheol; Zheng Bin

    2009-01-01

    This study aims to assess three methods commonly used in content-based image retrieval (CBIR) schemes and investigate the approaches to improve scheme performance. A reference database involving 3000 regions of interest (ROIs) was established. Among them, 400 ROIs were randomly selected to form a testing dataset. Three methods, namely mutual information, Pearson's correlation and a multi-feature-based k-nearest neighbor (KNN) algorithm, were applied to search for the 15 'the most similar' reference ROIs to each testing ROI. The clinical relevance and visual similarity of searching results were evaluated using the areas under receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves (A Z ) and average mean square difference (MSD) of the mass boundary spiculation level ratings between testing and selected ROIs, respectively. The results showed that the A Z values were 0.893 ± 0.009, 0.606 ± 0.021 and 0.699 ± 0.026 for the use of KNN, mutual information and Pearson's correlation, respectively. The A Z values increased to 0.724 ± 0.017 and 0.787 ± 0.016 for mutual information and Pearson's correlation when using ROIs with the size adaptively adjusted based on actual mass size. The corresponding MSD values were 2.107 ± 0.718, 2.301 ± 0.733 and 2.298 ± 0.743. The study demonstrates that due to the diversity of medical images, CBIR schemes using multiple image features and mass size-based ROIs can achieve significantly improved performance.

  18. Unveiling Music Structure Via PLSA Similarity Fusion

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Arenas-García, Jerónimo; Meng, Anders; Petersen, Kaare Brandt

    2007-01-01

    Nowadays there is an increasing interest in developing methods for building music recommendation systems. In order to get a satisfactory performance from such a system, one needs to incorporate as much information about songs similarity as possible; however, how to do so is not obvious. In this p......Nowadays there is an increasing interest in developing methods for building music recommendation systems. In order to get a satisfactory performance from such a system, one needs to incorporate as much information about songs similarity as possible; however, how to do so is not obvious...... observed similarities can be satisfactorily explained using the latent semantics. Additionally, this approach significantly simplifies the song retrieval phase, leading to a more practical system implementation. The suitability of the PLSA model for representing music structure is studied in a simplified...

  19. Effects of gross motor function and manual function levels on performance-based ADL motor skills of children with spastic cerebral palsy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Myoung-Ok

    2017-02-01

    [Purpose] The purpose of this study was to determine effects of Gross Motor Function Classification System and Manual Ability Classification System levels on performance-based motor skills of children with spastic cerebral palsy. [Subjects and Methods] Twenty-three children with cerebral palsy were included. The Assessment of Motor and Process Skills was used to evaluate performance-based motor skills in daily life. Gross motor function was assessed using Gross Motor Function Classification Systems, and manual function was measured using the Manual Ability Classification System. [Results] Motor skills in daily activities were significantly different on Gross Motor Function Classification System level and Manual Ability Classification System level. According to the results of multiple regression analysis, children categorized as Gross Motor Function Classification System level III scored lower in terms of performance based motor skills than Gross Motor Function Classification System level I children. Also, when analyzed with respect to Manual Ability Classification System level, level II was lower than level I, and level III was lower than level II in terms of performance based motor skills. [Conclusion] The results of this study indicate that performance-based motor skills differ among children categorized based on Gross Motor Function Classification System and Manual Ability Classification System levels of cerebral palsy.

  20. Association between functional performance and executive cognitive functions in an elderly population including patients with low ankle–brachial index

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferreira, Naomi Vidal; Cunha, Paulo Jannuzzi; da Costa, Danielle Irigoyen; dos Santos, Fernando; Costa, Fernando Oliveira; Consolim-Colombo, Fernanda; Irigoyen, Maria Cláudia

    2015-01-01

    Introduction Peripheral arterial disease, as measured by the ankle–brachial index (ABI), is prevalent among the elderly, and is associated with functional performance, assessed by the 6-minute walk test (6MWT). Executive cognitive function (ECF) impairments are also prevalent in this population, but no existing study has investigated the association between ECF and functional performance in an elderly population including individuals with low ABI. Aim To investigate the association between functional performance, as measured by the 6MWT, and loss in ECF, in an elderly sample including individuals with low ABI. Method The ABI group was formed by 26 elderly individuals with low ABI (mean ABI: 0.63±0.19), and the control group was formed by 40 elderly individuals with normal ABI (mean ABI: 1.08±0.07). We analyzed functional performance using the 6MWT, global cognition using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), and ECF using the Digit Span for assessing attention span and working memory, the Stroop Color Word Test (SCWT) for assessing information processing speed and inhibitory control/impulsivity, and the Controlled Oral Word Association Test (COWAT) for assessing semantic verbal fluency and phonemic verbal fluency. We also used a factor analysis on all of the ECF tests (global ECF). Results Before adjustment, the ABI group performed worse on global cognition, attention span, working memory, inhibitory control/impulsivity, semantic verbal fluency, and phonemic verbal fluency. After adjustment, the ABI group performance remained worse for working memory and semantic verbal fluency. In a simple correlation analysis including all of the subjects, the 6MWT was associated with global cognition, attention span, working memory, information processing speed, inhibitory control/impulsivity, semantic verbal fluency, and global ECF. After adjustment, all the associations remained statistically significant. Conclusion This study found an independent association between

  1. Gender similarities and differences in brain activation strategies: Voxel-based meta-analysis on fMRI studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    AlRyalat, Saif Aldeen

    2017-01-01

    Gender similarities and differences have long been a matter of debate in almost all human research, especially upon reaching the discussion about brain functions. This large scale meta-analysis was performed on functional MRI studies. It included more than 700 active brain foci from more than 70 different experiments to study gender related similarities and differences in brain activation strategies for three of the main brain functions: Visual-spatial cognition, memory, and emotion. Areas that are significantly activated by both genders (i.e. core areas) for the tested brain function are mentioned, whereas those areas significantly activated exclusively in one gender are the gender specific areas. During visual-spatial cognition task, and in addition to the core areas, males significantly activated their left superior frontal gyrus, compared with left superior parietal lobule in females. For memory tasks, several different brain areas activated by each gender, but females significantly activated two areas from the limbic system during memory retrieval tasks. For emotional task, males tend to recruit their bilateral prefrontal regions, whereas females tend to recruit their bilateral amygdalae. This meta-analysis provides an overview based on functional MRI studies on how males and females use their brain.

  2. Functional trait strategies of trees in dry and wet tropical forests are similar but differ in their consequences for succession.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Madelon Lohbeck

    Full Text Available Global plant trait studies have revealed fundamental trade-offs in plant resource economics. We evaluated such trait trade-offs during secondary succession in two species-rich tropical ecosystems that contrast in precipitation: dry deciduous and wet evergreen forests of Mexico. Species turnover with succession in dry forest largely relates to increasing water availability and in wet forest to decreasing light availability. We hypothesized that while functional trait trade-offs are similar in the two forest systems, the successful plant strategies in these communities will be different, as contrasting filters affect species turnover. Research was carried out in 15 dry secondary forest sites (5-63 years after abandonment and in 17 wet secondary forest sites (<1-25 years after abandonment. We used 11 functional traits measured on 132 species to make species-trait PCA biplots for dry and wet forest and compare trait trade-offs. We evaluated whether multivariate plant strategies changed during succession, by calculating a 'Community-Weighted Mean' plant strategy, based on species scores on the first two PCA-axes. Trait spectra reflected two main trade-off axes that were similar for dry and wet forest species: acquisitive versus conservative species, and drought avoiding species versus evergreen species with large animal-dispersed seeds. These trait associations were consistent when accounting for evolutionary history. Successional changes in the most successful plant strategies reflected different functional trait spectra depending on the forest type. In dry forest the community changed from having drought avoiding strategies early in succession to increased abundance of evergreen strategies with larger seeds late in succession. In wet forest the community changed from species having mainly acquisitive strategies to those with more conservative strategies during succession. These strategy changes were explained by increasing water availability during

  3. A Preliminary Study of Functional Brain Activation among Marijuana Users during Performance of a Virtual Water Maze Task

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jennifer Tropp Sneider

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Numerous studies have reported neurocognitive impairments associated with chronic marijuana use. Given that the hippocampus contains a high density of cannabinoid receptors, hippocampal-mediated cognitive functions, including visuospatial memory, may have increased vulnerability to chronic marijuana use. Thus, the current study examined brain activation during the performance of a virtual analogue of the classic Morris water maze task in 10 chronic marijuana (MJ users compared to 18 nonusing (NU comparison subjects. Imaging data were acquired using blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD functional MRI at 3.0 Tesla during retrieval (hidden platform and motor control (visible platform conditions. While task performance on learning trials was similar between groups, MJ users demonstrated a deficit in memory retrieval. For BOLD fMRI data, NU subjects exhibited greater activation in the right parahippocampal gyrus and cingulate gyrus compared to the MJ group for the Retrieval-Motor Control contrast (NU > MJ. These findings suggest that hypoactivation in MJ users may be due to differences in the efficient utilization of neuronal resources during the retrieval of memory. Given the paucity of data on visuospatial memory function in MJ users, these findings may help elucidate the neurobiological effects of marijuana on brain activation during memory retrieval.

  4. Chirped self-similar solutions of a generalized nonlinear Schroedinger equation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fei Jin-Xi [Lishui Univ., Zhejiang (China). College of Mathematics and Physics; Zheng Chun-Long [Shaoguan Univ., Guangdong (China). School of Physics and Electromechanical Engineering; Shanghai Univ. (China). Shanghai Inst. of Applied Mathematics and Mechanics

    2011-01-15

    An improved homogeneous balance principle and an F-expansion technique are used to construct exact chirped self-similar solutions to the generalized nonlinear Schroedinger equation with distributed dispersion, nonlinearity, and gain coefficients. Such solutions exist under certain conditions and impose constraints on the functions describing dispersion, nonlinearity, and distributed gain function. The results show that the chirp function is related only to the dispersion coefficient, however, it affects all of the system parameters, which influence the form of the wave amplitude. As few characteristic examples and some simple chirped self-similar waves are presented. (orig.)

  5. Comparing performance level estimation of safety functions in three distributed structures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hietikko, Marita; Malm, Timo; Saha, Heikki

    2015-01-01

    The capability of a machine control system to perform a safety function is expressed using performance levels (PL). This paper presents the results of a study where PL estimation was carried out for a safety function implemented using three different distributed control system structures. Challenges relating to the process of estimating PLs for safety related distributed machine control functions are highlighted. One of these examines the use of different cabling schemes in the implementation of a safety function and its effect on the PL evaluation. The safety function used as a generic example in PL calculations relates to a mobile work machine. It is a safety stop function where different technologies (electrical, hydraulic and pneumatic) can be utilized. It was detected that by replacing analogue cables with digital communication the system structure becomes simpler with less number of failing components, which can better the PL of the safety function. - Highlights: • Integration in distributed systems enables systems with less components. • It offers high reliability and diagnostic properties. • Analogue signals create uncertainty in signal reliability and difficult diagnostics

  6. Effects of functional exercise training on performance and muscle strength after meniscectomy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ericsson, Y B; Dahlberg, L E; Roos, E M

    2008-01-01

    Muscular deficits and functional limitations have been found years after meniscectomy of the knee. The purpose of this randomized controlled trial was to examine the effect of functional exercise training on functional performance and isokinetic thigh muscle strength in middle-aged patients...... subsequent to meniscectomy for a degenerative tear. Four years after meniscectomy, 45 patients (29 men, 16 women) were randomized to functional exercise training, supervised by a physical therapist, three times weekly for 4 months or to no intervention. The exercise program comprised of postural stability...... training and functional strength and endurance exercises for leg and trunk muscles. Outcomes were three functional performance tests and isokinetic muscle strength. Thirty patients (16 exercisers/14 controls) completed the study. Compared with control patients, the exercise group showed significant...

  7. Body Unloading Associated with Space Flight and Bed-rest Impacts Functional Performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bloomberg, J. J.; Ballard, K. L.; Batson, C. D.; Buxton, R. E.; Feiveson, A. H.; Kofman, I. S.; Lee, S. M. C.; Miller, C. A.; Mulavara, A. P.; Peters, B. T.; hide

    2014-01-01

    The goal of the Functional Task Test study is to determine the effects of space flight on functional tests that are representative of high priority exploration mission tasks and to identify the key underlying physiological factors that contribute to decrements in performance. Ultimately this information will be used to assess performance risks and inform the design of countermeasures for exploration class missions. We are currently conducting studies on both ISS crewmembers and on subjects experiencing 70 days of 6 degrees head-down bed-rest as an analog for space flight. Bed-rest provides the opportunity for us to investigate the role of prolonged axial body unloading in isolation from the other physiological effects produced by exposure to the microgravity environment of space flight. This allows us to parse out the contribution of the body unloading component on functional performance. In this on-going study both ISS crewmembers and bed-rest subjects were tested using an interdisciplinary protocol that evaluated functional performance and related physiological changes before and after 6 months in space and 70 days of 6? head-down bed-rest, respectively. Functional tests included ladder climbing, hatch opening, jump down, manual manipulation of objects and tool use, seat egress and obstacle avoidance, recovery from a fall, and object translation tasks. Crewmembers were tested three times before flight, and on 1, 6 and 30 days after landing. Bed-rest subjects were tested three times before bed-rest and immediately after getting up from bed-rest as well as 1, 6 and 12 days after reambulation. A comparison of bed-rest and space flight data showed a significant concordance in performance changes across all functional tests. Tasks requiring a greater demand for dynamic control of postural equilibrium (i.e. fall recovery, seat egress/obstacle avoidance during walking, object translation, jump down) showed the greatest decrement in performance. Functional tests with

  8. Analysis of Skeletal Muscle Metrics as Predictors of Functional Task Performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ryder, Jeffrey W.; Buxton, Roxanne E.; Redd, Elizabeth; Scott-Pandorf, Melissa; Hackney, Kyle J.; Fiedler, James; Ploutz-Snyder, Robert J.; Bloomberg, Jacob J.; Ploutz-Snyder, Lori L.

    2010-01-01

    PURPOSE: The ability to predict task performance using physiological performance metrics is vital to ensure that astronauts can execute their jobs safely and effectively. This investigation used a weighted suit to evaluate task performance at various ratios of strength, power, and endurance to body weight. METHODS: Twenty subjects completed muscle performance tests and functional tasks representative of those that would be required of astronauts during planetary exploration (see table for specific tests/tasks). Subjects performed functional tasks while wearing a weighted suit with additional loads ranging from 0-120% of initial body weight. Performance metrics were time to completion for all tasks except hatch opening, which consisted of total work. Task performance metrics were plotted against muscle metrics normalized to "body weight" (subject weight + external load; BW) for each trial. Fractional polynomial regression was used to model the relationship between muscle and task performance. CONCLUSION: LPMIF/BW is the best predictor of performance for predominantly lower-body tasks that are ambulatory and of short duration. LPMIF/BW is a very practical predictor of occupational task performance as it is quick and relatively safe to perform. Accordingly, bench press work best predicts hatch-opening work performance.

  9. A hybrid algorithm for selecting head-related transfer function based on similarity of anthropometric structures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zeng, Xiang-Yang; Wang, Shu-Guang; Gao, Li-Ping

    2010-09-01

    As the basic data for virtual auditory technology, head-related transfer function (HRTF) has many applications in the areas of room acoustic modeling, spatial hearing and multimedia. How to individualize HRTF fast and effectively has become an opening problem at present. Based on the similarity and relativity of anthropometric structures, a hybrid HRTF customization algorithm, which has combined the method of principal component analysis (PCA), multiple linear regression (MLR) and database matching (DM), has been presented in this paper. The HRTFs selected by both the best match and the worst match have been applied into obtaining binaurally auralized sounds, which are then used for subjective listening experiments and the results are compared. For the area in the horizontal plane, the localization results have shown that the selection of HRTFs can enhance the localization accuracy and can also abate the problem of front-back confusion.

  10. Association between vestibular function and motor performance in hearing-impaired children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maes, Leen; De Kegel, Alexandra; Van Waelvelde, Hilde; Dhooge, Ingeborg

    2014-12-01

    The clinical balance performance of normal-hearing (NH) children was compared with the balance performance of hearing-impaired (HI) children with and without vestibular dysfunction to identify an association between vestibular function and motor performance. Prospective study. Tertiary referral center. Thirty-six children (mean age, 7 yr 5 mo; range, 3 yr 8 mo-12 yr 11 mo) divided into three groups: NH children with normal vestibular responses, HI children with normal vestibular responses, and HI children with abnormal vestibular function. A vestibular test protocol (rotatory and collic vestibular evoked myogenic potential testing) in combination with three clinical balance tests (balance beam walking, one-leg hopping, one-leg stance). Clinical balance performance. HI children with abnormal vestibular test results obtained the lowest quotients of motor performance, which were significantly lower compared with the NH group (p beam walking and one-leg stance; p = 0.003 for one-leg hopping). The balance performance of the HI group with normal vestibular responses was better in comparison with the vestibular impaired group but still significantly lower compared with the NH group (p = 0.020 for balance beam walking; p = 0.001 for one-leg stance; not significant for one-leg hopping). These results indicate an association between vestibular function and motor performance in HI children, with a more distinct motor deterioration if a vestibular impairment is superimposed to the auditory dysfunction.

  11. Conflict Detection Performance Analysis for Function Allocation Using Time-Shifted Recorded Traffic Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guerreiro, Nelson M.; Butler, Ricky W.; Maddalon, Jeffrey M.; Hagen, George E.; Lewis, Timothy A.

    2015-01-01

    The performance of the conflict detection function in a separation assurance system is dependent on the content and quality of the data available to perform that function. Specifically, data quality and data content available to the conflict detection function have a direct impact on the accuracy of the prediction of an aircraft's future state or trajectory, which, in turn, impacts the ability to successfully anticipate potential losses of separation (detect future conflicts). Consequently, other separation assurance functions that rely on the conflict detection function - namely, conflict resolution - are prone to negative performance impacts. The many possible allocations and implementations of the conflict detection function between centralized and distributed systems drive the need to understand the key relationships that impact conflict detection performance, with respect to differences in data available. This paper presents the preliminary results of an analysis technique developed to investigate the impacts of data quality and data content on conflict detection performance. Flight track data recorded from a day of the National Airspace System is time-shifted to create conflicts not present in the un-shifted data. A methodology is used to smooth and filter the recorded data to eliminate sensor fusion noise, data drop-outs and other anomalies in the data. The metrics used to characterize conflict detection performance are presented and a set of preliminary results is discussed.

  12. InfAcrOnt: calculating cross-ontology term similarities using information flow by a random walk.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheng, Liang; Jiang, Yue; Ju, Hong; Sun, Jie; Peng, Jiajie; Zhou, Meng; Hu, Yang

    2018-01-19

    Since the establishment of the first biomedical ontology Gene Ontology (GO), the number of biomedical ontology has increased dramatically. Nowadays over 300 ontologies have been built including extensively used Disease Ontology (DO) and Human Phenotype Ontology (HPO). Because of the advantage of identifying novel relationships between terms, calculating similarity between ontology terms is one of the major tasks in this research area. Though similarities between terms within each ontology have been studied with in silico methods, term similarities across different ontologies were not investigated as deeply. The latest method took advantage of gene functional interaction network (GFIN) to explore such inter-ontology similarities of terms. However, it only used gene interactions and failed to make full use of the connectivity among gene nodes of the network. In addition, all existent methods are particularly designed for GO and their performances on the extended ontology community remain unknown. We proposed a method InfAcrOnt to infer similarities between terms across ontologies utilizing the entire GFIN. InfAcrOnt builds a term-gene-gene network which comprised ontology annotations and GFIN, and acquires similarities between terms across ontologies through modeling the information flow within the network by random walk. In our benchmark experiments on sub-ontologies of GO, InfAcrOnt achieves a high average area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) (0.9322 and 0.9309) and low standard deviations (1.8746e-6 and 3.0977e-6) in both human and yeast benchmark datasets exhibiting superior performance. Meanwhile, comparisons of InfAcrOnt results and prior knowledge on pair-wise DO-HPO terms and pair-wise DO-GO terms show high correlations. The experiment results show that InfAcrOnt significantly improves the performance of inferring similarities between terms across ontologies in benchmark set.

  13. Quality assurance procedure for functional performance of industrial gamma radiography exposure devices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kannan, R.; Yadav, R.K.; Rajoo Kumar; Bhatt, B.C.; Sivaraman, G.; Nandkumar, A.N.

    2003-05-01

    An Industrial Gamma Radiography Exposure Device (IGRED) consists of various moving parts and accessories and wear and tear take place often. This may increase the possibility of radiation incidents and result in avoidable radiation exposure. Quality assurance tests of the equipment for functional performance plays a major role in ensuring that the exposure device and its accessories perform their intended functions and satisfy radiation safety requirements to avert potential exposures to operators. Therefore, in India it is practiced as mandatory requirement that each IGRED is tested for its functional performance and only after ascertaining that features of operational safety are satisfactory, loading of the source into the radiography exposure device can be permitted. This procedure which is being. practiced since the late 1970s, has contributed significantly towards the safe use of IGREDs and minimising the occurrence of radiation accidents. The purpose of this document is to highlight the importance of periodic functional performance check of each IGRED as per the checklist for the testing procedures. It is also proposed to entrust this activity to accredited laboratories, which have the necessary infrastructure to carry out this activity. The prerequisites for accreditation of such laboratories to carry out this activity and the testing procedures to be adopted for checking the functional performance of various models of IGREDs used in this country are given in this report. (author)

  14. Integrating user profile in medical CBIR systems to answer perceptual similarity queries

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bugatti, Pedro H.; Kaster, Daniel S.; Ponciano-Silva, Marcelo; Traina, Agma J. M.; Traina, Caetano, Jr.

    2011-03-01

    Techniques for Content-Based Image Retrieval (CBIR) have been intensively explored due to the increase in the amount of captured images and the need of fast retrieval of them. The medical field is a specific example that generates a large flow of information, especially digital images employed for diagnosing. One issue that still remains unsolved deals with how to reach the perceptual similarity. That is, to achieve an effective retrieval, one must characterize and quantify the perceptual similarity regarding the specialist in the field. Therefore, the present paper was conceived to fill in this gap creating a consistent support to perform similarity queries over medical images, maintaining the semantics of a given query desired by the user. CBIR systems relying in relevance feedback techniques usually request the users to label relevant images. In this paper, we present a simple but highly effective strategy to survey user profiles, taking advantage of such labeling to implicitly gather the user perceptual similarity. The user profiles maintain the settings desired for each user, allowing tuning the similarity assessment, which encompasses dynamically changing the distance function employed through an interactive process. Experiments using computed tomography lung images show that the proposed approach is effective in capturing the users' perception.

  15. Similarity relations in visual search predict rapid visual categorization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mohan, Krithika; Arun, S. P.

    2012-01-01

    How do we perform rapid visual categorization?It is widely thought that categorization involves evaluating the similarity of an object to other category items, but the underlying features and similarity relations remain unknown. Here, we hypothesized that categorization performance is based on perceived similarity relations between items within and outside the category. To this end, we measured the categorization performance of human subjects on three diverse visual categories (animals, vehicles, and tools) and across three hierarchical levels (superordinate, basic, and subordinate levels among animals). For the same subjects, we measured their perceived pair-wise similarities between objects using a visual search task. Regardless of category and hierarchical level, we found that the time taken to categorize an object could be predicted using its similarity to members within and outside its category. We were able to account for several classic categorization phenomena, such as (a) the longer times required to reject category membership; (b) the longer times to categorize atypical objects; and (c) differences in performance across tasks and across hierarchical levels. These categorization times were also accounted for by a model that extracts coarse structure from an image. The striking agreement observed between categorization and visual search suggests that these two disparate tasks depend on a shared coarse object representation. PMID:23092947

  16. A Novel Hybrid Similarity Calculation Model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiaoping Fan

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper addresses the problems of similarity calculation in the traditional recommendation algorithms of nearest neighbor collaborative filtering, especially the failure in describing dynamic user preference. Proceeding from the perspective of solving the problem of user interest drift, a new hybrid similarity calculation model is proposed in this paper. This model consists of two parts, on the one hand the model uses the function fitting to describe users’ rating behaviors and their rating preferences, and on the other hand it employs the Random Forest algorithm to take user attribute features into account. Furthermore, the paper combines the two parts to build a new hybrid similarity calculation model for user recommendation. Experimental results show that, for data sets of different size, the model’s prediction precision is higher than the traditional recommendation algorithms.

  17. Time, number and length: similarities and differences in discrimination in adults and children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Droit-Volet, Sylvie; Clément, Angélique; Fayol, Michel

    2008-01-01

    The aim of this study was to focus on similarities in the discrimination of three different quantities--time, number, and line length--using a bisection task involving children aged 5 and 8 years and adults, when number and length were presented nonsequentially (Experiment 1) and sequentially (Experiment 2). In the nonsequential condition, for all age groups, although to a greater extent in the younger children, the psychophysical functions were flatter, and the Weber ratio higher for time than for number and length. Number and length yielded similar psychophysical functions. Thus, sensitivity to time was lower than that to the other quantities, whether continuous or not. However, when number and length were presented sequentially (Experiment 2), the differences in discrimination performance between time, number, and length disappeared. Furthermore, the Weber ratio values as well as the bisection points for all quantities presented sequentially appeared to be close to that found for duration in the nonsequential condition. The results are discussed within the framework of recent theories suggesting a common mechanism for all analogical quantities.

  18. RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN FUNCTIONAL MOVEMENT TESTS AND PERFORMANCE TESTS IN YOUNG ELITE MALE BASKETBALL PLAYERS.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gonzalo-Skok, Oliver; Serna, Jorge; Rhea, Matthew R; Marín, Pedro J

    2015-10-01

    Sprinting and jumping are two common and important components of high-level sport performance. The weight-bearing dorsiflexion test (WB-DF) and Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT) are tools developed to identify athletes at risk for lower extremity injury and may be related to running and jumping performance among athletes. The purposes of the present study were: 1) to identify any relationships between functional movement tests (WB-DF and SEBT) and performance tests (jumping, sprinting and changing direction); 2) to examine any relationships between asymmetries in functional movements and performance tests. Descriptive cohort study. Fifteen elite male basketball players (age: 15.4 ± 0.9 years) were assessed during a three-week period to determine the reliability of functional screening tools and performance tests and to examine the relationships between these tests. Relative (intraclass correlation coefficient) and absolute (coefficient of variation) reliability were used to assess the reproducibility of the tests. Significant correlations were detected between certain functional movement tests and performance tests. Both left and right excursion composite scores related to slower performance times in sprint testing, demonstrating that greater dynamic reach relates to decreased quickness and acceleration among these elite basketball athletes. The various relationships between dynamic functional movement testing, speed, and jump performance provide guidance for the strength and conditioning professional when conducting and evaluating data in an effort to improve performance and reduce risk of injury. The results of the present study suggest that these functional and performance tests do not measure the same components of human movement, and could be paired as outcome measures for the clinical and sport assessment of lower extremity function. 2b.

  19. A Similarity Search Using Molecular Topological Graphs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yoshifumi Fukunishi

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available A molecular similarity measure has been developed using molecular topological graphs and atomic partial charges. Two kinds of topological graphs were used. One is the ordinary adjacency matrix and the other is a matrix which represents the minimum path length between two atoms of the molecule. The ordinary adjacency matrix is suitable to compare the local structures of molecules such as functional groups, and the other matrix is suitable to compare the global structures of molecules. The combination of these two matrices gave a similarity measure. This method was applied to in silico drug screening, and the results showed that it was effective as a similarity measure.

  20. Mixed quantization dimensions of self-similar measures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dai Meifeng; Wang Xiaoli; Chen Dandan

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► We define the mixed quantization dimension of finitely many measures. ► Formula of mixed quantization dimensions of self-similar measures is given. ► Illustrate the behavior of mixed quantization dimension as a function of order. - Abstract: Classical multifractal analysis studies the local scaling behaviors of a single measure. However recently mixed multifractal has generated interest. The purpose of this paper is some results about the mixed quantization dimensions of self-similar measures.

  1. Aggregations of brittle stars can perform similar ecological roles as mussel reefs

    KAUST Repository

    Geraldi, NR

    2016-11-29

    Biogenic habitats, such as coral reefs, facilitate diverse communities. In aquatic systems, aggregations of mobile benthic species may play a similar ecological role to that of typically sessile biogenic habitats; however, this has rarely been considered. We quantified the abundance of sessile horse mussels Modiolus modiolus and aggregating brittle stars Ophiothrix fragilis and tested for correlations between the density of mussels (live and dead) and brittle stars each with (1) abundance, biomass, diversity, and assemblage structure of associated benthic macrofauna; and (2) percent organic matter of the sediment. We found that the abundance of live M. modiolus was positively associated with the abundance and biomass of macrofauna. The positive association between M. modiolus and macrofaunal abundance was further amplified with an increase in brittle stars and a decrease in dead mussel shells. Macrofaunal biomass was lower with a higher percentage of dead mussel shells, and macrofaunal diversity increased with greater abundances of live M. modiolus and brittle stars. Sediment organic matter was positively related to brittle star density, but not to the abundance of live or dead mussels. The positive relationship between brittle stars and sediment organic matter suggests that brittle stars could enhance rates of benthic- pelagic coupling. Given the importance of understanding the functional role of threatened habitats, it is essential that the underlying community patterns be understood through robust observational studies to then derive testable hypotheses to determine drivers. These findings provide novel insight into the ecological role of aggregations of mobile species, which is essential to prioritize conservation and restoration strategies.

  2. Permanent isolation surface barrier: Functional performance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wing, N.R.

    1993-10-01

    This document presents the functional performance parameters for permanent isolation surface barriers. Permanent isolation surface barriers have been proposed for use at the Hanford Site (and elsewhere) to isolate and dispose of certain types of waste in place. Much of the waste that would be disposed of using in-place isolation techniques is located in subsurface structures, such as solid waste burial grounds, tanks, vaults, and cribs. Unless protected in some way, the wastes could be transported to the accessible environment via transport pathways, such as water infiltration, biointrusion, wind and water erosion, human interference, and/or gaseous release

  3. Interpersonal Similarity and Knowledge Sharing within Multinational Organizations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mäkelä, Kristiina; Andersson, Ulf; Seppälä, Tomi

    2012-01-01

    Previous research has established that interpersonal similarity can influence knowledge sharing in such a way that similar people are more likely to share knowledge than those who are dissimilar. We contribute to the literature by showing that in the MNC context, cultural and functional similarit....... These microfoundations of inter-unit knowledge exchange point to important theoretical and practical implications for international management....

  4. Function Modelling Of The Market And Assessing The Degree Of Similarity Between Real Properties - Dependent Or Independent Procedures In The Process Of Office Property Valuation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Barańska Anna

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Referring to the developed and presented in previous publications (e.g. Barańska 2011 two-stage algorithm for real estate valuation, this article addresses the problem of the relationship between the two stages of the algorithm. An essential part of the first stage is the multi-dimensional function modelling of the real estate market. As a result of selecting the model best fitted to the market data, in which the dependent variable is always the price of a real property, a set of market attributes is obtained, which in this model are considered to be price-determining. In the second stage, from the collection of real estate which served as a database in the process of estimating model parameters, the selected objects are those which are most similar to the one subject to valuation and form the basis for predicting the final value of the property being valued. Assessing the degree of similarity between real properties can be carried out based on the full spectrum of real estate attributes that potentially affect their value and which it is possible to gather information about, or only on the basis of those attributes which were considered to be price-determining in function modelling. It can also be performed by various methods. This article has examined the effect of various approaches on the final value of the property obtained using the two-stage prediction. In order fulfill the study aim precisely as possible, the results of each calculation step of the algorithm have been investigated in detail. Each of them points to the independence of the two procedures.

  5. Virtual screening by a new Clustering-based Weighted Similarity Extreme Learning Machine approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pasupa, Kitsuchart; Kudisthalert, Wasu

    2018-01-01

    Machine learning techniques are becoming popular in virtual screening tasks. One of the powerful machine learning algorithms is Extreme Learning Machine (ELM) which has been applied to many applications and has recently been applied to virtual screening. We propose the Weighted Similarity ELM (WS-ELM) which is based on a single layer feed-forward neural network in a conjunction of 16 different similarity coefficients as activation function in the hidden layer. It is known that the performance of conventional ELM is not robust due to random weight selection in the hidden layer. Thus, we propose a Clustering-based WS-ELM (CWS-ELM) that deterministically assigns weights by utilising clustering algorithms i.e. k-means clustering and support vector clustering. The experiments were conducted on one of the most challenging datasets-Maximum Unbiased Validation Dataset-which contains 17 activity classes carefully selected from PubChem. The proposed algorithms were then compared with other machine learning techniques such as support vector machine, random forest, and similarity searching. The results show that CWS-ELM in conjunction with support vector clustering yields the best performance when utilised together with Sokal/Sneath(1) coefficient. Furthermore, ECFP_6 fingerprint presents the best results in our framework compared to the other types of fingerprints, namely ECFP_4, FCFP_4, and FCFP_6.

  6. Fast protein tertiary structure retrieval based on global surface shape similarity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sael, Lee; Li, Bin; La, David; Fang, Yi; Ramani, Karthik; Rustamov, Raif; Kihara, Daisuke

    2008-09-01

    Characterization and identification of similar tertiary structure of proteins provides rich information for investigating function and evolution. The importance of structure similarity searches is increasing as structure databases continue to expand, partly due to the structural genomics projects. A crucial drawback of conventional protein structure comparison methods, which compare structures by their main-chain orientation or the spatial arrangement of secondary structure, is that a database search is too slow to be done in real-time. Here we introduce a global surface shape representation by three-dimensional (3D) Zernike descriptors, which represent a protein structure compactly as a series expansion of 3D functions. With this simplified representation, the search speed against a few thousand structures takes less than a minute. To investigate the agreement between surface representation defined by 3D Zernike descriptor and conventional main-chain based representation, a benchmark was performed against a protein classification generated by the combinatorial extension algorithm. Despite the different representation, 3D Zernike descriptor retrieved proteins of the same conformation defined by combinatorial extension in 89.6% of the cases within the top five closest structures. The real-time protein structure search by 3D Zernike descriptor will open up new possibility of large-scale global and local protein surface shape comparison. 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  7. Static, dynamic balance and functional performance in subjects with and without plantar fasciitis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Geiseane Aguiar Gonçalves

    Full Text Available Abstract Introduction: Plantar fasciitis (PF is characterized by non-inflammatory degeneration and pain under the heel, and is one of the most common foot complaints. The compensations and adjustments made to decrease the discomfort caused by the disease are clinical findings and can be a factor that contributes to impaired balance and decreased functional performance. Objective: To compare functional performance as well as static and dynamic balance among subjects with and without PF. Methods: The sample consisted of 124 subjects of both sexes aged 20-60 years. Participants were divided into two groups: a bilateral PF group (PFG; n = 62 and a control group (CG, n = 62. The following outcomes were analyzed: static and dynamic balance (using functional tests and functional performance (using a questionnaire. We used Student’s t test for independent samples to compare variables between the groups. The alpha error was set at 0.05. Results: Subjects with PF showed greater impairment in their overall dynamic balance performance (p < 0.001 than the control group, except for left posteromedial movement (p = 0.19. The CG showed showed better functional performance (p < 0.001 than the PF group. There was no difference between groups for the variable static balance on stable (p = 0.160 and unstable surfaces (p = 0.085. Conclusion: Subjects with PF displayed smaller reach distances in the overall Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT, demonstrating a deficit in dynamic balance and functional performance when compared with healthy subjects.

  8. 29 CFR 825.123 - Unable to perform the functions of the position.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... position within the meaning of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), as amended, 42 U.S.C. 12101 et... 29 Labor 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Unable to perform the functions of the position. 825.123... Act § 825.123 Unable to perform the functions of the position. (a) Definition. An employee is “unable...

  9. Performance-based functional impairment and readmission and death: a prospective study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aubert, Carole E; Folly, Antoine; Mancinetti, Marco; Hayoz, Daniel; Donzé, Jacques D

    2017-06-08

    Readmission and death are frequent after a hospitalisation and difficult to predict. While many predictors have been identified, few studies have focused on functional status. We assessed whether performance-based functional impairment at discharge is associated with readmission and death after an acute medical hospitalisation. We prospectively included patients aged ≥50 years admitted to the Department of General Internal Medicine of a large community hospital. Functional status was assessed shortly before discharge using the Timed Up and Go test performed twice in a standard way by trained physiotherapists and was defined as a test duration ≥15 s. Sensitivity analyses using a cut-off at >10 and >20 s were performed. The primary and secondary outcome measures were unplanned readmission and death, respectively, within 6 months after discharge. Within 6 months after discharge, 107/338 (31.7%) patients had an unplanned readmission and 31/338 (9.2%) died. Functional impairment was associated with higher risk of death (OR 2.44, 95% CI 1.15 to 5.18), but not with unplanned readmission (OR 1.34, 95% CI 0.84 to 2.15). No significant association was found between functional impairment and the total number of unplanned readmissions (adjusted OR 1.59, 95% CI 0.95 to 2.67). Functional impairment at discharge of an acute medical hospitalisation was associated with higher risk of death, but not of unplanned readmission within 6 months after discharge. Simple performance-based assessment may represent a better prognostic measure for mortality than for readmission. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

  10. A New Trajectory Similarity Measure for GPS Data

    KAUST Repository

    Ismail, Anas; Vigneron, Antoine E.

    2016-01-01

    We present a new algorithm for measuring the similarity between trajectories, and in particular between GPS traces. We call this new similarity measure the Merge Distance (MD). Our approach is robust against subsampling and supersampling. We perform experiments to compare this new similarity measure with the two main approaches that have been used so far: Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) and the Euclidean distance. © 2015 ACM.

  11. A New Trajectory Similarity Measure for GPS Data

    KAUST Repository

    Ismail, Anas

    2016-08-08

    We present a new algorithm for measuring the similarity between trajectories, and in particular between GPS traces. We call this new similarity measure the Merge Distance (MD). Our approach is robust against subsampling and supersampling. We perform experiments to compare this new similarity measure with the two main approaches that have been used so far: Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) and the Euclidean distance. © 2015 ACM.

  12. Relationship Between the Functional Status Scale and the Pediatric Overall Performance Category and Pediatric Cerebral Performance Category Scales FREE

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pollack, Murray M.; Holubkov, Richard; Funai, Tomohiko; Clark, Amy; Moler, Frank; Shanley, Thomas; Meert, Kathy; Newth, Christopher J. L.; Carcillo, Joseph; Berger, John T.; Doctor, Allan; Berg, Robert A.; Dalton, Heidi; Wessel, David L.; Harrison, Rick E.; Dean, J. Michael; Jenkins, Tammara L.

    2015-01-01

    Importance Functional status assessment methods are important as outcome measures for pediatric critical care studies. Objective To investigate the relationships between the 2 functional status assessment methods appropriate for large-sample studies, the Functional Status Scale (FSS) and the Pediatric Overall Performance Category and Pediatric Cerebral Performance Category (POPC/PCPC) scales. Design, Setting, and Participants Prospective cohort study with random patient selection at 7 sites and 8 children’s hospitals with general/medical and cardiac/cardiovascular pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) in the Collaborative Pediatric Critical Care Research Network. Participants included all PICU patients younger than 18 years. Main Outcomes and Measures Functional Status Scale and POPC/PCPC scores determined at PICU admission (baseline) and PICU discharge. We investigated the association between the baseline and PICU discharge POPC/PCPC scores and the baseline and PICU discharge FSS scores, the dispersion of FSS scores within each of the POPC/PCPC ratings, and the relationship between the FSS neurologic components (FSS-CNS) and the PCPC. Results We included 5017 patients. We found a significant (P < .001) difference between FSS scores in each POPC or PCPC interval, with an FSS score increase with each worsening POPC/PCPC rating. The FSS scores for the good and mild disability POPC/PCPC ratings were similar and increased by 2 to 3 points for the POPC/PCPC change from mild to moderate disability, 5 to 6 points for moderate to severe disability, and 8 to 9 points for severe disability to vegetative state or coma. The dispersion of FSS scores within each POPC and PCPC rating was substantial and increased with worsening POPC and PCPC scores. We also found a significant (P < .001) difference between the FSS-CNS scores between each of the PCPC ratings with increases in the FSS-CNS score for each higher PCPC rating. Conclusions and Relevance The FSS and POPC/PCPC system

  13. Discovering Music Structure via Similarity Fusion

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    for representing music structure is studied in a simplified scenario consisting of 4412 songs and two similarity measures among them. The results suggest that the PLSA model is a useful framework to combine different sources of information, and provides a reasonable space for song representation.......Automatic methods for music navigation and music recommendation exploit the structure in the music to carry out a meaningful exploration of the “song space”. To get a satisfactory performance from such systems, one should incorporate as much information about songs similarity as possible; however...... semantics”, in such a way that all observed similarities can be satisfactorily explained using the latent semantics. Therefore, one can think of these semantics as the real structure in music, in the sense that they can explain the observed similarities among songs. The suitability of the PLSA model...

  14. Discovering Music Structure via Similarity Fusion

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Arenas-García, Jerónimo; Parrado-Hernandez, Emilio; Meng, Anders

    Automatic methods for music navigation and music recommendation exploit the structure in the music to carry out a meaningful exploration of the “song space”. To get a satisfactory performance from such systems, one should incorporate as much information about songs similarity as possible; however...... semantics”, in such a way that all observed similarities can be satisfactorily explained using the latent semantics. Therefore, one can think of these semantics as the real structure in music, in the sense that they can explain the observed similarities among songs. The suitability of the PLSA model...... for representing music structure is studied in a simplified scenario consisting of 4412 songs and two similarity measures among them. The results suggest that the PLSA model is a useful framework to combine different sources of information, and provides a reasonable space for song representation....

  15. Altered Functional Performance in Patients with Fibromyalgia

    OpenAIRE

    Costa, Isis da Silva; Gamund?, Antoni; Miranda, Jos? G. Vivas; Fran?a, Lucas G. Souza; De Santana, Charles Novaes; Montoya, Pedro

    2017-01-01

    Fibromyalgia is a common chronic pain condition that exerts a considerable impact on patients' daily activities and quality of life. Objectives: The main objective of the present study was to evaluate kinematic parameters of gait, functional performance, and balance in women with fibromyalgia syndrome. Methods: The study included 26 female patients with fibromyalgia (49.2 ± 8.0 years) according to the criteria of the American College of Rheumatology, as well as 16 pain-free women (43.5 ...

  16. New Methodology for Measuring Semantic Functional Similarity Based on Bidirectional Integration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jeong, Jong Cheol

    2013-01-01

    1.2 billion users in Facebook, 17 million articles in Wikipedia, and 190 million tweets per day have demanded significant increase of information processing through Internet in recent years. Similarly life sciences and bioinformatics also have faced issues of processing Big data due to the explosion of publicly available genomic information…

  17. Human performance in nondestructive inspections and functional tests: Final report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Harris, D.H.

    1988-10-01

    Human performance plays a vital role in the inspections and tests conducted to assure the physical integrity of nuclear power plants. Even when technically-sophisticated equipment is employed, the outcome is highly dependent on human control actions, calibrations, observations, analyses, and interpretations. The principal consequences of inadequate performance are missed or falsely-reported defects. However, the cost-avoidance that stems from addressing potential risks promptly, and the increasing costs likely with aging plants, emphasize that timeliness and efficiency are important inspection-performance considerations also. Human performance issues were studied in a sample of inspections and tests regularly conducted in nuclear power plants. These tasks, selected by an industry advisory panel, were: eddy-current inspection of steam-generator tubes; ultrasonic inspection of pipe welds; inservice testing of pumps and valves; and functional testing of shock suppressors. Information was obtained for the study from industry and plant procedural documents; training materials; research reports and related documents; interviews with training specialists, inspectors, supervisory personnel, and equipment designers; and first-hand observations of task performance. Eleven recommendations are developed for improving human performance on nondestructive inspections and functional tests. Two recommendations were for the more-effective application of existing knowledge; nine recommendations were for research projects that should be undertaken to assure continuing improvements in human performance on these tasks. 25 refs., 9 figs., 1 tab

  18. Semantic relatedness and similarity of biomedical terms: examining the effects of recency, size, and section of biomedical publications on the performance of word2vec.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Yongjun; Yan, Erjia; Wang, Fei

    2017-07-03

    Understanding semantic relatedness and similarity between biomedical terms has a great impact on a variety of applications such as biomedical information retrieval, information extraction, and recommender systems. The objective of this study is to examine word2vec's ability in deriving semantic relatedness and similarity between biomedical terms from large publication data. Specifically, we focus on the effects of recency, size, and section of biomedical publication data on the performance of word2vec. We download abstracts of 18,777,129 articles from PubMed and 766,326 full-text articles from PubMed Central (PMC). The datasets are preprocessed and grouped into subsets by recency, size, and section. Word2vec models are trained on these subtests. Cosine similarities between biomedical terms obtained from the word2vec models are compared against reference standards. Performance of models trained on different subsets are compared to examine recency, size, and section effects. Models trained on recent datasets did not boost the performance. Models trained on larger datasets identified more pairs of biomedical terms than models trained on smaller datasets in relatedness task (from 368 at the 10% level to 494 at the 100% level) and similarity task (from 374 at the 10% level to 491 at the 100% level). The model trained on abstracts produced results that have higher correlations with the reference standards than the one trained on article bodies (i.e., 0.65 vs. 0.62 in the similarity task and 0.66 vs. 0.59 in the relatedness task). However, the latter identified more pairs of biomedical terms than the former (i.e., 344 vs. 498 in the similarity task and 339 vs. 503 in the relatedness task). Increasing the size of dataset does not always enhance the performance. Increasing the size of datasets can result in the identification of more relations of biomedical terms even though it does not guarantee better precision. As summaries of research articles, compared with article

  19. Advanced Models and Algorithms for Self-Similar IP Network Traffic Simulation and Performance Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Radev, Dimitar; Lokshina, Izabella

    2010-11-01

    The paper examines self-similar (or fractal) properties of real communication network traffic data over a wide range of time scales. These self-similar properties are very different from the properties of traditional models based on Poisson and Markov-modulated Poisson processes. Advanced fractal models of sequentional generators and fixed-length sequence generators, and efficient algorithms that are used to simulate self-similar behavior of IP network traffic data are developed and applied. Numerical examples are provided; and simulation results are obtained and analyzed.

  20. The FPGA realization of the general cellular automata based cryptographic hash functions: Performance and effectiveness

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P. G. Klyucharev

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available In the paper the author considers hardware implementation of the GRACE-H family general cellular automata based cryptographic hash functions. VHDL is used as a language and Altera FPGA as a platform for hardware implementation. Performance and effectiveness of the FPGA implementations of GRACE-H hash functions were compared with Keccak (SHA-3, SHA-256, BLAKE, Groestl, JH, Skein hash functions. According to the performed tests, performance of the hardware implementation of GRACE-H family hash functions significantly (up to 12 times exceeded performance of the hardware implementation of previously known hash functions, and effectiveness of that hardware implementation was also better (up to 4 times.

  1. Executive Functioning: Relationship with High School Student Role Performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Donna P. Mann

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND. Student role performance for academic success in secondary education is under represented in the occupational therapy literature, despite the persistently high dropout rate in the United States (Stillwell & Sable, 2013. Executive dysfunction is one of many possible contributors to difficulties in the classroom (Dirette & Kolak, 2004 and is a better indicator of school performance than IQ (Diamond, 2012. This research examined executive functioning of both alternative and traditional high school students to determine if there is a relationship between executive function and academic success as measured by cumulative grade point average. METHOD. 132 high school students from three different school settings were given the Behavioral Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Self Report (BRIEF-SR. The Global Executive Composite (GEC and individual subscale scores were compared to GPA. RESULTS. No significant difference in GEC scores was found among settings. Subscale scores for “inhibition” and “task completion” were significantly different in the alternative school setting. A weak negative correlation was seen between the GEC and GPA. However, academically unsuccessful students scored statistically lower on the GEC. CONCLUSION. Global executive dysfunction was not predicted by setting but was seen in academically unsuccessful students.

  2. Performance assessment of density functional methods with Gaussian and Slater basis sets using 7σ orbital momentum distributions of N2O

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Feng; Pang, Wenning; Duffy, Patrick

    2012-12-01

    Performance of a number of commonly used density functional methods in chemistry (B3LYP, Bhandh, BP86, PW91, VWN, LB94, PBe0, SAOP and X3LYP and the Hartree-Fock (HF) method) has been assessed using orbital momentum distributions of the 7σ orbital of nitrous oxide (NNO), which models electron behaviour in a chemically significant region. The density functional methods are combined with a number of Gaussian basis sets (Pople's 6-31G*, 6-311G**, DGauss TZVP and Dunning's aug-cc-pVTZ as well as even-tempered Slater basis sets, namely, et-DZPp, et-QZ3P, et-QZ+5P and et-pVQZ). Orbital momentum distributions of the 7σ orbital in the ground electronic state of NNO, which are obtained from a Fourier transform into momentum space from single point electronic calculations employing the above models, are compared with experimental measurement of the same orbital from electron momentum spectroscopy (EMS). The present study reveals information on performance of (a) the density functional methods, (b) Gaussian and Slater basis sets, (c) combinations of the density functional methods and basis sets, that is, the models, (d) orbital momentum distributions, rather than a group of specific molecular properties and (e) the entire region of chemical significance of the orbital. It is found that discrepancies of this orbital between the measured and the calculated occur in the small momentum region (i.e. large r region). In general, Slater basis sets achieve better overall performance than the Gaussian basis sets. Performance of the Gaussian basis sets varies noticeably when combining with different Vxc functionals, but Dunning's augcc-pVTZ basis set achieves the best performance for the momentum distributions of this orbital. The overall performance of the B3LYP and BP86 models is similar to newer models such as X3LYP and SAOP. The present study also demonstrates that the combinations of the density functional methods and the basis sets indeed make a difference in the quality of the

  3. Contractual Alliance Governance: Impact of Different Contract Functions on Alliance Performance

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Faems, D.L.M.; Alberink, Rutger; Groen, Arend J.; Klein Woolthuis, Rosalinde

    2010-01-01

    Recent research on alliance governance has emphasized that contracts can have both a control and coordination function. In this paper, we test the impact of these different contract functions on alliance performance. Conducting structural equation analyses on a sample of 270 Dutch technology

  4. Structural similarities and functional differences clarify evolutionary relationships between tRNA healing enzymes and the myelin enzyme CNPase.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muruganandam, Gopinath; Raasakka, Arne; Myllykoski, Matti; Kursula, Inari; Kursula, Petri

    2017-05-16

    Eukaryotic tRNA splicing is an essential process in the transformation of a primary tRNA transcript into a mature functional tRNA molecule. 5'-phosphate ligation involves two steps: a healing reaction catalyzed by polynucleotide kinase (PNK) in association with cyclic phosphodiesterase (CPDase), and a sealing reaction catalyzed by an RNA ligase. The enzymes that catalyze tRNA healing in yeast and higher eukaryotes are homologous to the members of the 2H phosphoesterase superfamily, in particular to the vertebrate myelin enzyme 2',3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphodiesterase (CNPase). We employed different biophysical and biochemical methods to elucidate the overall structural and functional features of the tRNA healing enzymes yeast Trl1 PNK/CPDase and lancelet PNK/CPDase and compared them with vertebrate CNPase. The yeast and the lancelet enzymes have cyclic phosphodiesterase and polynucleotide kinase activity, while vertebrate CNPase lacks PNK activity. In addition, we also show that the healing enzymes are structurally similar to the vertebrate CNPase by applying synchrotron radiation circular dichroism spectroscopy and small-angle X-ray scattering. We provide a structural analysis of the tRNA healing enzyme PNK and CPDase domains together. Our results support evolution of vertebrate CNPase from tRNA healing enzymes with a loss of function at its N-terminal PNK-like domain.

  5. A small world of weak ties provides optimal global integration of self-similar modules in functional brain networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gallos, Lazaros K; Makse, Hernán A; Sigman, Mariano

    2012-02-21

    The human brain is organized in functional modules. Such an organization presents a basic conundrum: Modules ought to be sufficiently independent to guarantee functional specialization and sufficiently connected to bind multiple processors for efficient information transfer. It is commonly accepted that small-world architecture of short paths and large local clustering may solve this problem. However, there is intrinsic tension between shortcuts generating small worlds and the persistence of modularity, a global property unrelated to local clustering. Here, we present a possible solution to this puzzle. We first show that a modified percolation theory can define a set of hierarchically organized modules made of strong links in functional brain networks. These modules are "large-world" self-similar structures and, therefore, are far from being small-world. However, incorporating weaker ties to the network converts it into a small world preserving an underlying backbone of well-defined modules. Remarkably, weak ties are precisely organized as predicted by theory maximizing information transfer with minimal wiring cost. This trade-off architecture is reminiscent of the "strength of weak ties" crucial concept of social networks. Such a design suggests a natural solution to the paradox of efficient information flow in the highly modular structure of the brain.

  6. Performance of the dot product function in radiative transfer code SORD

    Science.gov (United States)

    Korkin, Sergey; Lyapustin, Alexei; Sinyuk, Aliaksandr; Holben, Brent

    2016-10-01

    The successive orders of scattering radiative transfer (RT) codes frequently call the scalar (dot) product function. In this paper, we study performance of some implementations of the dot product in the RT code SORD using 50 scenarios for light scattering in the atmosphere-surface system. In the dot product function, we use the unrolled loops technique with different unrolling factor. We also considered the intrinsic Fortran functions. We show results for two machines: ifort compiler under Windows, and pgf90 under Linux. Intrinsic DOT_PRODUCT function showed best performance for the ifort. For the pgf90, the dot product implemented with unrolling factor 4 was the fastest. The RT code SORD together with the interface that runs all the mentioned tests are publicly available from ftp://maiac.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/skorkin/SORD_IP_16B (current release) or by email request from the corresponding (first) author.

  7. Does Avatar Appearance Matter? How Team Visual Similarity and Member–Avatar Similarity Influence Virtual Team Performance

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van der Land, S.F.; Schouten, A.P.; Feldberg, J.F.M.; Huysman, M.H.; van den Hooff, B.J.

    2015-01-01

    This multimethod study investigated how avatar appearance influences virtual team performance. This study is the first to integrate the framework of social identity model of de-individuation effects (SIDE) and Self-Identification theory, using "morphing" techniques. Results were obtained from a 2

  8. Neural circuits of eye movements during performance of the visual exploration task, which is similar to the responsive search score task, in schizophrenia patients and normal subjects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nemoto, Yasundo; Matsuda, Tetsuya; Matsuura, Masato

    2004-01-01

    Abnormal exploratory eye movements have been studied as a biological marker for schizophrenia. Using functional MRI (fMRI), we investigated brain activations of 12 healthy and 8 schizophrenic subjects during performance of a visual exploration task that is similar to the responsive search score task to clarify the neural basis of the abnormal exploratory eye movement. Performance data, such as the number of eye movements, the reaction time, and the percentage of correct answers showed no significant differences between the two groups. Only the normal subjects showed activations at the bilateral thalamus and the left anterior medial frontal cortex during the visual exploration tasks. In contrast, only the schizophrenic subjects showed activations at the right anterior cingulate gyms during the same tasks. The activation at the different locations between the two groups, the left anterior medial frontal cortex in normal subjects and the right anterior cingulate gyrus in schizophrenia subjects, was explained by the feature of the visual tasks. Hypoactivation at the bilateral thalamus supports a dysfunctional filtering theory of schizophrenia. (author)

  9. Plane-Wave Implementation and Performance of à-la-Carte Coulomb-Attenuated Exchange-Correlation Functionals for Predicting Optical Excitation Energies in Some Notorious Cases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bircher, Martin P; Rothlisberger, Ursula

    2018-06-12

    Linear-response time-dependent density functional theory (LR-TD-DFT) has become a valuable tool in the calculation of excited states of molecules of various sizes. However, standard generalized-gradient approximation and hybrid exchange-correlation (xc) functionals often fail to correctly predict charge-transfer (CT) excitations with low orbital overlap, thus limiting the scope of the method. The Coulomb-attenuation method (CAM) in the form of the CAM-B3LYP functional has been shown to reliably remedy this problem in many CT systems, making accurate predictions possible. However, in spite of a rather consistent performance across different orbital overlap regimes, some pitfalls remain. Here, we present a fully flexible and adaptable implementation of the CAM for Γ-point calculations within the plane-wave pseudopotential molecular dynamics package CPMD and explore how customized xc functionals can improve the optical spectra of some notorious cases. We find that results obtained using plane waves agree well with those from all-electron calculations employing atom-centered bases, and that it is possible to construct a new Coulomb-attenuated xc functional based on simple considerations. We show that such a functional is able to outperform CAM-B3LYP in some cases, while retaining similar accuracy in systems where CAM-B3LYP performs well.

  10. Performance of Multi-chaotic PSO on a shifted benchmark functions set

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pluhacek, Michal; Senkerik, Roman; Zelinka, Ivan [Tomas Bata University in Zlín, Faculty of Applied Informatics Department of Informatics and Artificial Intelligence nám. T.G. Masaryka 5555, 760 01 Zlín (Czech Republic)

    2015-03-10

    In this paper the performance of Multi-chaotic PSO algorithm is investigated using two shifted benchmark functions. The purpose of shifted benchmark functions is to simulate the time-variant real-world problems. The results of chaotic PSO are compared with canonical version of the algorithm. It is concluded that using the multi-chaotic approach can lead to better results in optimization of shifted functions.

  11. Performance of Multi-chaotic PSO on a shifted benchmark functions set

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pluhacek, Michal; Senkerik, Roman; Zelinka, Ivan

    2015-01-01

    In this paper the performance of Multi-chaotic PSO algorithm is investigated using two shifted benchmark functions. The purpose of shifted benchmark functions is to simulate the time-variant real-world problems. The results of chaotic PSO are compared with canonical version of the algorithm. It is concluded that using the multi-chaotic approach can lead to better results in optimization of shifted functions

  12. Loss of Niemann-Pick C1 or C2 protein results in similar biochemical changes suggesting that these proteins function in a common lysosomal pathway.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sayali S Dixit

    Full Text Available Niemann-Pick Type C (NPC disease is a lysosomal storage disorder characterized by accumulation of unesterified cholesterol and other lipids in the endolysosomal system. NPC disease results from a defect in either of two distinct cholesterol-binding proteins: a transmembrane protein, NPC1, and a small soluble protein, NPC2. NPC1 and NPC2 are thought to function closely in the export of lysosomal cholesterol with both proteins binding cholesterol in vitro but they may have unrelated lysosomal roles. To investigate this possibility, we compared biochemical consequences of the loss of either protein. Analyses of lysosome-enriched subcellular fractions from brain and liver revealed similar decreases in buoyant densities of lysosomes from NPC1 or NPC2 deficient mice compared to controls. The subcellular distribution of both proteins was similar and paralleled a lysosomal marker. In liver, absence of either NPC1 or NPC2 resulted in similar alterations in the carbohydrate processing of the lysosomal protease, tripeptidyl peptidase I. These results highlight biochemical alterations in the lysosomal system of the NPC-mutant mice that appear secondary to lipid storage. In addition, the similarity in biochemical phenotypes resulting from either NPC1 or NPC2 deficiency supports models in which the function of these two proteins within lysosomes are linked closely.

  13. Functional trait strategies of trees in dry and wet tropical forests are similar but differ in their consequences for succession.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lohbeck, Madelon; Lebrija-Trejos, Edwin; Martínez-Ramos, Miguel; Meave, Jorge A; Poorter, Lourens; Bongers, Frans

    2014-01-01

    Global plant trait studies have revealed fundamental trade-offs in plant resource economics. We evaluated such trait trade-offs during secondary succession in two species-rich tropical ecosystems that contrast in precipitation: dry deciduous and wet evergreen forests of Mexico. Species turnover with succession in dry forest largely relates to increasing water availability and in wet forest to decreasing light availability. We hypothesized that while functional trait trade-offs are similar in the two forest systems, the successful plant strategies in these communities will be different, as contrasting filters affect species turnover. Research was carried out in 15 dry secondary forest sites (5-63 years after abandonment) and in 17 wet secondary forest sites (dry and wet forest and compare trait trade-offs. We evaluated whether multivariate plant strategies changed during succession, by calculating a 'Community-Weighted Mean' plant strategy, based on species scores on the first two PCA-axes. Trait spectra reflected two main trade-off axes that were similar for dry and wet forest species: acquisitive versus conservative species, and drought avoiding species versus evergreen species with large animal-dispersed seeds. These trait associations were consistent when accounting for evolutionary history. Successional changes in the most successful plant strategies reflected different functional trait spectra depending on the forest type. In dry forest the community changed from having drought avoiding strategies early in succession to increased abundance of evergreen strategies with larger seeds late in succession. In wet forest the community changed from species having mainly acquisitive strategies to those with more conservative strategies during succession. These strategy changes were explained by increasing water availability during dry forest succession and increasing light scarcity during wet forest succession. Although similar trait spectra were observed among dry and

  14. Smooth Optical Self-similar Emission of Gamma-Ray Bursts

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lipunov, Vladimir; Simakov, Sergey; Gorbovskoy, Evgeny; Vlasenko, Daniil, E-mail: lipunov2007@gmail.com [Lomonosov Moscow State University, Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Universitetsky prospect, 13, 119992, Moscow (Russian Federation)

    2017-08-10

    We offer a new type of calibration for gamma-ray bursts (GRB), in which some class of GRB can be marked and share a common behavior. We name this behavior Smooth Optical Self-similar Emission (SOS-similar Emission) and identify this subclasses of GRBs with optical light curves described by a universal scaling function.

  15. Prediction of Protein Structural Classes for Low-Similarity Sequences Based on Consensus Sequence and Segmented PSSM

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yunyun Liang

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Prediction of protein structural classes for low-similarity sequences is useful for understanding fold patterns, regulation, functions, and interactions of proteins. It is well known that feature extraction is significant to prediction of protein structural class and it mainly uses protein primary sequence, predicted secondary structure sequence, and position-specific scoring matrix (PSSM. Currently, prediction solely based on the PSSM has played a key role in improving the prediction accuracy. In this paper, we propose a novel method called CSP-SegPseP-SegACP by fusing consensus sequence (CS, segmented PsePSSM, and segmented autocovariance transformation (ACT based on PSSM. Three widely used low-similarity datasets (1189, 25PDB, and 640 are adopted in this paper. Then a 700-dimensional (700D feature vector is constructed and the dimension is decreased to 224D by using principal component analysis (PCA. To verify the performance of our method, rigorous jackknife cross-validation tests are performed on 1189, 25PDB, and 640 datasets. Comparison of our results with the existing PSSM-based methods demonstrates that our method achieves the favorable and competitive performance. This will offer an important complementary to other PSSM-based methods for prediction of protein structural classes for low-similarity sequences.

  16. Midbrain and forebrain patterning delivers immunocytochemically and functionally similar populations of neuropeptide Y containing GABAergic neurons.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khaira, S K; Nefzger, C M; Beh, S J; Pouton, C W; Haynes, J M

    2011-09-01

    Neurons differentiated in vitro from embryonic stem cells (ESCs) have the potential to serve both as models of disease states and in drug discovery programs. In this study, we use sonic hedgehog (SHH) and fibroblast growth factor 8 (FGF-8) to enrich for forebrain and midbrain phenotypes from mouse ESCs. We then investigate, using Ca(2+) imaging and [(3)H]-GABA release studies, whether the GABAergic neurons produced exhibit distinct functional phenotypes. At day 24 of differentiation, reverse transcriptase-PCR showed the presence of both forebrain (Bf-1, Hesx1, Pgc-1α, Six3) and midbrain (GATA2, GATA3) selective mRNA markers in developing forebrain-enriched cultures. All markers were present in midbrain cultures except for Bf-1 and Pgc-1α. Irrespective of culture conditions all GABA immunoreactive neurons were also immunoreactive to neuropeptide Y (NPY) antibodies. Forebrain and midbrain GABAergic neurons responded to ATP (1 mM), L-glutamate (30 μM), noradrenaline (30 μM), acetylcholine (30 μM) and dopamine (30 μM), with similar elevations of intracellular Ca(2+)([Ca(2+)](i)). The presence of GABA(A) and GABA(B) antagonists, bicuculline (30 μM) and CGP55845 (1 μM), increased the elevation of [Ca(2+)](i) in response to dopamine (30 μM) in midbrain, but not forebrain GABAergic neurons. All agonists, except dopamine, elicited similar [(3)H]-GABA release from forebrain and midbrain cultures. Dopamine (30 μM) did not stimulate significant [(3)H]-GABA release in midbrain cultures, although it was effective in forebrain cultures. This study shows that differentiating neurons toward a midbrain fate restricts the expression of forebrain markers. Forebrain differentiation results in the expression of forebrain and midbrain markers. All GABA(+) neurons contain NPY, and show similar agonist-induced elevations of [Ca(2+)](i) and [(3)H]-GABA release. This study indicates that the pharmacological phenotype of these particular neurons may be independent of the addition of

  17. Recognition of functional sites in protein structures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shulman-Peleg, Alexandra; Nussinov, Ruth; Wolfson, Haim J

    2004-06-04

    Recognition of regions on the surface of one protein, that are similar to a binding site of another is crucial for the prediction of molecular interactions and for functional classifications. We first describe a novel method, SiteEngine, that assumes no sequence or fold similarities and is able to recognize proteins that have similar binding sites and may perform similar functions. We achieve high efficiency and speed by introducing a low-resolution surface representation via chemically important surface points, by hashing triangles of physico-chemical properties and by application of hierarchical scoring schemes for a thorough exploration of global and local similarities. We proceed to rigorously apply this method to functional site recognition in three possible ways: first, we search a given functional site on a large set of complete protein structures. Second, a potential functional site on a protein of interest is compared with known binding sites, to recognize similar features. Third, a complete protein structure is searched for the presence of an a priori unknown functional site, similar to known sites. Our method is robust and efficient enough to allow computationally demanding applications such as the first and the third. From the biological standpoint, the first application may identify secondary binding sites of drugs that may lead to side-effects. The third application finds new potential sites on the protein that may provide targets for drug design. Each of the three applications may aid in assigning a function and in classification of binding patterns. We highlight the advantages and disadvantages of each type of search, provide examples of large-scale searches of the entire Protein Data Base and make functional predictions.

  18. Deep Learning Algorithm for Auto-Delineation of High-Risk Oropharyngeal Clinical Target Volumes With Built-In Dice Similarity Coefficient Parameter Optimization Function.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cardenas, Carlos E; McCarroll, Rachel E; Court, Laurence E; Elgohari, Baher A; Elhalawani, Hesham; Fuller, Clifton D; Kamal, Mona J; Meheissen, Mohamed A M; Mohamed, Abdallah S R; Rao, Arvind; Williams, Bowman; Wong, Andrew; Yang, Jinzhong; Aristophanous, Michalis

    2018-06-01

    Automating and standardizing the contouring of clinical target volumes (CTVs) can reduce interphysician variability, which is one of the largest sources of uncertainty in head and neck radiation therapy. In addition to using uniform margin expansions to auto-delineate high-risk CTVs, very little work has been performed to provide patient- and disease-specific high-risk CTVs. The aim of the present study was to develop a deep neural network for the auto-delineation of high-risk CTVs. Fifty-two oropharyngeal cancer patients were selected for the present study. All patients were treated at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center from January 2006 to August 2010 and had previously contoured gross tumor volumes and CTVs. We developed a deep learning algorithm using deep auto-encoders to identify physician contouring patterns at our institution. These models use distance map information from surrounding anatomic structures and the gross tumor volume as input parameters and conduct voxel-based classification to identify voxels that are part of the high-risk CTV. In addition, we developed a novel probability threshold selection function, based on the Dice similarity coefficient (DSC), to improve the generalization of the predicted volumes. The DSC-based function is implemented during an inner cross-validation loop, and probability thresholds are selected a priori during model parameter optimization. We performed a volumetric comparison between the predicted and manually contoured volumes to assess our model. The predicted volumes had a median DSC value of 0.81 (range 0.62-0.90), median mean surface distance of 2.8 mm (range 1.6-5.5), and median 95th Hausdorff distance of 7.5 mm (range 4.7-17.9) when comparing our predicted high-risk CTVs with the physician manual contours. These predicted high-risk CTVs provided close agreement to the ground-truth compared with current interobserver variability. The predicted contours could be implemented clinically, with only

  19. Longer-term functional outcomes and everyday listening performance for young children through to young adults using bilateral implants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Galvin, Karyn Louise; Holland, Jennifer Frances; Hughes, Kathryn Clare

    2014-01-01

    First, to document a broad range of functional outcomes of bilateral implantation for young children through young adults at a postoperative point at which stable outcomes could be expected. Second, to evaluate the relationship between functional outcomes and age at bilateral implantation and time between implants. A study-specific questionnaire was administered to parents in an interview 3.5 years or more after sequential (n = 50) or simultaneous (n = 7) implants were received by their child. Median age at bilateral implantation was 4.1 years (range 0.7 to 19.8) and time between implants was 2.7 years (range 0.0 to 16.7). On the basis of parent report, 72% of the sequentially implanted children and young adults found it easy/only "a bit difficult" to adapt to the second implant, and were "happily wearing both implants together most of the time" by 6 months or before; 26% had not adapted, with both implants not worn most of the time or worn as a parental requirement. Seventy-two percent of sequentially implanted children and young adults had a positive attitude toward the second implant, including 9 whose early postoperative attitude was negative or neutral. The majority of children and young adults preferred bilateral implants (70%) and used the two full time (72%), while around half demonstrated similar performance with each implant alone. The proportion of nonusers or very minimal users of the second implant was just 9%. Eighty-eight percent of parents reported superior performance with bilateral versus a unilateral implant (n = 40), or that only bilateral implants were worn (n = 10) so performance could not be compared. The most commonly identified areas of superiority were localization, less need for repetition, and increased responsiveness. In balancing risks and costs with benefits, most parents (86%) considered the second implant worthwhile. Regarding the relationship between outcomes and demographic factors, the group achieving similar performance with

  20. Retinoid-binding proteins: similar protein architectures bind similar ligands via completely different ways.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yu-Ru Zhang

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Retinoids are a class of compounds that are chemically related to vitamin A, which is an essential nutrient that plays a key role in vision, cell growth and differentiation. In vivo, retinoids must bind with specific proteins to perform their necessary functions. Plasma retinol-binding protein (RBP and epididymal retinoic acid binding protein (ERABP carry retinoids in bodily fluids, while cellular retinol-binding proteins (CRBPs and cellular retinoic acid-binding proteins (CRABPs carry retinoids within cells. Interestingly, although all of these transport proteins possess similar structures, the modes of binding for the different retinoid ligands with their carrier proteins are different. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In this work, we analyzed the various retinoid transport mechanisms using structure and sequence comparisons, binding site analyses and molecular dynamics simulations. Our results show that in the same family of proteins and subcellular location, the orientation of a retinoid molecule within a binding protein is same, whereas when different families of proteins are considered, the orientation of the bound retinoid is completely different. In addition, none of the amino acid residues involved in ligand binding is conserved between the transport proteins. However, for each specific binding protein, the amino acids involved in the ligand binding are conserved. The results of this study allow us to propose a possible transport model for retinoids. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results reveal the differences in the binding modes between the different retinoid-binding proteins.

  1. Toward a Social Psychology of Diagnosis: Similarity, Attraction, and Clinical Evaluation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mazer, Donald B.

    1979-01-01

    Clinicians and undergraduates evaluated a client similar or dissimilar to themselves in political radicalism. Results document the presence of diagnostic bias, but only among student subjects is bias a function of similarity. For clinicians, the more radical client is seen as less disturbed. Similarity-attraction relationships were absent in both…

  2. Communication: Understanding molecular representations in machine learning: The role of uniqueness and target similarity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Bing; von Lilienfeld, O. Anatole

    2016-10-01

    The predictive accuracy of Machine Learning (ML) models of molecular properties depends on the choice of the molecular representation. Inspired by the postulates of quantum mechanics, we introduce a hierarchy of representations which meet uniqueness and target similarity criteria. To systematically control target similarity, we simply rely on interatomic many body expansions, as implemented in universal force-fields, including Bonding, Angular (BA), and higher order terms. Addition of higher order contributions systematically increases similarity to the true potential energy and predictive accuracy of the resulting ML models. We report numerical evidence for the performance of BAML models trained on molecular properties pre-calculated at electron-correlated and density functional theory level of theory for thousands of small organic molecules. Properties studied include enthalpies and free energies of atomization, heat capacity, zero-point vibrational energies, dipole-moment, polarizability, HOMO/LUMO energies and gap, ionization potential, electron affinity, and electronic excitations. After training, BAML predicts energies or electronic properties of out-of-sample molecules with unprecedented accuracy and speed.

  3. Sleep Disturbance, Daytime Symptoms, and Functional Performance in Patients With Stable Heart Failure: A Mediation Analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jeon, Sangchoon; Redeker, Nancy S

    2016-01-01

    Sleep disturbance is common among patients with heart failure (HF) who also experience symptom burden and poor functional performance. We evaluated the extent to which sleep-related, daytime symptoms (fatigue, excessive daytime sleepiness, and depressive symptoms) mediate the relationship between sleep disturbance and functional performance among patients with stable HF. We recruited patients with stable HF for this secondary analysis of data from a cross-sectional, observational study. Participants completed unattended ambulatory polysomnography from which the Respiratory Disturbance Index was calculated, along with a Six-Minute Walk Test, questionnaires to elicit sleep disturbance (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Insomnia Symptoms from the Sleep Habits Questionnaire), daytime symptoms (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, Global Fatigue Index, Epworth Sleepiness Scale), and self-reported functional performance (Medical Outcomes Study SF36 V2 Physical Function Scale). We used structural equation modeling with latent variables for the key analysis. Follow-up, exploratory regression analysis with bootstrapped samples was used to examine the extent to which individual daytime symptoms mediated effects of sleep disturbance on functional performance after controlling for clinical and demographic covariates. The sample included 173 New York Heart Association Class I-IV HF patients (n = 60/34.7% women; M = 60.7, SD = 16.07 years of age). Daytime symptoms mediated the relationship between sleep disturbance and functional performance. Fatigue and depression mediated the relationship between insomnia symptoms and self-reported functional performance, whereas fatigue and sleepiness mediated the relationship between sleep quality and functional performance. Sleepiness mediated the relationship between the respiratory index and self-reported functional performance only in people who did not report insomnia. Daytime symptoms explain the relationships between sleep

  4. Effects of a multicomponent exercise on dual-task performance and executive function among older adults

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ray-Yau Wang

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available Summary: Background: Previous studies showed that multicomponent exercise enhanced physical and cognitive functions. This study aimed to investigate the effects of a multicomponent exercise on dual-task performance and executive function and to demonstrate the relationship between improvement in dual-task performance and enhancement in executive function among the elderly. Methods: A total of 27 people completed the intervention, with 16 in the experimental group and 11 in the control group. The 12-week multicomponent exercise lasted 1 h per day and 3 days per week. Participants' gait performance was assessed in dual-task conditions and executive function was examined at both pre- and post-intervention. Results: Results showed significant interaction effects of time x group on all selected gait parameters in both dual-task conditions and the Executive Interview. Compared with the control group, the experimental group showed greater improvements in most measures following intervention. Improved dual-task performance was correlated with enhanced executive function (r = 0.46–0.75. Conclusion: Our results suggested that a multicomponent exercise positively affects dual-task performance and executive function in the elderly. Keywords: Dual-task, Executive function, Exercise, Gait, Older adults

  5. Evaluating the effect of annotation size on measures of semantic similarity

    KAUST Repository

    Kulmanov, Maxat

    2017-02-13

    Background: Ontologies are widely used as metadata in biological and biomedical datasets. Measures of semantic similarity utilize ontologies to determine how similar two entities annotated with classes from ontologies are, and semantic similarity is increasingly applied in applications ranging from diagnosis of disease to investigation in gene networks and functions of gene products.

  6. Effects of gross motor function and manual function levels on performance-based ADL motor skills of children with spastic cerebral palsy

    OpenAIRE

    Park, Myoung-Ok

    2017-01-01

    [Purpose] The purpose of this study was to determine effects of Gross Motor Function Classification System and Manual Ability Classification System levels on performance-based motor skills of children with spastic cerebral palsy. [Subjects and Methods] Twenty-three children with cerebral palsy were included. The Assessment of Motor and Process Skills was used to evaluate performance-based motor skills in daily life. Gross motor function was assessed using Gross Motor Function Classification S...

  7. A Signal Processing Method to Explore Similarity in Protein Flexibility

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Simina Vasilache

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Understanding mechanisms of protein flexibility is of great importance to structural biology. The ability to detect similarities between proteins and their patterns is vital in discovering new information about unknown protein functions. A Distance Constraint Model (DCM provides a means to generate a variety of flexibility measures based on a given protein structure. Although information about mechanical properties of flexibility is critical for understanding protein function for a given protein, the question of whether certain characteristics are shared across homologous proteins is difficult to assess. For a proper assessment, a quantified measure of similarity is necessary. This paper begins to explore image processing techniques to quantify similarities in signals and images that characterize protein flexibility. The dataset considered here consists of three different families of proteins, with three proteins in each family. The similarities and differences found within flexibility measures across homologous proteins do not align with sequence-based evolutionary methods.

  8. Validity of the German Version of the Continuous-Scale Physical Functional Performance 10 Test

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Irene Härdi

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Background. The Continuous-Scale Physical Functional Performance 10 Test (CS-PFP 10 quantitatively assesses physical functional performance in older adults who have a broad range of physical functional ability. This study assessed the validity and reliability of the CS-PFP 10 German version. Methods. Forward-translations and backtranslations as well as cultural adaptions of the test were conducted. Participants were German-speaking Swiss community-dwelling adults aged 64 and older. Concurrent validity was assessed using Pearson correlation coefficients between CS-PFP 10 and gait velocity, Timed Up and Go Test, hand grip strength, SF-36 physical function domain, and Freiburger Physical Activity Questionnaire. Internal consistency was calculated by Cronbach’s alpha. Results. Backtranslation and cultural adaptions were accepted by the CS-PFP 10 developer. CS-PFP 10 total score and subscores (upper body strength, upper body flexibility, lower body strength, balance and coordination, and endurance correlated significantly with all measures of physical function tested. Internal consistency was high (Cronbach’s alpha 0.95–0.98. Conclusion. The CS-PFP 10 German version is valid and reliable for measuring physical functional performance in German-speaking Swiss community-dwelling older adults. Quantifying physical function is essential for clinical practice and research and provides meaningful insight into physical functional performance of older adults. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01539200.

  9. The Interaction of Functional and Dysfunctional Emotions during Balance Beam Performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cottyn, Jorge; De Clercq, Dirk; Crombez, Geert; Lenoir, Matthieu

    2012-01-01

    The interaction between functional and dysfunctional emotions, as one of the major tenets of the Individual Zones of Optimal Functioning (IZOF) model (Hanin, 2000), was studied in a sport specific setting. Fourteen female gymnasts performed three attempts of a compulsory balance beam routine at three different heights. Heart rate and self-report…

  10. Analyzing the association between functional connectivity of the brain and intellectual performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pamplona, Gustavo S. P.; Santos Neto, Gérson S.; Rosset, Sara R. E.; Rogers, Baxter P.; Salmon, Carlos E. G.

    2015-01-01

    Measurements of functional connectivity support the hypothesis that the brain is composed of distinct networks with anatomically separated nodes but common functionality. A few studies have suggested that intellectual performance may be associated with greater functional connectivity in the fronto-parietal network and enhanced global efficiency. In this fMRI study, we performed an exploratory analysis of the relationship between the brain's functional connectivity and intelligence scores derived from the Portuguese language version of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-III) in a sample of 29 people, born and raised in Brazil. We examined functional connectivity between 82 regions, including graph theoretic properties of the overall network. Some previous findings were extended to the Portuguese-speaking population, specifically the presence of small-world organization of the brain and relationships of intelligence with connectivity of frontal, pre-central, parietal, occipital, fusiform and supramarginal gyrus, and caudate nucleus. Verbal comprehension was associated with global network efficiency, a new finding. PMID:25713528

  11. Analyzing the association between functional connectivity of the brain and intellectual performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gustavo Santo Pedro Pamplona

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available Measurements of functional connectivity support the hypothesis that the brain is composed of distinct networks with anatomically separated nodes but common functionality. A few studies have suggested that intellectual performance may be associated with greater functional connectivity in the fronto-parietal network and enhanced global efficiency. In this fMRI study, we performed an exploratory analysis of the relationship between the brain's functional connectivity and intelligence scores derived from the Portuguese language version of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-III in a sample of 29 people, born and raised in Brazil. We examined functional connectivity between 82 regions, including graph theoretic properties of the overall network. Some previous findings were extended to the Portuguese-speaking population, specifically the presence of small-world organization of the brain and relationships of intelligence with connectivity of frontal, pre-central, parietal, occipital, fusiform and supramarginal gyrus and caudate nucleus. Verbal comprehension was associated with global network efficiency, a new finding.

  12. Self-similar Langmuir collapse at critical dimension

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Berge, L.; Dousseau, Ph.; Pelletier, G.; Pesme, D.

    1991-01-01

    Two spherically symmetric versions of a self-similar collapse are investigated within the framework of the Zakharov equations, namely, one relative to a vectorial electric field and the other corresponding to a scalar modeling of the Langmuir field. Singular solutions of both of them depend on a linear time contraction rate ξ(t) = V(t * -t), where t * and V = -ξ denote, respectively, the collapse time and the constant collapse velocity. It is shown that under certain conditions, only the scalar model admits self-similar solutions, varying regularly as a function of the control parameter V from the subsonic (V >1) regime. (author)

  13. Physiological and Functional Alterations after Spaceflight and Bed Rest.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mulavara, Ajitkumar P; Peters, Brian T; Miller, Chris A; Kofman, Igor S; Reschke, Millard F; Taylor, Laura C; Lawrence, Emily L; Wood, Scott J; Laurie, Steven S; Lee, Stuart M C; Buxton, Roxanne E; May-Phillips, Tiffany R; Stenger, Michael B; Ploutz-Snyder, Lori L; Ryder, Jeffrey W; Feiveson, Alan H; Bloomberg, Jacob J

    2018-04-03

    Exposure to microgravity causes alterations in multiple physiological systems, potentially impacting the ability of astronauts to perform critical mission tasks. The goal of this study was to determine the effects of spaceflight on functional task performance and to identify the key physiological factors contributing to their deficits. A test battery comprised of 7 functional tests and 15 physiological measures was used to investigate the sensorimotor, cardiovascular and neuromuscular adaptations to spaceflight. Astronauts were tested before and after 6-month spaceflights. Subjects were also tested before and after 70 days of 6° head-down bed rest, a spaceflight analog, to examine the role of axial body unloading on the spaceflight results. These subjects included Control and Exercise groups to examine the effects of exercise during bed rest. Spaceflight subjects showed the greatest decrement in performance during functional tasks that required the greatest demand for dynamic control of postural equilibrium which was paralleled by similar decrements in sensorimotor tests that assessed postural and dynamic gait control. Other changes included reduced lower limb muscle performance and increased heart rate to maintain blood pressure. Exercise performed during bed rest prevented detrimental change in neuromuscular and cardiovascular function, however, both bed rest groups experienced functional and balance deficits similar to spaceflight subjects. Bed rest data indicates that body support unloading experienced during spaceflight contributes to postflight postural control dysfunction. Further, the bed rest results in the Exercise group of subjects confirm that resistance and aerobic exercises performed during spaceflight can play an integral role in maintaining neuromuscular and cardiovascular function, which can help in reducing decrements in functional performance. These results indicate that a countermeasure to mitigate postflight postural control dysfunction is

  14. Developing high-performance cross-functional teams: Understanding motivations, functional loyalties, and teaming fundamentals

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Miller, M.A.

    1996-08-01

    Teamwork is the key to the future of effective technology management. Today`s technologies and markets have become too complex for individuals to work alone. Global competition, limited resources, cost consciousness, and time pressures have forced organizations and project managers to encourage teamwork. Many of these teams will be cross-functional teams that can draw on a multitude of talents and knowledge. To develop high-performing cross-functional teams, managers must understand motivations, functional loyalties, and the different backgrounds of the individual team members. To develop a better understanding of these issues, managers can learn from experience and from literature on teams and teaming concepts. When studying the literature to learn about cross-functional teaming, managers will find many good theoretical concepts, but when put into practice, these concepts have varying effects. This issue of varying effectiveness is what drives the research for this paper. The teaming concepts were studied to confirm or modify current understanding. The literature was compared with a {open_quotes}ground truth{close_quotes}, a survey of the reality of teaming practices, to examine the teaming concepts that the literature finds to be critical to the success of teams. These results are compared to existing teams to determine if such techniques apply in real-world cases.

  15. Contingency and similarity in response selection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prinz, Wolfgang

    2018-05-09

    This paper explores issues of task representation in choice reaction time tasks. How is it possible, and what does it take, to represent such a task in a way that enables a performer to do the task in line with the prescriptions entailed in the instructions? First, a framework for task representation is outlined which combines the implementation of task sets and their use for performance with different kinds of representational operations (pertaining to feature compounds for event codes and code assemblies for task sets, respectively). Then, in a second step, the framework is itself embedded in the bigger picture of the classical debate on the roles of contingency and similarity for the formation of associations. The final conclusion is that both principles are needed and that the operation of similarity at the level of task sets requires and presupposes the operation of contingency at the level of event codes. Copyright © 2018 The Author. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. Representation of the Physiological Factors Contributing to Postflight Changes in Functional Performance Using Motion Analysis Software

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parks, Kelsey

    2010-01-01

    Astronauts experience changes in multiple physiological systems due to exposure to the microgravity conditions of space flight. To understand how changes in physiological function influence functional performance, a testing procedure has been developed that evaluates both astronaut postflight functional performance and related physiological changes. Astronauts complete seven functional and physiological tests. The objective of this project is to use motion tracking and digitizing software to visually display the postflight decrement in the functional performance of the astronauts. The motion analysis software will be used to digitize astronaut data videos into stick figure videos to represent the astronauts as they perform the Functional Tasks Tests. This project will benefit NASA by allowing NASA scientists to present data of their neurological studies without revealing the identities of the astronauts.

  17. Pythoscape: a framework for generation of large protein similarity networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barber, Alan E; Babbitt, Patricia C

    2012-11-01

    Pythoscape is a framework implemented in Python for processing large protein similarity networks for visualization in other software packages. Protein similarity networks are graphical representations of sequence, structural and other similarities among proteins for which pairwise all-by-all similarity connections have been calculated. Mapping of biological and other information to network nodes or edges enables hypothesis creation about sequence-structure-function relationships across sets of related proteins. Pythoscape provides several options to calculate pairwise similarities for input sequences or structures, applies filters to network edges and defines sets of similar nodes and their associated data as single nodes (termed representative nodes) for compression of network information and output data or formatted files for visualization.

  18. Metagenomic analysis reveals that modern microbialites and polar microbial mats have similar taxonomic and functional potential

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Richard Allen White III

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Within the subarctic climate of Clinton Creek, Yukon, Canada, lies an abandoned and flooded open-pit asbestos mine that harbors rapidly growing microbialites. To understand their formation we completed a metagenomic community profile of the microbialites and their surrounding sediments. Assembled metagenomic data revealed that bacteria within the phylum Proteobacteria numerically dominated this system, although the relative abundances of taxa within the phylum varied among environments. Bacteria belonging to Alphaproteobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria were dominant in the microbialites and sediments, respectively. The microbialites were also home to many other groups associated with microbialite formation including filamentous cyanobacteria and dissimilatory sulfate-reducing Deltaproteobacteria, consistent with the idea of a shared global microbialite microbiome. Other members were present that are typically not associated with microbialites including Gemmatimonadetes and iron-oxidizing Betaproteobacteria, which participate in carbon metabolism and iron cycling. Compared to the sediments, the microbialite microbiome has significantly more genes associated with photosynthetic processes (e.g., photosystem II reaction centers, carotenoid and chlorophyll biosynthesis and carbon fixation (e.g., CO dehydrogenase. The Clinton Creek microbialite communities had strikingly similar functional potentials to non-lithifying microbial mats from the Canadian High Arctic and Antarctica, but are functionally distinct, from non-lithifying mats or biofilms from Yellowstone. Clinton Creek microbialites also share metabolic genes (R2 0.900. These metagenomic profiles from an anthropogenic microbialite-forming ecosystem provide context to microbialite formation on a human-relevant timescale.

  19. Symptom burden and its relationship to functional performance in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

    OpenAIRE

    Melhem, Omar

    2016-01-01

    The aim of this study was to explore symptom burden and its relationship to functional performance in patients with COPD. A descriptive, cross-sectional, correlational survey design was used and a sample of 214 patients with COPD. The sample was recruited from patients attending one of the major teaching hospitals in Dublin. Symptom burden was measured using the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale (MSAS), and the functional performance was measured using the Functional Performance Inventory-Sho...

  20. Availability of thermodynamic system with multiple performance parameters based on vector-universal generating function

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cai Qi; Shang Yanlong; Chen Lisheng; Zhao Yuguang

    2013-01-01

    Vector-universal generating function was presented to analyze the availability of thermodynamic system with multiple performance parameters. Vector-universal generating function of component's performance was defined, the arithmetic model based on vector-universal generating function was derived for the thermodynamic system, and the calculation method was given for state probability of multi-state component. With the stochastic simulation of the degeneration trend of the multiple factors, the system availability with multiple performance parameters was obtained under composite factors. It is shown by an example that the results of the availability obtained by the binary availability analysis method are somewhat conservative, and the results considering parameter failure based on vector-universal generating function reflect the operation characteristics of the thermodynamic system better. (authors)

  1. Relationship between functional vision and balance and mobility performance in community-dwelling older adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aartolahti, Eeva; Häkkinen, Arja; Lönnroos, Eija; Kautiainen, Hannu; Sulkava, Raimo; Hartikainen, Sirpa

    2013-10-01

    Vision is an important prerequisite for balance control and mobility. The role of objectively measured visual functions has been previously studied but less is known about associations of functional vision, that refers to self-perceived vision-based ability to perform daily activities. The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between functional vision and balance and mobility performance in a community-based sample of older adults. This study is part of a Geriatric Multidisciplinary Strategy for the Good Care of the Elderly project (GeMS). Participants (576) aged 76-100 years (mean age 81 years, 70 % women) were interviewed using a seven-item functional vision questionnaire (VF-7). Balance and mobility were measured by the Berg balance scale (BBS), timed up and go (TUG), chair stand test, and maximal walking speed. In addition, self-reported fear of falling, depressive symptoms (15-item Geriatric Depression Scale), cognition (Mini-Mental State Examination) and physical activity (Grimby) were assessed. In the analysis, participants were classified into poor, moderate, or good functional vision groups. The poor functional vision group (n = 95) had more comorbidities, depressed mood, cognition decline, fear of falling, and reduced physical activity compared to participants with moderate (n = 222) or good functional vision (n = 259). Participants with poor functional vision performed worse on all balance and mobility tests. After adjusting for gender, age, chronic conditions, and cognition, the linearity remained statistically significant between functional vision and BBS (p = 0.013), TUG (p = 0.010), and maximal walking speed (p = 0.008), but not between functional vision and chair stand (p = 0.069). Poor functional vision is related to weaker balance and mobility performance in community-dwelling older adults. This highlights the importance of widespread assessment of health, including functional vision, to prevent balance impairment and maintain

  2. The role of neuropsychological performance in the relationship between chronic pain and functional physical impairment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pulles, Wiesje L J A; Oosterman, Joukje M

    2011-12-01

      In this study, the relationship between pain intensity, neuropsychological, and physical function in adult chronic pain patients was examined.   Thirty participants with chronic pain completed neuropsychological tests tapping mental processing speed, memory, and executive function. Pain intensity was measured with three visual analog scales and the Pain Rating Index of the McGill Pain Questionnaire. A grip strength test, the 6-minute walk test, the Unipedal Stance Test and the Lifting Low Test were administered in order to obtain a performance-based measure of physical capacity. Self-reported physical ability was assessed with the Disability Rating Index and the Short Form-36 Physical Functioning, and Role Physical scales. Psychosocial function was examined using the Mental Health and Role Emotional subscales of the Short Form-36.   The study was set in two outpatient physical therapy clinics in The Netherlands.   The analysis showed that a lower mental processing speed was related to a higher level of pain, as well as to a lower performance-based and self-reported physical functioning. In addition, both performance-based and self-reported physical function revealed an inverse correlation with pain intensity. Psychosocial function turned out to be an important mediator of the relationship between pain and self-reported, but not performance-based, physical function. Mental processing speed, on the other hand, was found to mediate the relationship between pain and performance-based physical functioning.   The results suggest that in chronic pain patients, mental processing speed mediates the relationship between pain and physical function. Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  3. Relationship between functional vision and balance and mobility performance in community-dwelling older adults

    OpenAIRE

    Aartolahti, Eeva; Häkkinen, Arja; Lönnroos, Eija; Kautiainen, Hannu; Sulkava, Raimo; Hartikainen, Sirpa

    2013-01-01

    Background and Aims: Vision is an important prerequisite for balance control and mobility. The role of objectively measured visual functions has been previously studied but less is known about associations of functional vision. That refers to selfperceived vision-based ability to perform daily activities. The aim was to investigate the relationship between functional vision and balance and mobility performance in a community-based sample of older adults. Methods: This study ...

  4. Articulation of Phonologically Similar Items Disrupts Free Recall of Nonwords

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nishiyama, Ryoji; Ukita, Jun

    2013-01-01

    The present study sought to clarify whether phonological similarity of encoded information impairs free recall performance (the phonological similarity effect: PSE) for nonwords. Five experiments examined the influence of the encoding process on the PSE in a step-by-step fashion, by using lists that consisted of phonologically similar (decoy)…

  5. Optical functional performance of the osteo-odonto-keratoprosthesis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Richard M H; Ong, Gek L; Lam, Fook Chang; White, Joy; Crook, David; Liu, Christopher S C; Hull, Chris C

    2014-10-01

    The aim of this study was to evaluate optical and visual functional performance of the osteo-odonto-keratoprosthesis (OOKP). Optical design and analysis was performed with customized optical design software. Nine patients with implanted OOKP devices and 9 age-matched control patients were assessed. Contrast sensitivity was assessed and glare effect was measured with a brightness acuity test. All OOKP patients underwent kinetic Goldmann perimetry and wavefront aberrometry and completed the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire-25 (NEI VFQ-25). Optical analysis showed that the optical cylinder is near diffraction-limited. A reduction in median visual acuity (VA) with increasing glare settings was observed from 0.04 logMAR (without glare) to 0.20 logMAR (with glare at "high" setting) and significantly reduced statistically when compared with the control group at all levels of glare (P < 0.05). Contrast sensitivity was significantly reduced when compared with age-matched controls at medium and high spatial frequencies (P < 0.05). Median Goldmann perimetry was 65 degrees (interquartile range, 64-74 degrees; V-4e isopters) and 69 degrees excluding 2 glaucomatous subjects. Several vision-related NEI VFQ-25 subscales correlated significantly with VA at various brightness acuity test levels and contrast sensitivity at medium spatial frequencies, including dependency, general vision, near activities and distance activities. The OOKP optical cylinder provides patients with a good level of VA that is significantly reduced by glare. We have shown in vivo that updates to the optical cylinder design have improved the patient's field of view. Reduction of glare and refinement of cylinder alignment methods may further improve visual function and patient satisfaction.

  6. Exact self-similar solutions of the Korteweg de Vries equation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nakach, R.

    1975-12-01

    It is shown that the exact analytic self-similar solution of the Korteweg de Vries equation is connected with the second Painleve transcendent. When the self-similar independant variable tends to infinity the asymptotic solutions are given by a nonlinear differential equation which can be integrated to yield Jacobian elliptic functions [fr

  7. Performance of machine-learning scoring functions in structure-based virtual screening.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wójcikowski, Maciej; Ballester, Pedro J; Siedlecki, Pawel

    2017-04-25

    Classical scoring functions have reached a plateau in their performance in virtual screening and binding affinity prediction. Recently, machine-learning scoring functions trained on protein-ligand complexes have shown great promise in small tailored studies. They have also raised controversy, specifically concerning model overfitting and applicability to novel targets. Here we provide a new ready-to-use scoring function (RF-Score-VS) trained on 15 426 active and 893 897 inactive molecules docked to a set of 102 targets. We use the full DUD-E data sets along with three docking tools, five classical and three machine-learning scoring functions for model building and performance assessment. Our results show RF-Score-VS can substantially improve virtual screening performance: RF-Score-VS top 1% provides 55.6% hit rate, whereas that of Vina only 16.2% (for smaller percent the difference is even more encouraging: RF-Score-VS top 0.1% achieves 88.6% hit rate for 27.5% using Vina). In addition, RF-Score-VS provides much better prediction of measured binding affinity than Vina (Pearson correlation of 0.56 and -0.18, respectively). Lastly, we test RF-Score-VS on an independent test set from the DEKOIS benchmark and observed comparable results. We provide full data sets to facilitate further research in this area (http://github.com/oddt/rfscorevs) as well as ready-to-use RF-Score-VS (http://github.com/oddt/rfscorevs_binary).

  8. Physiological Differences and Similarities in Asthma and COPD—Based on Respiratory Function Testing—

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michiaki Mishima

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Physiological differences and similarities in asthma and COPD are documented based on respiratory function testing. (1 The airflow reversibility is usually important for the diagnosis of asthma. However, patients with long disease histories may have poor reversibility. The reversibility test in COPD is useful for predicting the treatment response. (2 In some of the stable asthmatic patients without attack, the concave downslope of flow- volume curve is present. In severe COPD, the flow in the second half of the curve is smaller than that of rest- breathing. (3 Inspiratory capacity (IC is a good estimator of air trapping and of predicting the exercise capacity in COPD or persistent asthma. (4 Peak expiratory flow (PEF can be an important aid in both diagnosis and monitoring of asthma. PEF is not used in COPD because the main disorder is in the peripheral airway. (5 Measurements of airway responsiveness may help to a diagnosis of asthma. However, many COPD cases also have it. (6 Impulse oscillation system (IOS revealed that the predominant airway disorders in asthma and COPD are central and peripheral respiratory resistance, respectively. However, some asthma patients have larger values of peripheral component. (7 Dlco reflects the extent of pathological emphysema and it is useful for the follow-up of COPD, whereas Dlco is not decreased in asthma. (8 The patient with widened A-aDO2 and alveolar hypoventilation may lead to the life threatening hypoxia in severe asthma attack or severe COPD. When PaCO2 overcomes PaO2, the patient should immediately be treated by mechanical ventilation.

  9. Walking on a user similarity network towards personalized recommendations.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mingxin Gan

    Full Text Available Personalized recommender systems have been receiving more and more attention in addressing the serious problem of information overload accompanying the rapid evolution of the world-wide-web. Although traditional collaborative filtering approaches based on similarities between users have achieved remarkable success, it has been shown that the existence of popular objects may adversely influence the correct scoring of candidate objects, which lead to unreasonable recommendation results. Meanwhile, recent advances have demonstrated that approaches based on diffusion and random walk processes exhibit superior performance over collaborative filtering methods in both the recommendation accuracy and diversity. Building on these results, we adopt three strategies (power-law adjustment, nearest neighbor, and threshold filtration to adjust a user similarity network from user similarity scores calculated on historical data, and then propose a random walk with restart model on the constructed network to achieve personalized recommendations. We perform cross-validation experiments on two real data sets (MovieLens and Netflix and compare the performance of our method against the existing state-of-the-art methods. Results show that our method outperforms existing methods in not only recommendation accuracy and diversity, but also retrieval performance.

  10. Walking on a user similarity network towards personalized recommendations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gan, Mingxin

    2014-01-01

    Personalized recommender systems have been receiving more and more attention in addressing the serious problem of information overload accompanying the rapid evolution of the world-wide-web. Although traditional collaborative filtering approaches based on similarities between users have achieved remarkable success, it has been shown that the existence of popular objects may adversely influence the correct scoring of candidate objects, which lead to unreasonable recommendation results. Meanwhile, recent advances have demonstrated that approaches based on diffusion and random walk processes exhibit superior performance over collaborative filtering methods in both the recommendation accuracy and diversity. Building on these results, we adopt three strategies (power-law adjustment, nearest neighbor, and threshold filtration) to adjust a user similarity network from user similarity scores calculated on historical data, and then propose a random walk with restart model on the constructed network to achieve personalized recommendations. We perform cross-validation experiments on two real data sets (MovieLens and Netflix) and compare the performance of our method against the existing state-of-the-art methods. Results show that our method outperforms existing methods in not only recommendation accuracy and diversity, but also retrieval performance.

  11. Performance measures for transform data coding.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pearl, J.; Andrews, H. C.; Pratt, W. K.

    1972-01-01

    This paper develops performance criteria for evaluating transform data coding schemes under computational constraints. Computational constraints that conform with the proposed basis-restricted model give rise to suboptimal coding efficiency characterized by a rate-distortion relation R(D) similar in form to the theoretical rate-distortion function. Numerical examples of this performance measure are presented for Fourier, Walsh, Haar, and Karhunen-Loeve transforms.

  12. Compressional Alfven Eigenmode Similarity Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heidbrink, W. W.; Fredrickson, E. D.; Gorelenkov, N. N.; Rhodes, T. L.

    2004-11-01

    NSTX and DIII-D are nearly ideal for Alfven eigenmode (AE) similarity experiments, having similar neutral beams, fast-ion to Alfven speed v_f/v_A, fast-ion pressure, and shape of the plasma, but with a factor of 2 difference in the major radius. Toroidicity-induced AE with ˜100 kHz frequencies were compared in an earlier study [1]; this paper focuses on higher frequency AE with f ˜ 1 MHz. Compressional AE (CAE) on NSTX have a polarization, dependence on the fast-ion distribution function, frequency scaling, and low-frequency limit that are qualitatively consistent with CAE theory [2]. Global AE (GAE) are also observed. On DIII-D, coherent modes in this frequency range are observed during low-field (0.6 T) similarity experiments. Experiments will compare the CAE stability limits on DIII-D with the NSTX stability limits, with the aim of determining if CAE will be excited by alphas in a reactor. Predicted differences in the frequency splitting Δ f between excited modes will also be used. \\vspace0.25em [1] W.W. Heidbrink, et al., Plasmas Phys. Control. Fusion 45, 983 (2003). [2] E.D. Fredrickson, et al., Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory Report PPPL-3955 (2004).

  13. The predictive model on the user reaction time using the information similarity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Sung Jin; Heo, Gyun Young; Chang, Soon Heung

    2005-01-01

    Human performance is frequently degraded because people forget. Memory is one of brain processes that are important when trying to understand how people process information. Although a large number of studies have been made on the human performance, little is known about the similarity effect in human performance. The purpose of this paper is to propose and validate the quantitative and predictive model on the human response time in the user interface with the concept of similarity. However, it is not easy to explain the human performance with only similarity or information amount. We are confronted by two difficulties: making the quantitative model on the human response time with the similarity and validating the proposed model by experimental work. We made the quantitative model based on the Hick's law and the law of practice. In addition, we validated the model with various experimental conditions by measuring participants' response time in the environment of computer-based display. Experimental results reveal that the human performance is improved by the user interface's similarity. We think that the proposed model is useful for the user interface design and evaluation phases

  14. Merging assistance function with task distribution model to enhance user performance in collaborative virtual environment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khalid, S.; Alam, A.

    2016-01-01

    Collaborative Virtual Environments (CVEs) falls under Virtual Reality (VR) where two or more users manipulate objects collaboratively. In this paper we have made some experiments to make assembly from constituents parts scattered in Virtual Environment (VE) based on task distribution model using assistance functions for checking and enhancing user performance. The CVEs subjects setting on distinct connected machines via local area network. In this perspective, we consider the effects of assistance function with oral communication on collaboration, co-presence and users performance. Twenty subjects performed collaboratively an assembly task on static and dynamic based task distribution. We examine the degree of influence of assistance function with oral communications on user's performance based on task distribution model. The results show that assistance functions with oral communication based on task distribution model not only increase user performance but also enhance the sense of copresence and awareness. (author)

  15. Similar performance of Brasfield and Wisconsin scoring systems in young children with cystic fibrosis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cleveland, Robert H.; Stamoulis, Catherine [Boston Children' s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Department of Radiology, Boston, MA (United States); Sawicki, Gregory S. [Boston Children' s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Division of Respiratory Diseases, Department of Medicine, Boston, MA (United States)

    2015-10-15

    To assess the severity of lung disease in cystic fibrosis (CF), scoring systems based on chest radiographs (CXRs), CT and MRI have been used extensively, although primarily in research settings rather than for clinical purposes. It has recently been shown that those based on CXRs (primarily the Brasfield and Wisconsin systems) are as sensitive and valid as those based on CT. The reproducibility and correlation of both systems to pulmonary function tests (PFTs) were recently investigated and were found to be statistically identical. However, the relative performance of these systems has not been specifically assessed in children younger than 5 years old with mild lung disease, a critical age range in which PFTs is rarely performed. To investigate and compare the performance of the Brasfield and Wisconsin systems in children 0-5 years old with predominantly mild lung disease. Fifty-five patients 0-5 years old with 105 CXRs were included in the study. Given that the goal was to compare system performance in mild disease, only the first two CXRs from each patient were included (all but five patients had two images). When only one image was available in the target age range, it only was included. Agreement between the Brasfield and Wisconsin systems was assessed using a 2X2 contingency table assuming binary classification of CF lung disease using CXR scoring systems (mild vs. non-mild). In the absence of PFTs or another external gold standard for comparison, the Wisconsin system was used as an arbitrary gold standard against which the Brasfield was compared. Correlation between the two systems was assessed via a concordance correlation coefficient (CCC) for repeated measures. Scores were rated as mild or non-mild based on published numerical cutoffs for each system. The systems agreed on 89/105 (85%) and disagreed on 16/105 (15%) of the CXRs. Agreement between the two systems was statistically significant (P < 0.001). Relative sensitivity and specificity of the

  16. Predictors of physical performance and functional ability in people 50+ with and without fibromyalgia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, C Jessie; Rutledge, Dana N; Aquino, Jordan

    2010-07-01

    The purposes of this study were to determine whether people with and without fibromyalgia (FM) age 50 yr and above showed differences in physical performance and perceived functional ability and to determine whether age, gender, depression, and physical activity level altered the impact of FM status on these factors. Dependent variables included perceived function and 6 performance measures (multidimensional balance, aerobic endurance, overall functional mobility, lower body strength, and gait velocity-normal or fast). Independent (predictor) variables were FM status, age, gender, depression, and physical activity level. Results indicated significant differences between adults with and without FM on all physical-performance measures and perceived function. Linear-regression models showed that the contribution of significant predictors was in expected directions. All regression models were significant, accounting for 16-65% of variance in the dependent variables.

  17. Self-similar two-particle separation model

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lüthi, Beat; Berg, Jacob; Ott, Søren

    2007-01-01

    .g.; in the inertial range as epsilon−1/3r2/3. Particle separation is modeled as a Gaussian process without invoking information of Eulerian acceleration statistics or of precise shapes of Eulerian velocity distribution functions. The time scale is a function of S2(r) and thus of the Lagrangian evolving separation......We present a new stochastic model for relative two-particle separation in turbulence. Inspired by material line stretching, we suggest that a similar process also occurs beyond the viscous range, with time scaling according to the longitudinal second-order structure function S2(r), e....... The model predictions agree with numerical and experimental results for various initial particle separations. We present model results for fixed time and fixed scale statistics. We find that for the Richardson-Obukhov law, i.e., =gepsilont3, to hold and to also be observed in experiments, high Reynolds...

  18. DOSim: An R package for similarity between diseases based on Disease Ontology

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-01-01

    Background The construction of the Disease Ontology (DO) has helped promote the investigation of diseases and disease risk factors. DO enables researchers to analyse disease similarity by adopting semantic similarity measures, and has expanded our understanding of the relationships between different diseases and to classify them. Simultaneously, similarities between genes can also be analysed by their associations with similar diseases. As a result, disease heterogeneity is better understood and insights into the molecular pathogenesis of similar diseases have been gained. However, bioinformatics tools that provide easy and straight forward ways to use DO to study disease and gene similarity simultaneously are required. Results We have developed an R-based software package (DOSim) to compute the similarity between diseases and to measure the similarity between human genes in terms of diseases. DOSim incorporates a DO-based enrichment analysis function that can be used to explore the disease feature of an independent gene set. A multilayered enrichment analysis (GO and KEGG annotation) annotation function that helps users explore the biological meaning implied in a newly detected gene module is also part of the DOSim package. We used the disease similarity application to demonstrate the relationship between 128 different DO cancer terms. The hierarchical clustering of these 128 different cancers showed modular characteristics. In another case study, we used the gene similarity application on 361 obesity-related genes. The results revealed the complex pathogenesis of obesity. In addition, the gene module detection and gene module multilayered annotation functions in DOSim when applied on these 361 obesity-related genes helped extend our understanding of the complex pathogenesis of obesity risk phenotypes and the heterogeneity of obesity-related diseases. Conclusions DOSim can be used to detect disease-driven gene modules, and to annotate the modules for functions and

  19. Skin and scales of teleost fish: Simple structure but high performance and multiple functions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vernerey, Franck J.; Barthelat, Francois

    2014-08-01

    Natural and man-made structural materials perform similar functions such as structural support or protection. Therefore they rely on the same types of properties: strength, robustness, lightweight. Nature can therefore provide a significant source of inspiration for new and alternative engineering designs. We report here some results regarding a very common, yet largely unknown, type of biological material: fish skin. Within a thin, flexible and lightweight layer, fish skins display a variety of strain stiffening and stabilizing mechanisms which promote multiple functions such as protection, robustness and swimming efficiency. We particularly discuss four important features pertaining to scaled skins: (a) a strongly elastic tensile behavior that is independent from the presence of rigid scales, (b) a compressive response that prevents buckling and wrinkling instabilities, which are usually predominant for thin membranes, (c) a bending response that displays nonlinear stiffening mechanisms arising from geometric constraints between neighboring scales and (d) a robust structure that preserves the above characteristics upon the loss or damage of structural elements. These important properties make fish skin an attractive model for the development of very thin and flexible armors and protective layers, especially when combined with the high penetration resistance of individual scales. Scaled structures inspired by fish skin could find applications in ultra-light and flexible armor systems, flexible electronics or the design of smart and adaptive morphing structures for aerospace vehicles.

  20. An Investigation of the Differences and Similarities between Generated Small-World Networks for Right- and Left-Hand Motor Imageries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Jiang; Li, Yuyao; Chen, Huafu; Ding, Jurong; Yuan, Zhen

    2016-11-04

    In this study, small-world network analysis was performed to identify the similarities and differences between functional brain networks for right- and left-hand motor imageries (MIs). First, Pearson correlation coefficients among the nodes within the functional brain networks from healthy subjects were calculated. Then, small-world network indicators, including the clustering coefficient, the average path length, the global efficiency, the local efficiency, the average node degree, and the small-world index, were generated for the functional brain networks during both right- and left-hand MIs. We identified large differences in the small-world network indicators between the functional networks during MI and in the random networks. More importantly, the functional brain networks underlying the right- and left-hand MIs exhibited similar small-world properties in terms of the clustering coefficient, the average path length, the global efficiency, and the local efficiency. By contrast, the right- and left-hand MI brain networks showed differences in small-world characteristics, including indicators such as the average node degree and the small-world index. Interestingly, our findings also suggested that the differences in the activity intensity and range, the average node degree, and the small-world index of brain networks between the right- and left-hand MIs were associated with the asymmetry of brain functions.

  1. Presumed cultural similarity paradox : Expatriate adjustment and performance across the border or over the globe

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vromans, P.; van Engen, M.L.; Mol, S.

    2013-01-01

    Purpose To introduce the presumed cultural similarity paradox as a possible explanation for the findings that adjusting to a culturally similar country is just as difficult as adjusting to a culturally dissimilar country. We provide a conceptual framework, enabling further understanding and research

  2. Presumed cultural similarity paradox: expatriate adjustment and performance across the border or over the globe

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vromans, P.; van Engen, M.; Mol, S.

    2013-01-01

    Purpose - To introduce the presumed cultural similarity paradox as a possible explanation for the findings that adjusting to a culturally similar country is just as difficult as adjusting to a culturally dissimilar country. We provide a conceptual framework, enabling further understanding and

  3. Self-similar radiation from numerical Rosenau-Hyman compactons

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rus, Francisco; Villatoro, Francisco R.

    2007-01-01

    The numerical simulation of compactons, solitary waves with compact support, is characterized by the presence of spurious phenomena, as numerically induced radiation, which is illustrated here using four numerical methods applied to the Rosenau-Hyman K(p, p) equation. Both forward and backward radiations are emitted from the compacton presenting a self-similar shape which has been illustrated graphically by the proper scaling. A grid refinement study shows that the amplitude of the radiations decreases as the grid size does, confirming its numerical origin. The front velocity and the amplitude of both radiations have been studied as a function of both the compacton and the numerical parameters. The amplitude of the radiations decreases exponentially in time, being characterized by a nearly constant scaling exponent. An ansatz for both the backward and forward radiations corresponding to a self-similar function characterized by the scaling exponent is suggested by the present numerical results

  4. Large margin classification with indefinite similarities

    KAUST Repository

    Alabdulmohsin, Ibrahim

    2016-01-07

    Classification with indefinite similarities has attracted attention in the machine learning community. This is partly due to the fact that many similarity functions that arise in practice are not symmetric positive semidefinite, i.e. the Mercer condition is not satisfied, or the Mercer condition is difficult to verify. Examples of such indefinite similarities in machine learning applications are ample including, for instance, the BLAST similarity score between protein sequences, human-judged similarities between concepts and words, and the tangent distance or the shape matching distance in computer vision. Nevertheless, previous works on classification with indefinite similarities are not fully satisfactory. They have either introduced sources of inconsistency in handling past and future examples using kernel approximation, settled for local-minimum solutions using non-convex optimization, or produced non-sparse solutions by learning in Krein spaces. Despite the large volume of research devoted to this subject lately, we demonstrate in this paper how an old idea, namely the 1-norm support vector machine (SVM) proposed more than 15 years ago, has several advantages over more recent work. In particular, the 1-norm SVM method is conceptually simpler, which makes it easier to implement and maintain. It is competitive, if not superior to, all other methods in terms of predictive accuracy. Moreover, it produces solutions that are often sparser than more recent methods by several orders of magnitude. In addition, we provide various theoretical justifications by relating 1-norm SVM to well-established learning algorithms such as neural networks, SVM, and nearest neighbor classifiers. Finally, we conduct a thorough experimental evaluation, which reveals that the evidence in favor of 1-norm SVM is statistically significant.

  5. Functional networks in parallel with cortical development associate with executive functions in children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhong, Jidan; Rifkin-Graboi, Anne; Ta, Anh Tuan; Yap, Kar Lai; Chuang, Kai-Hsiang; Meaney, Michael J; Qiu, Anqi

    2014-07-01

    Children begin performing similarly to adults on tasks requiring executive functions in late childhood, a transition that is probably due to neuroanatomical fine-tuning processes, including myelination and synaptic pruning. In parallel to such structural changes in neuroanatomical organization, development of functional organization may also be associated with cognitive behaviors in children. We examined 6- to 10-year-old children's cortical thickness, functional organization, and cognitive performance. We used structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to identify areas with cortical thinning, resting-state fMRI to identify functional organization in parallel to cortical development, and working memory/response inhibition tasks to assess executive functioning. We found that neuroanatomical changes in the form of cortical thinning spread over bilateral frontal, parietal, and occipital regions. These regions were engaged in 3 functional networks: sensorimotor and auditory, executive control, and default mode network. Furthermore, we found that working memory and response inhibition only associated with regional functional connectivity, but not topological organization (i.e., local and global efficiency of information transfer) of these functional networks. Interestingly, functional connections associated with "bottom-up" as opposed to "top-down" processing were more clearly related to children's performance on working memory and response inhibition, implying an important role for brain systems involved in late childhood. © The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  6. Study on functional relationships between ergonomics indexes of manual performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Hui-Min; Ding, Li; Chen, Shou-Ping; Yang, Chun-Xin; Yuan, Xiu-Gan

    This paper investigates functional relationships between some of the key ergonomics indexes in manual performance, and attempts to condense the ergonomics appraisal indexes system and thus evaluate hand performance wearing EVA (extravehicular activity) glove, design and improve EVA glove's performance. Four types of ergonomics indexes were studied, i.e., dexterity, tactile sensibility (TS), strength and fatigue. Two test items of insert sticks into a holes-board (ISIHB) and nuts-bolts assembly task (NBAT) were used to measure dexterity, while shape discrimination (SD) was employed for TS, and grip force (GF) for strength and fatigue. The variables measured in this investigation included accomplishing time (AT) of ISIHB and NBAT, correct rate (CR) of SD, maximal grip force (MGF), instant grip force (IGF) and endurance time of grip force (ETGF). Experiments were conducted on 31 undergraduates (eight female and 23 male) with two experiment conditions of bare-hand group and gloved hand group. Results demonstrated that dexterity and TS performance of gloved hand group declined significantly compared with those of bare-hand group (pfatigue between two conditions (p>0.05). Four effective functional relationships were developed between four pairs of ergonomics indexes in bare-hand group. In gloved hand group, in addition to above-mentioned four pairs of relationships, another formula was found, which was y^=0.02061+0.01233x ( p<0.01, dexterity and TS).

  7. The power of change: interpersonal attraction as a function of attitude similarity and attitude alignment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reid, Chelsea A; Davis, Jody L; Green, Jeffrey D

    2013-01-01

    Does attitude alignment predict attraction? Would you like a stranger more who shifts her/his attitudes to more closely align with yours? In pairs, participants (N = 77) discussed social issues about which they disagreed and received false feedback on whether the partner engaged in attitude alignment (shifted her/his attitudes toward the participant's attitude) following discussion. Participants also received false feedback about the proportion of similarity to the partner on a set of issues (i.e., 25%, 50%, or 75%). Participants reported greater attraction to partners who engaged in attitude alignment and who were more similar. Moreover, similarity and attitude alignment interacted. Similarity predicted attraction when attitude alignment did not occur, but did not predict attraction when attitude alignment did occur. Finally, partner attitude alignment led to participant attitude alignment, and perceived reasoning ability mediated the attitude alignment-attraction relationship.

  8. Similarity in Bilateral Isolated Internal Orbital Fractures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Hung-Chang; Cox, Jacob T; Sanyal, Abanti; Mahoney, Nicholas R

    2018-04-13

    In evaluating patients sustaining bilateral isolated internal orbital fractures, the authors have observed both similar fracture locations and also similar expansion of orbital volumes. In this study, we aim to investigate if there is a propensity for the 2 orbits to fracture in symmetrically similar patterns when sustaining similar trauma. A retrospective chart review was performed studying all cases at our institution of bilateral isolated internal orbital fractures involving the medial wall and/or the floor at the time of presentation. The similarity of the bilateral fracture locations was evaluated using the Fisher's exact test. The bilateral expanded orbital volumes were analyzed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test to assess for orbital volume similarity. Twenty-four patients with bilateral internal orbital fractures were analyzed for fracture location similarity. Seventeen patients (70.8%) had 100% concordance in the orbital subregion fractured, and the association between the right and the left orbital fracture subregion locations was statistically significant (P < 0.0001). Fifteen patients were analyzed for orbital volume similarity. The average orbital cavity volume was 31.2 ± 3.8 cm on the right and 32.0 ± 3.7 cm on the left. There was a statistically significant difference between right and left orbital cavity volumes (P = 0.0026). The data from this study suggest that an individual who suffers isolated bilateral internal orbital fractures has a statistically significant similarity in the location of their orbital fractures. However, there does not appear to be statistically significant similarity in the expansion of the orbital volumes in these patients.

  9. Adolescent Anorexia Nervosa: cognitive performance after weight recovery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lozano-Serra, Estefanía; Andrés-Perpiña, Susana; Lázaro-García, Luisa; Castro-Fornieles, Josefina

    2014-01-01

    Although there is no definitive consensus on the impairment of neuropsychological functions, most studies of adults with Anorexia Nervosa (AN) find impaired functioning in cognitive domains such as visual-spatial abilities. The objective of this study is to assess the cognitive functions in adolescents with AN before and after weight recovery and to explore the relationship between cognitive performance and menstruation. Twenty-five female adolescents with AN were assessed by a neuropsychological battery while underweight and then following six months of treatment and weight recovery. Twenty-six healthy female subjects of a similar age were also evaluated at both time points. Underweight patients with AN showed worse cognitive performance than control subjects in immediate recall, organization and time taken to copy the Rey's Complex Figure Test (RCFT). After weight recovery, AN patients presented significant improvements in all tests, and differences between patients and controls disappeared. Patients with AN and persistence of amenorrhea at follow-up (n=8) performed worse on Block Design, delayed recall of Visual Reproduction and Stroop Test than patients with resumed menstruation (n=14) and the control group, though the two AN groups were similar in body mass index, age and psychopathological scale scores. Weight recovery improves cognitive functioning in adolescents with AN. The normalization of neuropsychological performance is better in patients who have recovered at least one menstrual cycle. The normalization of hormonal function seems to be essential for the normalization of cognitive performance, even in adolescents with a very short recovery time. © 2013.

  10. Effective Results Analysis for the Similar Software Products’ Orthogonality

    OpenAIRE

    Ion Ivan; Daniel Milodin

    2009-01-01

    It is defined the concept of similar software. There are established conditions of archiving the software components. It is carried out the orthogonality evaluation and the correlation between the orthogonality and the complexity of the homogenous software components is analyzed. Shall proceed to build groups of similar software products, belonging to the orthogonality intervals. There are presented in graphical form the results of the analysis. There are detailed aspects of the functioning o...

  11. Factors that impact functional performance of elderly with low back pain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Flora Pereira Guerra

    Full Text Available Abstract Introduction: Low back pain is a common condition among older adults and an important cause of disability. Objective: To evaluate the relationship between functional performance of older adults with low back pain and the following variables: sociodemographic and clinical factors, self-perceived health and back pain beliefs. Methods: A cross-sectional study that used data from the Back Complaints in the Elders international consortium. Information about sociodemographic factors (sex, age, marital status, formal education, clinical factors (intensity and frequency of pain, comorbidities, self-perceived health, back pain beliefs and functional performance (measured by the disability component of the Late Life Function and Disability Instrument - LLFDI were collected through self-report. 191 older adults above 60 years with a new episode of back complaints who did not have any cognitive disorder, visual or hearing impairment, or motor disabilities participated in the study. A bivariate analysis was conducted between each independent variable and each outcome. Associations with p < 0.20 were selected for the multiple linear regression analysis, which was carried out for each LLFDI domain. Results: The multiple regression coefficients of determination were significant despite the modest magnitude. The variables related to functional performance were back beliefs, self-perceived health, formal education, pain frequency and marital status. Conclusion: These results may contribute to the expansion of health professionals’ work in the therapeutic approach of low back pain, broadening its focus beyond clinical aspects in order to value beliefs of older adults and their self-perceived health.

  12. Models for discrete-time self-similar vector processes with application to network traffic

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Seungsin; Rao, Raghuveer M.; Narasimha, Rajesh

    2003-07-01

    The paper defines self-similarity for vector processes by employing the discrete-time continuous-dilation operation which has successfully been used previously by the authors to define 1-D discrete-time stochastic self-similar processes. To define self-similarity of vector processes, it is required to consider the cross-correlation functions between different 1-D processes as well as the autocorrelation function of each constituent 1-D process in it. System models to synthesize self-similar vector processes are constructed based on the definition. With these systems, it is possible to generate self-similar vector processes from white noise inputs. An important aspect of the proposed models is that they can be used to synthesize various types of self-similar vector processes by choosing proper parameters. Additionally, the paper presents evidence of vector self-similarity in two-channel wireless LAN data and applies the aforementioned systems to simulate the corresponding network traffic traces.

  13. Neuropsychological predictors of performance-based measures of functional capacity and social skills in individuals with severe mental illness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mahmood, Zanjbeel; Burton, Cynthia Z; Vella, Lea; Twamley, Elizabeth W

    2018-04-13

    Neuropsychological abilities may underlie successful performance of everyday functioning and social skills. We aimed to determine the strongest neuropsychological predictors of performance-based functional capacity and social skills performance across the spectrum of severe mental illness (SMI). Unemployed outpatients with SMI (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or major depression; n = 151) were administered neuropsychological (expanded MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery), functional capacity (UCSD Performance-Based Skills Assessment-Brief; UPSA-B), and social skills (Social Skills Performance Assessment; SSPA) assessments. Bivariate correlations between neuropsychological performance and UPSA-B and SSPA total scores showed that most neuropsychological tests were significantly associated with each performance-based measure. Forward entry stepwise regression analyses were conducted entering education, diagnosis, symptom severity, and neuropsychological performance as predictors of functional capacity and social skills. Diagnosis, working memory, sustained attention, and category and letter fluency emerged as significant predictors of functional capacity, in a model that explained 43% of the variance. Negative symptoms, sustained attention, and letter fluency were significant predictors of social skill performance, in a model explaining 35% of the variance. Functional capacity is positively associated with neuropsychological functioning, but diagnosis remains strongly influential, with mood disorder participants outperforming those with psychosis. Social skill performance appears to be positively associated with sustained attention and verbal fluency regardless of diagnosis; however, negative symptom severity strongly predicts social skills performance. Improving neuropsychological functioning may improve psychosocial functioning in people with SMI. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  14. Biogenic oxidized organic functional groups in aerosol particles from a mountain forest site and their similarities to laboratory chamber products

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schwartz, R. E.; Russell, L. M.; Sjostedt, S. J.; Vlasenko, A.; Slowik, J. G.; Abbatt, J. P. D.; MacDonald, A. M.; Li, S. M.; Liggio, J.; Toom-Sauntry, D.; Leaitch, W. R.

    2010-06-01

    Submicron particles collected at Whistler, British Columbia, at 1020 m a.s.l. during May and June 2008 on Teflon filters were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) techniques for organic functional groups (OFG) and elemental composition. Organic mass (OM) concentrations ranged from less than 0.5 to 3.1 μg m-3, with a project mean and standard deviation of 1.3±1.0 μg m-3 and 0.21±0.16 μg m-3 for OM and sulfate, respectively. On average, organic hydroxyl, alkane, and carboxylic acid groups represented 34%, 33%, and 23% of OM, respectively. Ketone, amine and organosulfate groups constituted 6%, 5%, and volatile organic compounds (VOC), including isoprene and monoterpenes from biogenic VOC (BVOC) emissions and their oxidation products (methyl-vinylketone / methacrolein, MVK/MACR), were made using co-located proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS). We present chemically-specific evidence of OFG associated with BVOC emissions. Positive matrix factorization (PMF) analysis attributed 65% of the campaign OM to biogenic sources, based on the correlations of one factor to monoterpenes and MVK/MACR. The remaining fraction was attributed to anthropogenic sources based on a correlation to sulfate. The functional group composition of the biogenic factor (consisting of 32% alkane, 25% carboxylic acid, 21% organic hydroxyl, 16% ketone, and 6% amine groups) was similar to that of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) reported from the oxidation of BVOCs in laboratory chamber studies, providing evidence that the magnitude and chemical composition of biogenic SOA simulated in the laboratory is similar to that found in actual atmospheric conditions. The biogenic factor OM is also correlated to dust elements, indicating that dust may act as a non-acidic SOA sink. This role is supported by the organic functional group composition and morphology of single particles, which were analyzed by scanning transmission X-ray microscopy near edge X

  15. Combining satellite data and appropriate objective functions for improved spatial pattern performance of a distributed hydrologic model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Demirel, Mehmet C.; Mai, Juliane; Mendiguren, Gorka; Koch, Julian; Samaniego, Luis; Stisen, Simon

    2018-02-01

    Satellite-based earth observations offer great opportunities to improve spatial model predictions by means of spatial-pattern-oriented model evaluations. In this study, observed spatial patterns of actual evapotranspiration (AET) are utilised for spatial model calibration tailored to target the pattern performance of the model. The proposed calibration framework combines temporally aggregated observed spatial patterns with a new spatial performance metric and a flexible spatial parameterisation scheme. The mesoscale hydrologic model (mHM) is used to simulate streamflow and AET and has been selected due to its soil parameter distribution approach based on pedo-transfer functions and the build in multi-scale parameter regionalisation. In addition two new spatial parameter distribution options have been incorporated in the model in order to increase the flexibility of root fraction coefficient and potential evapotranspiration correction parameterisations, based on soil type and vegetation density. These parameterisations are utilised as they are most relevant for simulated AET patterns from the hydrologic model. Due to the fundamental challenges encountered when evaluating spatial pattern performance using standard metrics, we developed a simple but highly discriminative spatial metric, i.e. one comprised of three easily interpretable components measuring co-location, variation and distribution of the spatial data. The study shows that with flexible spatial model parameterisation used in combination with the appropriate objective functions, the simulated spatial patterns of actual evapotranspiration become substantially more similar to the satellite-based estimates. Overall 26 parameters are identified for calibration through a sequential screening approach based on a combination of streamflow and spatial pattern metrics. The robustness of the calibrations is tested using an ensemble of nine calibrations based on different seed numbers using the shuffled complex

  16. Power probability density function control and performance assessment of a nuclear research reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abharian, Amir Esmaeili; Fadaei, Amir Hosein

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • In this paper, the performance assessment of static PDF control system is discussed. • The reactor PDF model is set up based on the B-spline functions. • Acquaints of Nu, and Th-h. equations solve concurrently by reformed Hansen’s method. • A principle of performance assessment is put forward for the PDF of the NR control. - Abstract: One of the main issues in controlling a system is to keep track of the conditions of the system function. The performance condition of the system should be inspected continuously, to keep the system in reliable working condition. In this study, the nuclear reactor is considered as a complicated system and a principle of performance assessment is used for analyzing the performance of the power probability density function (PDF) of the nuclear research reactor control. First, the model of the power PDF is set up, then the controller is designed to make the power PDF for tracing the given shape, that make the reactor to be a closed-loop system. The operating data of the closed-loop reactor are used to assess the control performance with the performance assessment criteria. The modeling, controller design and the performance assessment of the power PDF are all applied to the control of Tehran Research Reactor (TRR) power in a nuclear process. In this paper, the performance assessment of the static PDF control system is discussed, the efficacy and efficiency of the proposed method are investigated, and finally its reliability is proven

  17. Searching the protein structure database for ligand-binding site similarities using CPASS v.2

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Caprez Adam

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background A recent analysis of protein sequences deposited in the NCBI RefSeq database indicates that ~8.5 million protein sequences are encoded in prokaryotic and eukaryotic genomes, where ~30% are explicitly annotated as "hypothetical" or "uncharacterized" protein. Our Comparison of Protein Active-Site Structures (CPASS v.2 database and software compares the sequence and structural characteristics of experimentally determined ligand binding sites to infer a functional relationship in the absence of global sequence or structure similarity. CPASS is an important component of our Functional Annotation Screening Technology by NMR (FAST-NMR protocol and has been successfully applied to aid the annotation of a number of proteins of unknown function. Findings We report a major upgrade to our CPASS software and database that significantly improves its broad utility. CPASS v.2 is designed with a layered architecture to increase flexibility and portability that also enables job distribution over the Open Science Grid (OSG to increase speed. Similarly, the CPASS interface was enhanced to provide more user flexibility in submitting a CPASS query. CPASS v.2 now allows for both automatic and manual definition of ligand-binding sites and permits pair-wise, one versus all, one versus list, or list versus list comparisons. Solvent accessible surface area, ligand root-mean square difference, and Cβ distances have been incorporated into the CPASS similarity function to improve the quality of the results. The CPASS database has also been updated. Conclusions CPASS v.2 is more than an order of magnitude faster than the original implementation, and allows for multiple simultaneous job submissions. Similarly, the CPASS database of ligand-defined binding sites has increased in size by ~ 38%, dramatically increasing the likelihood of a positive search result. The modification to the CPASS similarity function is effective in reducing CPASS similarity scores

  18. Associations between physical function, dual-task performance and cognition in patients with mild Alzheimer's disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sobol, Nanna Aue; Hoffmann, Kristine; Vogel, Asmus; Lolk, Annette; Gottrup, Hanne; Høgh, Peter; Hasselbalch, Steen G; Beyer, Nina

    2016-11-01

    Alzheimer's disease (AD) causes a gradual decline in cognition, limitations of dual-tasking and physical function leading to total dependence. Hence, information about the interaction between physical function, dual-task performance and cognition may lead to new treatment strategies with the purpose of preserving function and quality of life. The objective of this study was to investigate the associations between physical function, dual-task performance and cognition in community-dwelling patients with mild AD. Baseline results from 185 participants (50-90 years old) in the single blinded multicenter RCT 'ADEX' (Alzheimer's disease: the effect of physical exercise) were used. Assessments included tests of physical function: 400-m walk test, 10-m walk test, Timed Up and Go test and 30-s chair stand test; dual-task performance, i.e., 10-m walk while counting backwards from 50 or naming the months backwards; and cognition, i.e., Mini Mental State Examination, Symbol Digit Modalities Test, the Stroop Color and Word Test, and Lexical verbal fluency test. Results in the 30-s chair stand test correlated significantly with all tests of cognition (r = .208-.242) while the other physical function tests only randomly correlated with tests of cognition. Results in the dual-task counting backwards correlated significantly with results in all tests of cognition (r = .259-.388), which accounted for 7%-15% of the variation indicating that a faster time to complete dual-task performance was associated with better cognitive performance. The evidence of the associations between physical function, dual-task performance and cognition is important when creating new rehabilitation interventions to patients with mild AD.

  19. Does parallel item content on WOMAC's Pain and Function Subscales limit its ability to detect change in functional status?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kennedy Deborah M

    2004-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Although the Western Ontario and McMaster University Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC is considered the leading outcome measure for patients with osteoarthritis of the lower extremity, recent work has challenged its factorial validity and the physical function subscale's ability to detect valid change when pain and function display different profiles of change. This study examined the etiology of the WOMAC's physical function subscale's limited ability to detect change in the presence of discordant changes for pain and function. We hypothesized that the duplication of some items on the WOMAC's pain and function subscales contributed to this shortcoming. Methods Two eight-item physical function scales were abstracted from the WOMAC's 17-item physical function subscale: one contained activities and themes that were duplicated on the pain subscale (SIMILAR-8; the other version avoided overlapping activities (DISSIMILAR-8. Factorial validity of the shortened measures was assessed on 310 patients awaiting hip or knee arthroplasty. The shortened measures' abilities to detect change were examined on a sample of 104 patients following primary hip or knee arthroplasty. The WOMAC and three performance measures that included activity specific pain assessments – 40 m walk test, stair test, and timed-up-and-go test – were administered preoperatively, within 16 days of hip or knee arthroplasty, and at an interval of greater than 20 days following the first post-surgical assessment. Standardized response means were used to quantify change. Results The SIMILAR-8 did not demonstrate factorial validity; however, the factorial structure of the DISSIMILAR-8 was supported. The time to complete the performance measures more than doubled between the preoperative and first postoperative assessments supporting the theory that lower extremity functional status diminished over this interval. The DISSIMILAR-8 detected this deterioration in functional

  20. Argot2: a large scale function prediction tool relying on semantic similarity of weighted Gene Ontology terms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Falda, Marco; Toppo, Stefano; Pescarolo, Alessandro; Lavezzo, Enrico; Di Camillo, Barbara; Facchinetti, Andrea; Cilia, Elisa; Velasco, Riccardo; Fontana, Paolo

    2012-03-28

    Predicting protein function has become increasingly demanding in the era of next generation sequencing technology. The task to assign a curator-reviewed function to every single sequence is impracticable. Bioinformatics tools, easy to use and able to provide automatic and reliable annotations at a genomic scale, are necessary and urgent. In this scenario, the Gene Ontology has provided the means to standardize the annotation classification with a structured vocabulary which can be easily exploited by computational methods. Argot2 is a web-based function prediction tool able to annotate nucleic or protein sequences from small datasets up to entire genomes. It accepts as input a list of sequences in FASTA format, which are processed using BLAST and HMMER searches vs UniProKB and Pfam databases respectively; these sequences are then annotated with GO terms retrieved from the UniProtKB-GOA database and the terms are weighted using the e-values from BLAST and HMMER. The weighted GO terms are processed according to both their semantic similarity relations described by the Gene Ontology and their associated score. The algorithm is based on the original idea developed in a previous tool called Argot. The entire engine has been completely rewritten to improve both accuracy and computational efficiency, thus allowing for the annotation of complete genomes. The revised algorithm has been already employed and successfully tested during in-house genome projects of grape and apple, and has proven to have a high precision and recall in all our benchmark conditions. It has also been successfully compared with Blast2GO, one of the methods most commonly employed for sequence annotation. The server is freely accessible at http://www.medcomp.medicina.unipd.it/Argot2.

  1. In silico peptide-binding predictions of passerine MHC class I reveal similarities across distantly related species, suggesting convergence on the level of protein function.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Follin, Elna; Karlsson, Maria; Lundegaard, Claus; Nielsen, Morten; Wallin, Stefan; Paulsson, Kajsa; Westerdahl, Helena

    2013-04-01

    The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes are the most polymorphic genes found in the vertebrate genome, and they encode proteins that play an essential role in the adaptive immune response. Many songbirds (passerines) have been shown to have a large number of transcribed MHC class I genes compared to most mammals. To elucidate the reason for this large number of genes, we compared 14 MHC class I alleles (α1-α3 domains), from great reed warbler, house sparrow and tree sparrow, via phylogenetic analysis, homology modelling and in silico peptide-binding predictions to investigate their functional and genetic relationships. We found more pronounced clustering of the MHC class I allomorphs (allele specific proteins) in regards to their function (peptide-binding specificities) compared to their genetic relationships (amino acid sequences), indicating that the high number of alleles is of functional significance. The MHC class I allomorphs from house sparrow and tree sparrow, species that diverged 10 million years ago (MYA), had overlapping peptide-binding specificities, and these similarities across species were also confirmed in phylogenetic analyses based on amino acid sequences. Notably, there were also overlapping peptide-binding specificities in the allomorphs from house sparrow and great reed warbler, although these species diverged 30 MYA. This overlap was not found in a tree based on amino acid sequences. Our interpretation is that convergent evolution on the level of the protein function, possibly driven by selection from shared pathogens, has resulted in allomorphs with similar peptide-binding repertoires, although trans-species evolution in combination with gene conversion cannot be ruled out.

  2. Motor network structure and function are associated with motor performance in Huntington's disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Müller, Hans-Peter; Gorges, Martin; Grön, Georg; Kassubek, Jan; Landwehrmeyer, G Bernhard; Süßmuth, Sigurd D; Wolf, Robert Christian; Orth, Michael

    2016-03-01

    In Huntington's disease, the relationship of brain structure, brain function and clinical measures remains incompletely understood. We asked how sensory-motor network brain structure and neural activity relate to each other and to motor performance. Thirty-four early stage HD and 32 age- and sex-matched healthy control participants underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), diffusion tensor, and intrinsic functional connectivity MRI. Diffusivity patterns were assessed in the cortico-spinal tract and the thalamus-somatosensory cortex tract. For the motor network connectivity analyses the dominant M1 motor cortex region and for the basal ganglia-thalamic network the thalamus were used as seeds. Region to region structural and functional connectivity was examined between thalamus and somatosensory cortex. Fractional anisotropy (FA) was higher in HD than controls in the basal ganglia, and lower in the external and internal capsule, in the thalamus, and in subcortical white matter. Between-group axial and radial diffusivity differences were more prominent than differences in FA, and correlated with motor performance. Within the motor network, the insula was less connected in HD than in controls, with the degree of connection correlating with motor scores. The basal ganglia-thalamic network's connectivity differed in the insula and basal ganglia. Tract specific white matter diffusivity and functional connectivity were not correlated. In HD sensory-motor white matter organization and functional connectivity in a motor network were independently associated with motor performance. The lack of tract-specific association of structure and function suggests that functional adaptation to structural loss differs between participants.

  3. Robust Multiscale Modelling Of Two-Phase Steels On Heterogeneous Hardware Infrastructures By Using Statistically Similar Representative Volume Element

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rauch Ł.

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available The coupled finite element multiscale simulations (FE2 require costly numerical procedures in both macro and micro scales. Attempts to improve numerical efficiency are focused mainly on two areas of development, i.e. parallelization/distribution of numerical procedures and simplification of virtual material representation. One of the representatives of both mentioned areas is the idea of Statistically Similar Representative Volume Element (SSRVE. It aims at the reduction of the number of finite elements in micro scale as well as at parallelization of the calculations in micro scale which can be performed without barriers. The simplification of computational domain is realized by transformation of sophisticated images of material microstructure into artificially created simple objects being characterized by similar features as their original equivalents. In existing solutions for two-phase steels SSRVE is created on the basis of the analysis of shape coefficients of hard phase in real microstructure and searching for a representative simple structure with similar shape coefficients. Optimization techniques were used to solve this task. In the present paper local strains and stresses are added to the cost function in optimization. Various forms of the objective function composed of different elements were investigated and used in the optimization procedure for the creation of the final SSRVE. The results are compared as far as the efficiency of the procedure and uniqueness of the solution are considered. The best objective function composed of shape coefficients, as well as of strains and stresses, was proposed. Examples of SSRVEs determined for the investigated two-phase steel using that objective function are demonstrated in the paper. Each step of SSRVE creation is investigated from computational efficiency point of view. The proposition of implementation of the whole computational procedure on modern High Performance Computing (HPC

  4. Scholastic performance and functional connectivity of brain networks in children.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Laura Chaddock-Heyman

    Full Text Available One of the keys to understanding scholastic success is to determine the neural processes involved in school performance. The present study is the first to use a whole-brain connectivity approach to explore whether functional connectivity of resting state brain networks is associated with scholastic performance in seventy-four 7- to 9-year-old children. We demonstrate that children with higher scholastic performance across reading, math and language have more integrated and interconnected resting state networks, specifically the default mode network, salience network, and frontoparietal network. To add specificity, core regions of the dorsal attention and visual networks did not relate to scholastic performance. The results extend the cognitive role of brain networks in children as well as suggest the importance of network connectivity in scholastic success.

  5. Performance of Density Functional Theory Procedures for the Calculation of Proton-Exchange Barriers: Unusual Behavior of M06-Type Functionals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chan, Bun; Gilbert, Andrew T B; Gill, Peter M W; Radom, Leo

    2014-09-09

    We have examined the performance of a variety of density functional theory procedures for the calculation of complexation energies and proton-exchange barriers, with a focus on the Minnesota-class of functionals that are generally highly robust and generally show good accuracy. A curious observation is that M05-type and M06-type methods show an atypical decrease in calculated barriers with increasing proportion of Hartree-Fock exchange. To obtain a clearer picture of the performance of the underlying components of M05-type and M06-type functionals, we have investigated the combination of MPW-type and PBE-type exchange and B95-type and PBE-type correlation procedures. We find that, for the extensive E3 test set, the general performance of the various hybrid-DFT procedures improves in the following order: PBE1-B95 → PBE1-PBE → MPW1-PBE → PW6-B95. As M05-type and M06-type procedures are related to PBE1-B95, it would be of interest to formulate and examine the general performance of an alternative Minnesota DFT method related to PW6-B95.

  6. Functional Activation and Effective Connectivity Differences in Adolescent Marijuana Users Performing a Simulated Gambling Task

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ashley Acheson

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Background. Adolescent marijuana use is associated with structural and functional differences in forebrain regions while performing memory and attention tasks. In the present study, we investigated neural processing in adolescent marijuana users experiencing rewards and losses. Fourteen adolescents with frequent marijuana use (>5 uses per week and 14 nonuser controls performed a computer task where they were required to guess the outcome of a simulated coin flip while undergoing magnetic resonance imaging. Results. Across all participants, “Wins” and “Losses” were associated with activations including cingulate, middle frontal, superior frontal, and inferior frontal gyri and declive activations. Relative to controls, users had greater activity in the middle and inferior frontal gyri, caudate, and claustrum during “Wins” and greater activity in the anterior and posterior cingulate, middle frontal gyrus, insula, claustrum, and declive during “Losses.” Effective connectivity analyses revealed similar overall network interactions among these regions for users and controls during both “Wins” and “Losses.” However, users and controls had significantly different causal interactions for 10 out of 28 individual paths during the “Losses” condition. Conclusions. Collectively, these results indicate adolescent marijuana users have enhanced neural responses to simulated monetary rewards and losses and relatively subtle differences in effective connectivity.

  7. Role of Marketing Intelligence by Strategic Function in Organizational Performance: Evidence from Pakistan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arslan Ayub

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this study is multifaceted; firstly, it aims to explore the extent to which marketing intelligence is utilized within corporate sector in Pakistan. Secondly, this paper measures the role of marketing intelligence by strategic function on organizational performance. Research on marketing intelligence has consequently increased and grabbed the attention of researchers and marketers to leverage marketing intelligence resulting in increased organizational performance for the last decade. The study uses exploratory approach, sample of the study consisted of 145 professionals from 30 companies related to different sectors operating in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Structural Equation Model (SEM Technique was used to test the hypotheses. The study found a strong positive relationship between marketing intelligence by strategic function and organizational performance. The study also found that majority of corporate sector of Pakistan have incorporated and utilized marketing intelligence system. This piece of writing has thrown light on the significance of marketing intelligence and its usefulness as a marketing strategy which not only contributes in the existing body of knowledge but also has many managerial implications. The study endorsed the importance of marketing intelligence by strategic function to heading on this fast-paced competition. As for marketing managers in order to formulate policies; marketing intelligence by strategic function provides a leapfrogging approach to outer perform in the market place.

  8. Evaluating gender similarities and differences using metasynthesis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zell, Ethan; Krizan, Zlatan; Teeter, Sabrina R

    2015-01-01

    Despite the common lay assumption that males and females are profoundly different, Hyde (2005) used data from 46 meta-analyses to demonstrate that males and females are highly similar. Nonetheless, the gender similarities hypothesis has remained controversial. Since Hyde's provocative report, there has been an explosion of meta-analytic interest in psychological gender differences. We utilized this enormous collection of 106 meta-analyses and 386 individual meta-analytic effects to reevaluate the gender similarities hypothesis. Furthermore, we employed a novel data-analytic approach called metasynthesis (Zell & Krizan, 2014) to estimate the average difference between males and females and to explore moderators of gender differences. The average, absolute difference between males and females across domains was relatively small (d = 0.21, SD = 0.14), with the majority of effects being either small (46%) or very small (39%). Magnitude of differences fluctuated somewhat as a function of the psychological domain (e.g., cognitive variables, social and personality variables, well-being), but remained largely constant across age, culture, and generations. These findings provide compelling support for the gender similarities hypothesis, but also underscore conditions under which gender differences are most pronounced. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.

  9. Assessing language and visuospatial functions with one task: a "dual use" approach to performing fMRI in children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ebner, Kathina; Lidzba, Karen; Hauser, Till-Karsten; Wilke, Marko

    2011-10-01

    In order to increase the rate of successful functional MR studies in children it is helpful to shorten the time spent in the scanner. To this effect, assessing two cognitive functions with one task seems to be a promising approach. The hypothesis of this study was that the control condition of an established language task (vowel identification task, VIT) requires visuospatial processing and that the control condition (VIT(CC)) therefore may also be applicable to localize visuospatial functions. As a reference task, a visual search task (VST, previously established for use in children) was employed. To test this hypothesis, 43 children (19 f, 24 m; 12.0±2.6, range 7.9 to 17.8 years) were recruited and scanned using both tasks. Second-level random effects group analyses showed activation of left inferior-frontal cortex in the active condition of the VIT, as in previous studies. Additionally, analysis of the VIT(CC) demonstrated activation in right-dominant superior parietal and high-frontal brain regions, classically associated with visuospatial functions; activation seen in the VST was similar with a substantial overlap. However, lateralization in the parietal lobe was significantly more bilateral in the VST than in the VIT(CC). This suggests that the VIT can not only be applied to assess language functions (using the active>control contrast), but also that the control>active condition is useful for assessing visuospatial functions. Future task design may benefit from such a "dual use" approach to performing fMRI not only, but also particularly in children. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Extending the similarity-based XML multicast approach with digital signatures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Azzini, Antonia; Marrara, Stefania; Jensen, Meiko

    2009-01-01

    This paper investigates the interplay between similarity-based SOAP message aggregation and digital signature application. An overview on the approaches resulting from the different orders for the tasks of signature application, verification, similarity aggregation and splitting is provided....... Depending on the intersection between similarity-aggregated and signed SOAP message parts, the paper discusses three different cases of signature application, and sketches their applicability and performance implications....

  11. Genetic similarity of soybean genotypes revealed by seed protein

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nikolić Ana

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available More accurate and complete descriptions of genotypes could help determinate future breeding strategies and facilitate introgression of new genotypes in current soybean genetic pool. The objective of this study was to characterize 20 soybean genotypes from the Maize Research Institute "Zemun Polje" collection, which have good agronomic performances, high yield, lodging and drought resistance, and low shuttering by seed proteins as biochemical markers. Seed proteins were isolated and separated by PAA electrophoresis. On the basis of the presence/absence of protein fractions coefficients of similarity were calculated as Dice and Roger and Tanamoto coefficient between pairs of genotypes. The similarity matrix was submitted for hierarchical cluster analysis of un weighted pair group using arithmetic average (UPGMA method and necessary computation were performed using NTSYS-pc program. Protein seed analysis confirmed low level of genetic diversity in soybean. The highest genetic similarity was between genotypes P9272 and Kador. According to obtained results, soybean genotypes were assigned in two larger groups and coefficients of similarity showed similar results. Because of the lack of pedigree data for analyzed genotypes, correspondence with marker data could not be determined. In plant with a narrow genetic base in their gene pool, such as soybean, protein markers may not be sufficient for characterization and study of genetic diversity.

  12. "Functional" Inspiratory and Core Muscle Training Enhances Running Performance and Economy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tong, Tomas K; McConnell, Alison K; Lin, Hua; Nie, Jinlei; Zhang, Haifeng; Wang, Jiayuan

    2016-10-01

    Tong, TK, McConnell, AK, Lin, H, Nie, J, Zhang, H, and Wang, J. "Functional" inspiratory and core muscle training enhances running performance and economy. J Strength Cond Res 30(10): 2942-2951, 2016-We compared the effects of two 6-week high-intensity interval training interventions. Under the control condition (CON), only interval training was undertaken, whereas under the intervention condition (ICT), interval training sessions were followed immediately by core training, which was combined with simultaneous inspiratory muscle training (IMT)-"functional" IMT. Sixteen recreational runners were allocated to either ICT or CON groups. Before the intervention phase, both groups undertook a 4-week program of "foundation" IMT to control for the known ergogenic effect of IMT (30 inspiratory efforts at 50% maximal static inspiratory pressure [P0] per set, 2 sets per day, 6 days per week). The subsequent 6-week interval running training phase consisted of 3-4 sessions per week. In addition, the ICT group undertook 4 inspiratory-loaded core exercises (10 repetitions per set, 2 sets per day, inspiratory load set at 50% post-IMT P0) immediately after each interval training session. The CON group received neither core training nor functional IMT. After the intervention phase, global inspiratory and core muscle functions increased in both groups (p ≤ 0.05), as evidenced by P0 and a sport-specific endurance plank test (SEPT) performance, respectively. Compared with CON, the ICT group showed larger improvements in SEPT, running economy at the speed of the onset of blood lactate accumulation, and 1-hour running performance (3.04% vs. 1.57%, p ≤ 0.05). The changes in these variables were interindividually correlated (r ≥ 0.57, n = 16, p ≤ 0.05). Such findings suggest that the addition of inspiratory-loaded core conditioning into a high-intensity interval training program augments the influence of the interval program on endurance running performance and that this may be

  13. Effects of Dietary Nitrate Supplementation on Physiological Responses, Cognitive Function, and Exercise Performance at Moderate and Very-High Simulated Altitude

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Oliver M. Shannon

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Purpose: Nitric oxide (NO bioavailability is reduced during acute altitude exposure, contributing toward the decline in physiological and cognitive function in this environment. This study evaluated the effects of nitrate (NO3− supplementation on NO bioavailability, physiological and cognitive function, and exercise performance at moderate and very-high simulated altitude.Methods:Ten males (mean (SD: V˙O2max: 60.9 (10.1 ml·kg−1·min−1 rested and performed exercise twice at moderate (~14.0% O2; ~3,000 m and twice at very-high (~11.7% O2; ~4,300 m simulated altitude. Participants ingested either 140 ml concentrated NO3−-rich (BRJ; ~12.5 mmol NO3− or NO3−-deplete (PLA; 0.01 mmol NO3− beetroot juice 2 h before each trial. Participants rested for 45 min in normobaric hypoxia prior to completing an exercise task. Exercise comprised a 45 min walk at 30% V˙O2max and a 3 km time-trial (TT, both conducted on a treadmill at a 10% gradient whilst carrying a 10 kg backpack to simulate altitude hiking. Plasma nitrite concentration ([NO2−], peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2, pulmonary oxygen uptake (V˙O2, muscle and cerebral oxygenation, and cognitive function were measured throughout.Results: Pre-exercise plasma [NO2−] was significantly elevated in BRJ compared with PLA (p = 0.001. Pulmonary V˙O2 was reduced (p = 0.020, and SpO2 was elevated (p = 0.005 during steady-state exercise in BRJ compared with PLA, with similar effects at both altitudes. BRJ supplementation enhanced 3 km TT performance relative to PLA by 3.8% [1,653.9 (261.3 vs. 1718.7 (213.0 s] and 4.2% [1,809.8 (262.0 vs. 1,889.1 (203.9 s] at 3,000 and 4,300 m, respectively (p = 0.019. Oxygenation of the gastrocnemius was elevated during the TT consequent to BRJ (p = 0.011. The number of false alarms during the Rapid Visual Information Processing Task tended to be lower with BRJ compared with PLA prior to altitude exposure (p = 0.056. Performance in all other cognitive tasks

  14. Protein structural similarity search by Ramachandran codes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chang Chih-Hung

    2007-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Protein structural data has increased exponentially, such that fast and accurate tools are necessary to access structure similarity search. To improve the search speed, several methods have been designed to reduce three-dimensional protein structures to one-dimensional text strings that are then analyzed by traditional sequence alignment methods; however, the accuracy is usually sacrificed and the speed is still unable to match sequence similarity search tools. Here, we aimed to improve the linear encoding methodology and develop efficient search tools that can rapidly retrieve structural homologs from large protein databases. Results We propose a new linear encoding method, SARST (Structural similarity search Aided by Ramachandran Sequential Transformation. SARST transforms protein structures into text strings through a Ramachandran map organized by nearest-neighbor clustering and uses a regenerative approach to produce substitution matrices. Then, classical sequence similarity search methods can be applied to the structural similarity search. Its accuracy is similar to Combinatorial Extension (CE and works over 243,000 times faster, searching 34,000 proteins in 0.34 sec with a 3.2-GHz CPU. SARST provides statistically meaningful expectation values to assess the retrieved information. It has been implemented into a web service and a stand-alone Java program that is able to run on many different platforms. Conclusion As a database search method, SARST can rapidly distinguish high from low similarities and efficiently retrieve homologous structures. It demonstrates that the easily accessible linear encoding methodology has the potential to serve as a foundation for efficient protein structural similarity search tools. These search tools are supposed applicable to automated and high-throughput functional annotations or predictions for the ever increasing number of published protein structures in this post-genomic era.

  15. Association between functional performance and executive cognitive functions in an elderly population including patients with low ankle–brachial index

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ferreira NV

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Naomi Vidal Ferreira,1 Paulo Jannuzzi Cunha,2 Danielle Irigoyen da Costa,3 Fernando dos Santos,1 Fernando Oliveira Costa,1 Fernanda Consolim-Colombo,4 Maria Cláudia Irigoyen1 1Heart Institute, Medical School, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil; 2Neuroimaging in Psychiatry Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry, Medical School, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil; 3Rio Grande do Sul Cardiology Institute, Fundação Universitária de Cardiologia, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil; 4Medical School, Universidade Nove de Julho, São Paulo, SP, Brazil Introduction: Peripheral arterial disease, as measured by the ankle–brachial index (ABI, is prevalent among the elderly, and is associated with functional performance, assessed by the 6-minute walk test (6MWT. Executive cognitive function (ECF impairments are also prevalent in this population, but no existing study has investigated the association between ECF and functional performance in an elderly population including individuals with low ABI.Aim: To investigate the association between functional performance, as measured by the 6MWT, and loss in ECF, in an elderly sample including individuals with low ABI.Method: The ABI group was formed by 26 elderly individuals with low ABI (mean ABI: 0.63±0.19, and the control group was formed by 40 elderly individuals with normal ABI (mean ABI: 1.08±0.07. We analyzed functional performance using the 6MWT, global cognition using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE, and ECF using the Digit Span for assessing attention span and working memory, the Stroop Color Word Test (SCWT for assessing information processing speed and inhibitory control/impulsivity, and the Controlled Oral Word Association Test (COWAT for assessing semantic verbal fluency and phonemic verbal fluency. We also used a factor analysis on all of the ECF tests (global ECF.Results: Before adjustment, the ABI group performed worse on global cognition, attention span, working

  16. Investigation of function similarities between the sarcoplasmic reticulum and platelet calcium-dependent adenosinetriphosphatases with the inhibitors quercetin and calmidazolium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fischer, T.H.; Campbell, K.P.; White, G.C. II

    1987-01-01

    The platelet and skeletal sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium-dependent adenosinetriphosphatases (Ca 2+ -ATPases) were functionally compared with respect to substrate activation by steady-state kinetic methods using the inhibitors quercetin and calmidazolium. Quercetin inhibited platelet and sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca 2+ -ATPase activities in a dose-dependent manner with IC 50 values of 25 and 10 μM, respectively. Calmidazolium also inhibited platelet and sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca 2+ -ATPase activities, with half-maximal inhibition measured at 5 and 4 μM, respectively. Both inhibitors also affected the [ 45 Ca] calcium transport activity of intact platelet microsomes at concentrations similar to those which reduced Ca 2+ -ATPase activity. These inhibitors were then used to examine substrate ligation by the platelet and sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium pump proteins. For both Ca 2+ -ATPase proteins, quercetin has an affinity for the E-Ca 2 (fully ligated with respect to calcium at the exterior high-affinity calcium binding sites, unligated with respect to ATP) conformational state of the protein that is approximately 10-fold grater than for other conformational states in the hydrolytic cycle. Quercetin can thus be considered a competitive inhibitor of the calcium pump proteins with respect to ATP. In contrast to the effect of quercetin, calmidazolium interacts with the platelet and sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca 2+ -ATPases in an uncompetitive manner. The dissociation constants for this inhibitor for the different conformational states of the calcium pump proteins were similar, indicating that calmidazolium has equal affinity for all of the reaction intermediates probed. These observations indicate that the substrate ligation processes are similar for the two pump proteins. This supports the concept that the hydrolytic cycles of the two proteins are comparable

  17. Effective Results Analysis for the Similar Software Products’ Orthogonality

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ion Ivan

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available It is defined the concept of similar software. There are established conditions of archiving the software components. It is carried out the orthogonality evaluation and the correlation between the orthogonality and the complexity of the homogenous software components is analyzed. Shall proceed to build groups of similar software products, belonging to the orthogonality intervals. There are presented in graphical form the results of the analysis. There are detailed aspects of the functioning of the software product allocated for the orthogonality.

  18. IntelliGO: a new vector-based semantic similarity measure including annotation origin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Devignes Marie-Dominique

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The Gene Ontology (GO is a well known controlled vocabulary describing the biological process, molecular function and cellular component aspects of gene annotation. It has become a widely used knowledge source in bioinformatics for annotating genes and measuring their semantic similarity. These measures generally involve the GO graph structure, the information content of GO aspects, or a combination of both. However, only a few of the semantic similarity measures described so far can handle GO annotations differently according to their origin (i.e. their evidence codes. Results We present here a new semantic similarity measure called IntelliGO which integrates several complementary properties in a novel vector space model. The coefficients associated with each GO term that annotates a given gene or protein include its information content as well as a customized value for each type of GO evidence code. The generalized cosine similarity measure, used for calculating the dot product between two vectors, has been rigorously adapted to the context of the GO graph. The IntelliGO similarity measure is tested on two benchmark datasets consisting of KEGG pathways and Pfam domains grouped as clans, considering the GO biological process and molecular function terms, respectively, for a total of 683 yeast and human genes and involving more than 67,900 pair-wise comparisons. The ability of the IntelliGO similarity measure to express the biological cohesion of sets of genes compares favourably to four existing similarity measures. For inter-set comparison, it consistently discriminates between distinct sets of genes. Furthermore, the IntelliGO similarity measure allows the influence of weights assigned to evidence codes to be checked. Finally, the results obtained with a complementary reference technique give intermediate but correct correlation values with the sequence similarity, Pfam, and Enzyme classifications when compared to

  19. Elucidating gene function and function evolution through comparison of co-expression networks in plants

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marek eMutwil

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available The analysis of gene expression data has shown that transcriptionally coordinated (co-expressed genes are often functionally related, enabling scientists to use expression data in gene function prediction. This Focused Review discusses our original paper (Large-scale co-expression approach to dissect secondary cell wall formation across plant species, Frontiers in Plant Science 2:23. In this paper we applied cross-species analysis to co-expression networks of genes involved in cellulose biosynthesis. We show that the co-expression networks from different species are highly similar, indicating that whole biological pathways are conserved across species. This finding has two important implications. First, the analysis can transfer gene function annotation from well-studied plants, such as Arabidopsis, to other, uncharacterized plant species. As the analysis finds genes that have similar sequence and similar expression pattern across different organisms, functionally equivalent genes can be identified. Second, since co-expression analyses are often noisy, a comparative analysis should have higher performance, as parts of co-expression networks that are conserved are more likely to be functionally relevant. In this Focused Review, we outline the comparative analysis done in the original paper and comment on the recent advances and approaches that allow comparative analyses of co-function networks. We hypothesize that, in comparison to simple co-expression analysis, comparative analysis would yield more accurate gene function predictions. Finally, by combining comparative analysis with genomic information of green plants, we propose a possible composition of cellulose biosynthesis machinery during earlier stages of plant evolution.

  20. Correlating Information Contents of Gene Ontology Terms to Infer Semantic Similarity of Gene Products

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mingxin Gan

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Successful applications of the gene ontology to the inference of functional relationships between gene products in recent years have raised the need for computational methods to automatically calculate semantic similarity between gene products based on semantic similarity of gene ontology terms. Nevertheless, existing methods, though having been widely used in a variety of applications, may significantly overestimate semantic similarity between genes that are actually not functionally related, thereby yielding misleading results in applications. To overcome this limitation, we propose to represent a gene product as a vector that is composed of information contents of gene ontology terms annotated for the gene product, and we suggest calculating similarity between two gene products as the relatedness of their corresponding vectors using three measures: Pearson’s correlation coefficient, cosine similarity, and the Jaccard index. We focus on the biological process domain of the gene ontology and annotations of yeast proteins to study the effectiveness of the proposed measures. Results show that semantic similarity scores calculated using the proposed measures are more consistent with known biological knowledge than those derived using a list of existing methods, suggesting the effectiveness of our method in characterizing functional relationships between gene products.

  1. Self-similar oscillations of a Z pinch

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Felber, F.S.

    1982-01-01

    A new analytic, self-similar solution of the equations of ideal magnetohydrodynamics describes cylindrically symmetric plasmas conducting constant current. The solution indicates that an adiabatic Z pinch oscillates radially with a period typically of the order of a few acoustic transit times. A stability analysis, which shows the growth rate of the sausage instability to be a saturating function of wavenumber, suggests that the oscillations are observable

  2. INFORMATIVE ENERGY METRIC FOR SIMILARITY MEASURE IN REPRODUCING KERNEL HILBERT SPACES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Songhua Liu

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, information energy metric (IEM is obtained by similarity computing for high-dimensional samples in a reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS. Firstly, similar/dissimilar subsets and their corresponding informative energy functions are defined. Secondly, IEM is proposed for similarity measure of those subsets, which converts the non-metric distances into metric ones. Finally, applications of this metric is introduced, such as classification problems. Experimental results validate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

  3. THE IMMEDIATE AND LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF KINESIOTAPE® ON BALANCE AND FUNCTIONAL PERFORMANCE

    Science.gov (United States)

    Douris, Peter; Fukuroku, Taryn; Kuzniewski, Michael; Dias, Joe; Figueiredo, Patrick

    2016-01-01

    Background The application of Kinesio Tex® tape (KT) results, in theory, in the improvement of muscle contractibility by supporting weakened muscles. The effect of KT on muscle strength has been investigated by numerous researchers who have theorized that KT facilitates an immediate increase in muscle strength by generating a concentric pull on the fascia. The effect of KT on balance and functional performance has been controversial because of the inconsistencies of tension and direction of pull required during application of KT and whether its use on healthy individuals provides therapeutic benefits. Hypotheses/Purpose The purpose of the present study was to investigate the immediate and long-term effects of the prescribed application (for facilitation) of KT when applied to the dominant lower extremity of healthy individuals. The hypothesis was that balance and functional performance would improve with the prescribed application of KT versus the sham application. Study Design Pretest-posttest repeated measures control group design. Methods Seventeen healthy subjects (9 males; 8 females) ranging from 18-35 years of age (mean age 23.3 ± 0.72), volunteered to participate in this study. KT was applied to the gastrocnemius of the participant's dominant leg using a prescribed application to facilitate muscle performance for the experimental group versus a sham application for the control group. The Biodex Balance System and four hop tests were utilized to assess balance, proprioception, and functional performance beginning on the first day including pre- and immediately post-KT application measurements. Subsequent measurements were performed 24, 72, and 120 hours after tape application. Repeated measures ANOVA's were performed for each individual dependent variable. Results There were no significant differences for main and interaction effects between KT and sham groups for the balance and four hop tests. Conclusion The results of the present study did not

  4. THE IMMEDIATE AND LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF KINESIOTAPE® ON BALANCE AND FUNCTIONAL PERFORMANCE.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilson, Victoria; Douris, Peter; Fukuroku, Taryn; Kuzniewski, Michael; Dias, Joe; Figueiredo, Patrick

    2016-04-01

    The application of Kinesio Tex® tape (KT) results, in theory, in the improvement of muscle contractibility by supporting weakened muscles. The effect of KT on muscle strength has been investigated by numerous researchers who have theorized that KT facilitates an immediate increase in muscle strength by generating a concentric pull on the fascia. The effect of KT on balance and functional performance has been controversial because of the inconsistencies of tension and direction of pull required during application of KT and whether its use on healthy individuals provides therapeutic benefits. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the immediate and long-term effects of the prescribed application (for facilitation) of KT when applied to the dominant lower extremity of healthy individuals. The hypothesis was that balance and functional performance would improve with the prescribed application of KT versus the sham application. Pretest-posttest repeated measures control group design. Seventeen healthy subjects (9 males; 8 females) ranging from 18-35 years of age (mean age 23.3 ± 0.72), volunteered to participate in this study. KT was applied to the gastrocnemius of the participant's dominant leg using a prescribed application to facilitate muscle performance for the experimental group versus a sham application for the control group. The Biodex Balance System and four hop tests were utilized to assess balance, proprioception, and functional performance beginning on the first day including pre- and immediately post-KT application measurements. Subsequent measurements were performed 24, 72, and 120 hours after tape application. Repeated measures ANOVA's were performed for each individual dependent variable. There were no significant differences for main and interaction effects between KT and sham groups for the balance and four hop tests. The results of the present study did not indicate any significant differences in balance and functional performance

  5. Role of functionally dominant species in varying environmental regimes: evidence for the performance-enhancing effect of biodiversity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Langenheder, Silke; Bulling, Mark T; Prosser, James I; Solan, Martin

    2012-07-30

    Theory suggests that biodiversity can act as a buffer against disturbances and environmental variability via two major mechanisms: Firstly, a stabilising effect by decreasing the temporal variance in ecosystem functioning due to compensatory processes; and secondly, a performance enhancing effect by raising the level of community response through the selection of better performing species. Empirical evidence for the stabilizing effect of biodiversity is readily available, whereas experimental confirmation of the performance-enhancing effect of biodiversity is sparse. Here, we test the effect of different environmental regimes (constant versus fluctuating temperature) on bacterial biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relations. We show that positive effects of species richness on ecosystem functioning are enhanced by stronger temperature fluctuations due to the increased performance of individual species. Our results provide evidence for the performance enhancing effect and suggest that selection towards functionally dominant species is likely to benefit the maintenance of ecosystem functioning under more variable conditions.

  6. Prediction of the human response time with the similarity and quantity of information

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Sungjin; Heo, Gyunyoung; Chang, Soon Heung

    2006-01-01

    Memory is one of brain processes that are important when trying to understand how people process information. Although a large number of studies have been made on the human performance, little is known about the similarity effect in human performance. The purpose of this paper is to propose and validate the quantitative and predictive model on the human response time in the user interface with the concept of similarity. However, it is not easy to explain the human performance with only similarity or information amount. We are confronted by two difficulties: making the quantitative model on the human response time with the similarity and validating the proposed model by experimental work. We made the quantitative model based on the Hick's law and the law of practice. In addition, we validated the model with various experimental conditions by measuring participants' response time in the environment of computer-based display. Experimental results reveal that the human performance is improved by the user interface's similarity. We think that the proposed model is useful for the user interface design and evaluation phases

  7. Decoding Decoders: Finding Optimal Representation Spaces for Unsupervised Similarity Tasks

    OpenAIRE

    Zhelezniak, Vitalii; Busbridge, Dan; Shen, April; Smith, Samuel L.; Hammerla, Nils Y.

    2018-01-01

    Experimental evidence indicates that simple models outperform complex deep networks on many unsupervised similarity tasks. We provide a simple yet rigorous explanation for this behaviour by introducing the concept of an optimal representation space, in which semantically close symbols are mapped to representations that are close under a similarity measure induced by the model's objective function. In addition, we present a straightforward procedure that, without any retraining or architectura...

  8. Desempenho funcional de crianças com mielomeningocele Functional performance of children with myelomeningocele

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luanda André Collange

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available Este trabalho visou analisar o impacto dos níveis de lesão, deambulação e alterações neurológicas associadas ao quadro clínico da mielomeningocele sobre o desempenho funcional de seus portadores. Neste estudo transversal prospectivo foram examinadas 40 crianças com mielomeningocele, avaliando-se nível de lesão, deambulação, malformação de Arnold-Chiari, hidrocefalia, hidromielia, medula ancorada e incontinência esfincteriana. O desempenho funcional foi avaliado pelo Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI, para um registro quantitativo da capacidade funcional e autonomia nas atividades cotidianas, nas áreas de autocuidado, mobilidade e função social. Os dados coletados foram analisados estatisticamente, estabelecendo-se o nível de significância em pThis study aimed at analysing the impact of level of lesion, locomotion, and neurological changes associated to meningomyelocele clinical framework concerning functional performance. For this prospective cross-sectional study 40 children with meningomyelocele were assessed as to level of lesion, ambulatory ability, Arnold-Chiari malformation, hydrocephalus, hydromyelia, tethered cord, and sphincter incontinence. Functional performance was evaluated by the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI which quantitatively assesses functional performance and independence in daily activities in the areas of self-care, mobility, and social functioning. Collected data were statistically analysed and the significance level set at p<0.05. Lesion levels and ambulatory ability had a significant (p<0.01 impact on scores of all three PEDI areas. Limitation degree was found to be directly proportional to level of lesion. Functional performance was more severely affected in self-care and mobility activities, and the best functional scores being obtained in social functioning. In patients with thoracic lesion level, symptomatic hydromyelia proved to be a significant factor for

  9. Understanding the Effects of Long-duration Space Flight on Astronant Functional Task Performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bloomberg, Jacob J.; Batson, Crystal D.; Buxton, Roxanne E.; Feiveson, Al H.; Kofman, Igor S.; Lee, Stuart M. C.; Miller, Chris A.; Mulavara, Ajitkumar P.; Peters, Brian T.; Phillips, Tiffany; hide

    2014-01-01

    Space flight is known to cause alterations in multiple physiological systems including changes in sensorimotor, cardiovascular, and neuromuscular systems. These physiological changes cause balance, gait and visual disturbances, cardiovascular deconditioning, and loss of muscle mass and strength. These changes may affect a crewmember's ability to perform critical mission tasks immediately after landing on a planetary surface. To understand how changes in physiological function affect functional performance, an interdisciplinary pre- and postflight testing regimen, Functional Task Test (FTT), was developed to systematically evaluate both astronaut functional performance and related physiological changes. Ultimately this information will be used to assess performance risks and inform the design of countermeasures for exploration class missions. We are currently conducting the FTT study on International Space Station (ISS) crewmembers before and after 6-month expeditions. Additionally, in a corresponding study we are using the FTT protocol on subjects before and after 70 days of 6deg head-down bed-rest as an analog for space flight. Bed-rest provides the opportunity for us to investigate the role of prolonged axial body unloading in isolation from the other physiological effects produced by exposure to the microgravity environment of space flight. Therefore, the bed rest analog allows us to investigate the impact of body unloading on both functional tasks and on the underlying physiological factors that lead to decrement in performance and then compare them with the results obtained in our space flight study. Functional tests included ladder climbing, hatch opening, jump down, manual manipulation of objects and tool use, seat egress and obstacle avoidance, recovery from a fall and object translation tasks. Physiological measures included assessments of postural and gait control, dynamic visual acuity, fine motor control, plasma volume, heart rate, blood pressure

  10. 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…

  11. Functional neuronal processing of body odors differs from that of similar common odors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lundström, Johan N; Boyle, Julie A; Zatorre, Robert J; Jones-Gotman, Marilyn

    2008-06-01

    Visual and auditory stimuli of high social and ecological importance are processed in the brain by specialized neuronal networks. To date, this has not been demonstrated for olfactory stimuli. By means of positron emission tomography, we sought to elucidate the neuronal substrates behind body odor perception to answer the question of whether the central processing of body odors differs from perceptually similar nonbody odors. Body odors were processed by a network that was distinctly separate from common odors, indicating a separation in the processing of odors based on their source. Smelling a friend's body odor activated regions previously seen for familiar stimuli, whereas smelling a stranger activated amygdala and insular regions akin to what has previously been demonstrated for fearful stimuli. The results provide evidence that social olfactory stimuli of high ecological relevance are processed by specialized neuronal networks similar to what has previously been demonstrated for auditory and visual stimuli.

  12. The efficacy of tourniquet assisted total knee arthroplasty on patient-reported and performance-based physical function

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lohmann-Jensen, Rasmus; Holsgaard-Larsen, Anders; Emmeluth, Claus

    2014-01-01

    surgery. The non-tourniquet assisted TKA group will have surgery performed without application of a tourniquet. The primary aim is to compare tourniquet assisted to non-tourniquet assisted TKA on patient-reported physical function (KOOS-ADL). The secondary aim is to compare post-surgery pain, function...... in sports and recreation, quality of life, and performance-based physical function. The explorative outcomes include; use of pain medication, single-fiber muscle damage, and changes in mechanical muscle function. The primary endpoint will be at 3-months following surgical treatment, and the time...... randomized clinical trial comparing the efficacy of tourniquet assisted TKA on patient-reported physical function supported by a range of performance-based secondary outcome measures. As such it will provide high quality evidence that may help determine whether tourniquet should be used in future TKA...

  13. Inter Genre Similarity Modelling For Automatic Music Genre Classification

    OpenAIRE

    Bagci, Ulas; Erzin, Engin

    2009-01-01

    Music genre classification is an essential tool for music information retrieval systems and it has been finding critical applications in various media platforms. Two important problems of the automatic music genre classification are feature extraction and classifier design. This paper investigates inter-genre similarity modelling (IGS) to improve the performance of automatic music genre classification. Inter-genre similarity information is extracted over the mis-classified feature population....

  14. Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Correlates of First-Episode Psychoses during Attentional and Memory Task Performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Del Casale, Antonio; Kotzalidis, Georgios D; Rapinesi, Chiara; Sorice, Serena; Girardi, Nicoletta; Ferracuti, Stefano; Girardi, Paolo

    2016-01-01

    The nature of the alteration of the response to cognitive tasks in first-episode psychosis (FEP) still awaits clarification. We used activation likelihood estimation, an increasingly used method in evaluating normal and pathological brain function, to identify activation changes in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies of FEP during attentional and memory tasks. We included 11 peer-reviewed fMRI studies assessing FEP patients versus healthy controls (HCs) during performance of attentional and memory tasks. Our database comprised 290 patients with FEP, matched with 316 HCs. Between-group analyses showed that HCs, compared to FEP patients, exhibited hyperactivation of the right middle frontal gyrus (Brodmann area, BA, 9), right inferior parietal lobule (BA 40), and right insula (BA 13) during attentional task performances and hyperactivation of the left insula (BA 13) during memory task performances. Right frontal, parietal, and insular dysfunction during attentional task performance and left insular dysfunction during memory task performance are significant neural functional FEP correlates. © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  15. Biogenic oxidized organic functional groups in aerosol particles from a mountain forest site and their similarities to laboratory chamber products

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R. E. Schwartz

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available Submicron particles collected at Whistler, British Columbia, at 1020 m a.s.l. during May and June 2008 on Teflon filters were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR and X-ray fluorescence (XRF techniques for organic functional groups (OFG and elemental composition. Organic mass (OM concentrations ranged from less than 0.5 to 3.1 μg m−3, with a project mean and standard deviation of 1.3±1.0 μg m−3 and 0.21±0.16 μg m−3 for OM and sulfate, respectively. On average, organic hydroxyl, alkane, and carboxylic acid groups represented 34%, 33%, and 23% of OM, respectively. Ketone, amine and organosulfate groups constituted 6%, 5%, and <1% of the average organic aerosol composition, respectively. Measurements of volatile organic compounds (VOC, including isoprene and monoterpenes from biogenic VOC (BVOC emissions and their oxidation products (methyl-vinylketone / methacrolein, MVK/MACR, were made using co-located proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS. We present chemically-specific evidence of OFG associated with BVOC emissions. Positive matrix factorization (PMF analysis attributed 65% of the campaign OM to biogenic sources, based on the correlations of one factor to monoterpenes and MVK/MACR. The remaining fraction was attributed to anthropogenic sources based on a correlation to sulfate. The functional group composition of the biogenic factor (consisting of 32% alkane, 25% carboxylic acid, 21% organic hydroxyl, 16% ketone, and 6% amine groups was similar to that of secondary organic aerosol (SOA reported from the oxidation of BVOCs in laboratory chamber studies, providing evidence that the magnitude and chemical composition of biogenic SOA simulated in the laboratory is similar to that found in actual atmospheric conditions. The biogenic factor OM is also correlated to dust elements, indicating that dust may act as a non-acidic SOA sink. This role is supported by the organic functional

  16. Role of functionally dominant species in varying environmental regimes: evidence for the performance-enhancing effect of biodiversity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Langenheder Silke

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Theory suggests that biodiversity can act as a buffer against disturbances and environmental variability via two major mechanisms: Firstly, a stabilising effect by decreasing the temporal variance in ecosystem functioning due to compensatory processes; and secondly, a performance enhancing effect by raising the level of community response through the selection of better performing species. Empirical evidence for the stabilizing effect of biodiversity is readily available, whereas experimental confirmation of the performance-enhancing effect of biodiversity is sparse. Results Here, we test the effect of different environmental regimes (constant versus fluctuating temperature on bacterial biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relations. We show that positive effects of species richness on ecosystem functioning are enhanced by stronger temperature fluctuations due to the increased performance of individual species. Conclusions Our results provide evidence for the performance enhancing effect and suggest that selection towards functionally dominant species is likely to benefit the maintenance of ecosystem functioning under more variable conditions.

  17. Dynamic functional reorganizations and relationship with working memory performance in healthy aging.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roser eSala-Llonch

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available In recent years, several theories have been proposed in attempts to identify the neural mechanisms underlying successful cognitive aging. Old subjects show increased neural activity during the performance of tasks, mainly in prefrontal areas, which is interpreted as a compensatory mechanism linked to functional brain efficiency. Moreover, resting-state studies have concluded that elders show disconnection or disruption of large-scale functional networks. We used functional MRI during resting-state and a verbal n-back task with different levels of memory load in a cohort of young and old healthy adults to identify patterns of networks associated with working memory and brain default mode. We found that the disruption of resting-state networks in the elderly coexists with task-related overactivations of certain brain areas and with reorganizations within these functional networks. Moreover, elders who were able to activate additional areas and to recruit a more bilateral frontal pattern within the task-related network achieved successful performance on the task. We concluded that the balanced and plastic reorganization of brain networks underlies successful cognitive aging. This observation allows the integration of several theories that have been proposed to date regarding the aging brain.

  18. Impact of low vision rehabilitation on functional vision performance of children with visual impairment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ganesh, Suma; Sethi, Sumita; Srivastav, Sonia; Chaudhary, Amrita; Arora, Priyanka

    2013-09-01

    To evaluate the impact of low vision rehabilitation on functional vision of children with visual impairment. The LV Prasad-Functional Vision Questionnaire, designed specifically to measure functional performance of visually impaired children of developing countries, was used to assess the level of difficulty in performing various tasks pre and post visual rehabilitation in children with documented visual impairment. Chi-square test was used to assess the impact of rehabilitation intervention on functional vision performance; a P visual acuity prior to the introduction of low vision devices (LVDs) was 0.90 ± 0.05 for distance and for near it was 0.61 ± 0.05. After the intervention, the acuities improved significantly for distance (0.2 ± 0.27; P visual rehabilitation was especially found in those activities related to their studying lifestyle like copying from the blackboard (P visual rehabilitation, especially with those activities which are related to their academic output. It is important for these children to have an early visual rehabilitation to decrease the impairment associated with these decreased visual output and to enhance their learning abilities.

  19. Task-relevant cognitive and motor functions are prioritized during prolonged speed-accuracy motor task performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Solianik, Rima; Satas, Andrius; Mickeviciene, Dalia; Cekanauskaite, Agne; Valanciene, Dovile; Majauskiene, Daiva; Skurvydas, Albertas

    2018-06-01

    This study aimed to explore the effect of prolonged speed-accuracy motor task on the indicators of psychological, cognitive, psychomotor and motor function. Ten young men aged 21.1 ± 1.0 years performed a fast- and accurate-reaching movement task and a control task. Both tasks were performed for 2 h. Despite decreased motivation, and increased perception of effort as well as subjective feeling of fatigue, speed-accuracy motor task performance improved during the whole period of task execution. After the motor task, the increased working memory function and prefrontal cortex oxygenation at rest and during conflict detection, and the decreased efficiency of incorrect response inhibition and visuomotor tracking were observed. The speed-accuracy motor task increased the amplitude of motor-evoked potentials, while grip strength was not affected. These findings demonstrate that to sustain the performance of 2-h speed-accuracy task under conditions of self-reported fatigue, task-relevant functions are maintained or even improved, whereas less critical functions are impaired.

  20. Hierarchical Matching of Traffic Information Services Using Semantic Similarity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zongtao Duan

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Service matching aims to find the information similar to a given query, which has numerous applications in web search. Although existing methods yield promising results, they are not applicable for transportation. In this paper, we propose a multilevel matching method based on semantic technology, towards efficiently searching the traffic information requested. Our approach is divided into two stages: service clustering, which prunes candidate services that are not promising, and functional matching. The similarity at function level between services is computed by grouping the connections between the services into inheritance and noninheritance relationships. We also developed a three-layer framework with a semantic similarity measure that requires less time and space cost than existing method since the scale of candidate services is significantly smaller than the whole transportation network. The OWL_TC4 based service set was used to verify the proposed approach. The accuracy of offline service clustering reached 93.80%, and it reduced the response time to 651 ms when the total number of candidate services was 1000. Moreover, given the different thresholds for the semantic similarity measure, the proposed mixed matching model did better in terms of recall and precision (i.e., up to 72.7% and 80%, respectively, for more than 1000 services compared to the compared models based on information theory and taxonomic distance. These experimental results confirmed the effectiveness and validity of service matching for responding quickly and accurately to user queries.

  1. Combining satellite data and appropriate objective functions for improved spatial pattern performance of a distributed hydrologic model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. C. Demirel

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Satellite-based earth observations offer great opportunities to improve spatial model predictions by means of spatial-pattern-oriented model evaluations. In this study, observed spatial patterns of actual evapotranspiration (AET are utilised for spatial model calibration tailored to target the pattern performance of the model. The proposed calibration framework combines temporally aggregated observed spatial patterns with a new spatial performance metric and a flexible spatial parameterisation scheme. The mesoscale hydrologic model (mHM is used to simulate streamflow and AET and has been selected due to its soil parameter distribution approach based on pedo-transfer functions and the build in multi-scale parameter regionalisation. In addition two new spatial parameter distribution options have been incorporated in the model in order to increase the flexibility of root fraction coefficient and potential evapotranspiration correction parameterisations, based on soil type and vegetation density. These parameterisations are utilised as they are most relevant for simulated AET patterns from the hydrologic model. Due to the fundamental challenges encountered when evaluating spatial pattern performance using standard metrics, we developed a simple but highly discriminative spatial metric, i.e. one comprised of three easily interpretable components measuring co-location, variation and distribution of the spatial data. The study shows that with flexible spatial model parameterisation used in combination with the appropriate objective functions, the simulated spatial patterns of actual evapotranspiration become substantially more similar to the satellite-based estimates. Overall 26 parameters are identified for calibration through a sequential screening approach based on a combination of streamflow and spatial pattern metrics. The robustness of the calibrations is tested using an ensemble of nine calibrations based on different seed numbers using the

  2. Link-Based Similarity Measures Using Reachability Vectors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Seok-Ho Yoon

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available We present a novel approach for computing link-based similarities among objects accurately by utilizing the link information pertaining to the objects involved. We discuss the problems with previous link-based similarity measures and propose a novel approach for computing link based similarities that does not suffer from these problems. In the proposed approach each target object is represented by a vector. Each element of the vector corresponds to all the objects in the given data, and the value of each element denotes the weight for the corresponding object. As for this weight value, we propose to utilize the probability of reaching from the target object to the specific object, computed using the “Random Walk with Restart” strategy. Then, we define the similarity between two objects as the cosine similarity of the two vectors. In this paper, we provide examples to show that our approach does not suffer from the aforementioned problems. We also evaluate the performance of the proposed methods in comparison with existing link-based measures, qualitatively and quantitatively, with respect to two kinds of data sets, scientific papers and Web documents. Our experimental results indicate that the proposed methods significantly outperform the existing measures.

  3. Effect of dystocia on subsequent reproductive performance and functional longevity in Holstein cows.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghavi Hossein-Zadeh, N

    2016-10-01

    The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of dystocia on the reproductive performance and functional longevity in Iranian Holsteins. Data consisted of 1 467 064 lactation records of 581 421 Holstein cows from 3083 herds which were collected by the Animal Breeding Center of Iran from April 1987 to February 2014. Reproduction traits in this study included interval from first to second calving, days open and days from first calving to first service. The generalized linear model was used for the statistical analysis of reproductive traits. Survival analysis was performed using the Weibull proportional hazards models to analyse the impact of dystocia on functional longevity. The incidence of dystocia had an adverse effect on the reproductive performance of dairy cows. Therefore, reproductive traits deteriorated along with increase in dystocia score (p dystocia (p 33 months had the greatest risk (p dystocia had important negative effects on the reproductive performance and functional longevity in dairy cows, and it should be avoided as much as possible to provide a good perspective in the scope of economic and animal welfare issues in dairy herds. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition © 2016 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

  4. On the Relationship Between Transfer Function-derived Response Times and Hydrograph Analysis Timing Parameters: Are there Similarities?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bansah, S.; Ali, G.; Haque, M. A.; Tang, V.

    2017-12-01

    The proportion of precipitation that becomes streamflow is a function of internal catchment characteristics - which include geology, landscape characteristics and vegetation - and influence overall storage dynamics. The timing and quantity of water discharged by a catchment are indeed embedded in event hydrographs. Event hydrograph timing parameters, such as the response lag and time of concentration, are important descriptors of how long it takes the catchment to respond to input precipitation and how long it takes the latter to filter through the catchment. However, the extent to which hydrograph timing parameters relate to average response times derived from fitting transfer functions to annual hydrographs is unknown. In this study, we used a gamma transfer function to determine catchment average response times as well as event-specific hydrograph parameters across a network of eight nested watersheds ranging from 0.19 km2 to 74.6 km2 prairie catchments located in south central Manitoba (Canada). Various statistical analyses were then performed to correlate average response times - estimated using the parameters of the fitted gamma transfer function - to event-specific hydrograph parameters. Preliminary results show significant interannual variations in response times and hydrograph timing parameters: the former were in the order of a few hours to days, while the latter ranged from a few days to weeks. Some statistically significant relationships were detected between response times and event-specific hydrograph parameters. Future analyses will involve the comparison of statistical distributions of event-specific hydrograph parameters with that of runoff response times and baseflow transit times in order to quantity catchment storage dynamics across a range of temporal scales.

  5. Personalized mortality prediction driven by electronic medical data and a patient similarity metric.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Joon; Maslove, David M; Dubin, Joel A

    2015-01-01

    Clinical outcome prediction normally employs static, one-size-fits-all models that perform well for the average patient but are sub-optimal for individual patients with unique characteristics. In the era of digital healthcare, it is feasible to dynamically personalize decision support by identifying and analyzing similar past patients, in a way that is analogous to personalized product recommendation in e-commerce. Our objectives were: 1) to prove that analyzing only similar patients leads to better outcome prediction performance than analyzing all available patients, and 2) to characterize the trade-off between training data size and the degree of similarity between the training data and the index patient for whom prediction is to be made. We deployed a cosine-similarity-based patient similarity metric (PSM) to an intensive care unit (ICU) database to identify patients that are most similar to each patient and subsequently to custom-build 30-day mortality prediction models. Rich clinical and administrative data from the first day in the ICU from 17,152 adult ICU admissions were analyzed. The results confirmed that using data from only a small subset of most similar patients for training improves predictive performance in comparison with using data from all available patients. The results also showed that when too few similar patients are used for training, predictive performance degrades due to the effects of small sample sizes. Our PSM-based approach outperformed well-known ICU severity of illness scores. Although the improved prediction performance is achieved at the cost of increased computational burden, Big Data technologies can help realize personalized data-driven decision support at the point of care. The present study provides crucial empirical evidence for the promising potential of personalized data-driven decision support systems. With the increasing adoption of electronic medical record (EMR) systems, our novel medical data analytics contributes to

  6. Personalized mortality prediction driven by electronic medical data and a patient similarity metric.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joon Lee

    Full Text Available Clinical outcome prediction normally employs static, one-size-fits-all models that perform well for the average patient but are sub-optimal for individual patients with unique characteristics. In the era of digital healthcare, it is feasible to dynamically personalize decision support by identifying and analyzing similar past patients, in a way that is analogous to personalized product recommendation in e-commerce. Our objectives were: 1 to prove that analyzing only similar patients leads to better outcome prediction performance than analyzing all available patients, and 2 to characterize the trade-off between training data size and the degree of similarity between the training data and the index patient for whom prediction is to be made.We deployed a cosine-similarity-based patient similarity metric (PSM to an intensive care unit (ICU database to identify patients that are most similar to each patient and subsequently to custom-build 30-day mortality prediction models. Rich clinical and administrative data from the first day in the ICU from 17,152 adult ICU admissions were analyzed. The results confirmed that using data from only a small subset of most similar patients for training improves predictive performance in comparison with using data from all available patients. The results also showed that when too few similar patients are used for training, predictive performance degrades due to the effects of small sample sizes. Our PSM-based approach outperformed well-known ICU severity of illness scores. Although the improved prediction performance is achieved at the cost of increased computational burden, Big Data technologies can help realize personalized data-driven decision support at the point of care.The present study provides crucial empirical evidence for the promising potential of personalized data-driven decision support systems. With the increasing adoption of electronic medical record (EMR systems, our novel medical data analytics

  7. Carryover effect of hip and knee exercises program on functional performance in individuals with patellofemoral pain syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahmed Hamada, Hamada; Hussein Draz, Amira; Koura, Ghada Mohamed; Saab, Ibtissam M

    2017-08-01

    [Purpose] This study was carried out to investigate the carryover effect of hip and knee exercises program on functional performance (single legged hop test as functional performance test and Kujala score for functional activities). [Subjects and Methods] Thirty patients with patellofemoral pain syndrome were randomly assigned into two equal groups. Group (A) consisted of 15 patients undergoing hip strengthening exercises for four weeks then measuring all variables followed by additional four weeks of knee exercises program then measuring all variables again. Group (B): consisted of 15 patients undergoing knee exercises program for four weeks then measuring all variables followed by additional four weeks of hip strengthening exercises then measuring all variables. Functional abilities and knee muscles performance were assessed using Kujala questionnaire and single legged hop test respectively pre and after the completion of the first 4 weeks then after 8 weeks for both groups. [Results] Significantly increase in Kujala questionnaire in group A compared with group B was observed. While, there were significant increase in single legged hop performance test in group B compared with group A. [Conclusion] Starting with hip exercises improve the performance of subjects more than functional activities while starting with knee exercises improve the functional activities of subjects more than performance.

  8. Functional capacity evaluation of work performance among individuals with pelvic injuries following motor vehicle accidents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ratzon, Navah Z; Ari Shevil, Eynat Ben; Froom, Paul; Friedman, Sharon; Amit, Yehuda

    2013-01-01

    Pelvic injuries following motor vehicle accidents (MVA) cause disability and affect work capabilities. This study evaluated functional, self-report, and medical-based factors that could predict work capacity as was reflected in a functional capacity evaluation (FCE) among persons who sustained a pelvic injury. It was hypothesized that self-reported functional status and bio-demographic variables would predict work capacity. Sixty-one community-dwelling adults previously hospitalized following a MVA induced pelvic injury. FCE for work performance was conducted using the Physical Work Performance Evaluation (PWPE). Additional data was collected through a demographics questionnaire and the Functional Status Questionnaire. All participants underwent an orthopedic medical examination of the hip and lower extremities. Most participants self-reported that their work capacity post-injury were lower than their job required. PWPE scores indicated below-range functional performance. Regression models predicted 23% to 51% of PWPE subtests. Participants' self-report of functioning (instrumental activities of daily living and work) and bio-demographic variables (gender and age) were better predictors of PWPE scores than factors originating from the medical examination. Results support the inclusion of FCE, in addition to self-report of functioning and medical examination, to evaluate work capacity among individuals' post-pelvic injury and interventions and discharge planning.

  9. Functional alignment of regulatory networks: a study of temperate phages.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ala Trusina

    2005-12-01

    Full Text Available The relationship between the design and functionality of molecular networks is now a key issue in biology. Comparison of regulatory networks performing similar tasks can provide insights into how network architecture is constrained by the functions it directs. Here, we discuss methods of network comparison based on network architecture and signaling logic. Introducing local and global signaling scores for the difference between two networks, we quantify similarities between evolutionarily closely and distantly related bacteriophages. Despite the large evolutionary separation between phage lambda and 186, their networks are found to be similar when difference is measured in terms of global signaling. We finally discuss how network alignment can be used to pinpoint protein similarities viewed from the network perspective.

  10. Barrier and system performances within a safety case: their functioning and evolution with time

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hedin, A.; Voinis, S.; Fillion, E.; Keller, S.; Lalieux, Ph.; Nachmilner, L.; Nys, V.; Rodriguez, J.; Sevougian, D.; Wollrath, J.

    2002-01-01

    The following six questions were used as the basis for the discussions in a Working Group: - What is the role of each barrier as a function of time or in the different time frames? What is its contribution to the overall system performance or safety as a function of time? - Which are the main uncertainties on the performance of barriers in the timescales? To what extent should we enhance the robustness of barriers because of the uncertainties of some component behaviour with time? - What is the requested or required performance versus the expected realistic or conservative behaviour with time? How are these safety margins used as arguments in a safety case? - What is the issue associated with the geosphere stability for different geological systems? - How are barriers and system performances, as a function of time, evaluated (presented and communicated) in a safety case? - What kind of measures are used for siting, designing and optimising robust barriers corresponding to situations that can vary with time? Are human actions considered to be relevant? (authors)

  11. Similarity, trust in institutions, affect, and populism

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Scholderer, Joachim; Finucane, Melissa L.

    -based evaluations are fundamental to human information processing, they can contribute significantly to other judgments (such as the risk, cost-effectiveness, trustworthiness) of the same stimulus object. Although deliberation and analysis are certainly important in some decision-making circumstances, reliance...... on affect is a quicker, easier, and a more efficient way of navigating in a complex and uncertain world. Hence, many theorists give affect a direct and primary role in motivating behavior. Taken together, the results provide uncannily strong support for the value-similarity hypothesis, strengthening...... types of information about gene technology. The materials were attributed to different institutions. The results indicated that participants' trust in an institution was a function of the similarity between the position advocated in the materials and participants' own attitudes towards gene technology...

  12. Is functional integration of resting state brain networks an unspecific biomarker for working memory performance?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alavash, Mohsen; Doebler, Philipp; Holling, Heinz; Thiel, Christiane M; Gießing, Carsten

    2015-03-01

    Is there one optimal topology of functional brain networks at rest from which our cognitive performance would profit? Previous studies suggest that functional integration of resting state brain networks is an important biomarker for cognitive performance. However, it is still unknown whether higher network integration is an unspecific predictor for good cognitive performance or, alternatively, whether specific network organization during rest predicts only specific cognitive abilities. Here, we investigated the relationship between network integration at rest and cognitive performance using two tasks that measured different aspects of working memory; one task assessed visual-spatial and the other numerical working memory. Network clustering, modularity and efficiency were computed to capture network integration on different levels of network organization, and to statistically compare their correlations with the performance in each working memory test. The results revealed that each working memory aspect profits from a different resting state topology, and the tests showed significantly different correlations with each of the measures of network integration. While higher global network integration and modularity predicted significantly better performance in visual-spatial working memory, both measures showed no significant correlation with numerical working memory performance. In contrast, numerical working memory was superior in subjects with highly clustered brain networks, predominantly in the intraparietal sulcus, a core brain region of the working memory network. Our findings suggest that a specific balance between local and global functional integration of resting state brain networks facilitates special aspects of cognitive performance. In the context of working memory, while visual-spatial performance is facilitated by globally integrated functional resting state brain networks, numerical working memory profits from increased capacities for local processing

  13. Physical therapy activities in stroke, knee arthroplasty, and traumatic brain injury rehabilitation: their variation, similarities, and association with functional outcomes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    DeJong, Gerben; Hsieh, Ching-Hui; Putman, Koen; Smout, Randall J; Horn, Susan D; Tian, Wenqiang

    2011-12-01

    The mix of physical therapy services is thought to be different with different impairment groups. However, it is not clear how much variation there is across impairment groups. Furthermore, the extent to which the same physical therapy activities are associated with functional outcomes across different types of patients is unknown. The purposes of this study were: (1) to examine similarities and differences in the mix of physical therapy activities used in rehabilitation among patients from different impairment groups and (2) to examine whether the same physical therapy activities are associated with functional improvement across impairment groups. This was a prospective observational cohort study. The study was conducted in inpatient rehabilitation facilities. The participants were 433 patients with stroke, 429 patients with total knee arthroplasty (TKA), and 207 patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Measures used in this study included: (1) the Comprehensive Severity Index to measure the severity of each patient's medical condition, (2) the Functional Independence Measure (FIM) to measure function, and (3) point-of-care instruments to measure time spent in specific physical therapy activities. All 3 groups had similar admission motor FIM scores but varying cognitive FIM scores. Patients with TKA spent more time on exercise than the other 2 groups (average=31.7 versus 6.2 minutes per day). Patients with TKA received the most physical therapy (average=65.3 minutes per day), whereas the TBI group received the least physical therapy (average=38.3 minutes per day). Multivariate analysis showed that only 2 physical therapy activities (gait training and community mobility) were both positively associated with discharge motor FIM outcomes across all 3 groups. Three physical therapy activities (assessment time, bed mobility, and transfers) were negatively associated with discharge motor FIM outcome. The study focused primarily on physical therapy without

  14. Physical Therapy Activities in Stroke, Knee Arthroplasty, and Traumatic Brain Injury Rehabilitation: Their Variation, Similarities, and Association With Functional Outcomes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hsieh, Ching-Hui; Putman, Koen; Smout, Randall J.; Horn, Susan D.; Tian, Wenqiang

    2011-01-01

    Background The mix of physical therapy services is thought to be different with different impairment groups. However, it is not clear how much variation there is across impairment groups. Furthermore, the extent to which the same physical therapy activities are associated with functional outcomes across different types of patients is unknown. Objective The purposes of this study were: (1) to examine similarities and differences in the mix of physical therapy activities used in rehabilitation among patients from different impairment groups and (2) to examine whether the same physical therapy activities are associated with functional improvement across impairment groups. Design This was a prospective observational cohort study. Methods The study was conducted in inpatient rehabilitation facilities. The participants were 433 patients with stroke, 429 patients with total knee arthroplasty (TKA), and 207 patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Measures used in this study included: (1) the Comprehensive Severity Index to measure the severity of each patient's medical condition, (2) the Functional Independence Measure (FIM) to measure function, and (3) point-of-care instruments to measure time spent in specific physical therapy activities. Results All 3 groups had similar admission motor FIM scores but varying cognitive FIM scores. Patients with TKA spent more time on exercise than the other 2 groups (average=31.7 versus 6.2 minutes per day). Patients with TKA received the most physical therapy (average=65.3 minutes per day), whereas the TBI group received the least physical therapy (average=38.3 minutes per day). Multivariate analysis showed that only 2 physical therapy activities (gait training and community mobility) were both positively associated with discharge motor FIM outcomes across all 3 groups. Three physical therapy activities (assessment time, bed mobility, and transfers) were negatively associated with discharge motor FIM outcome. Limitations The study

  15. An electrophysiological signature of summed similarity in visual working memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Vugt, Marieke K; Sekuler, Robert; Wilson, Hugh R; Kahana, Michael J

    2013-05-01

    Summed-similarity models of short-term item recognition posit that participants base their judgments of an item's prior occurrence on that item's summed similarity to the ensemble of items on the remembered list. We examined the neural predictions of these models in 3 short-term recognition memory experiments using electrocorticographic/depth electrode recordings and scalp electroencephalography. On each experimental trial, participants judged whether a test face had been among a small set of recently studied faces. Consistent with summed-similarity theory, participants' tendency to endorse a test item increased as a function of its summed similarity to the items on the just-studied list. To characterize this behavioral effect of summed similarity, we successfully fit a summed-similarity model to individual participant data from each experiment. Using the parameters determined from fitting the summed-similarity model to the behavioral data, we examined the relation between summed similarity and brain activity. We found that 4-9 Hz theta activity in the medial temporal lobe and 2-4 Hz delta activity recorded from frontal and parietal cortices increased with summed similarity. These findings demonstrate direct neural correlates of the similarity computations that form the foundation of several major cognitive theories of human recognition memory. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

  16. Thalamo-Sensorimotor Functional Connectivity Correlates with World Ranking of Olympic, Elite, and High Performance Athletes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zirui Huang

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Brain plasticity studies have shown functional reorganization in participants with outstanding motor expertise. Little is known about neural plasticity associated with exceptionally long motor training or of its predictive value for motor performance excellence. The present study utilised resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI in a unique sample of world-class athletes: Olympic, elite, and internationally ranked swimmers (n=30. Their world ranking ranged from 1st to 250th: each had prepared for participation in the Olympic Games. Combining rs-fMRI graph-theoretical and seed-based functional connectivity analyses, it was discovered that the thalamus has its strongest connections with the sensorimotor network in elite swimmers with the highest world rankings (career best rank: 1–35. Strikingly, thalamo-sensorimotor functional connections were highly correlated with the swimmers’ motor performance excellence, that is, accounting for 41% of the individual variance in best world ranking. Our findings shed light on neural correlates of long-term athletic performance involving thalamo-sensorimotor functional circuits.

  17. Preliminary Transportation, Aging and Disposal Canister System Performance Specification

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    C.A Kouts

    2006-01-01

    This document provides specifications for selected system components of the Transportation, Aging and Disposal (TAD) canister-based system. A list of system specified components and ancillary components are included in Section 1.2. The TAD canister, in conjunction with specialized overpacks will accomplish a number of functions in the management and disposal of spent nuclear fuel. Some of these functions will be accomplished at purchaser sites where commercial spent nuclear fuel (CSNF) is stored, and some will be performed within the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM) transportation and disposal system. This document contains only those requirements unique to applications within Department of Energy's (DOE's) system. DOE recognizes that TAD canisters may have to perform similar functions at purchaser sites. Requirements to meet reactor functions, such as on-site dry storage, handling, and loading for transportation, are expected to be similar to commercially available canister-based systems. This document is intended to be referenced in the license application for the Monitored Geologic Repository (MGR). As such, the requirements cited herein are needed for TAD system use in OCRWM's disposal system. This document contains specifications for the TAD canister, transportation overpack and aging overpack. The remaining components and equipment that are unique to the OCRWM system or for similar purchaser applications will be supplied by others

  18. Effects of crystal structure and composition on the photocatalytic performance of Ta-O-N functional materials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Qing-Lu; Zhao, Zong-Yan; Yi, Jian-Hong

    2018-05-07

    For photocatalytic applications, the response of a material to the solar spectrum and its redox capabilities are two important factors determined by the band gap and band edge position of the electronic structure of the material. The crystal structure and composition of the photocatalyst are fundamental for determining the above factors. In this article, we examine the functional material Ta-O-N as an example of how to discuss relationships among these factors in detail with the use of theoretical calculations. To explore how the crystal structure and composition influence the photocatalytic performance, two groups of Ta-O-N materials were considered: the first group included ε-Ta 2 O 5 , TaON, and Ta 3 N 5 ; the second group included β-Ta 2 O 5 , δ-Ta 2 O 5 , ε-Ta 2 O 5 , and amorphous-Ta 2 O 5 . Calculation results indicated that the band gap and band edge position are determined by interactions between the atomic core and valence electrons, the overlap of valence electronic states, and the localization of valence states. Ta 3 N 5 and TaON are suitable candidates for efficient photocatalysts owing to their photocatalytic water-splitting ability and good utilization efficiency of solar energy. δ-Ta 2 O 5 has a strong oxidation potential and a band gap suitable for absorbing visible light. Thus, it can be applied to photocatalytic degradation of most pollutants. Although a-Ta 2 O 5 , ε-Ta 2 O 5 , and β-Ta 2 O 5 cannot be directly used as photocatalysts, they can still be applied to modify conventional Ta-O-N photocatalysts, owing to their similar composition and structure. These calculation results will be helpful as reference data for analyzing the photocatalytic performance of more complicated Ta-O-N functional materials. On the basis of these findings, one could design novel Ta-O-N functional materials for specific photocatalytic applications by tuning the composition and crystal structure.

  19. A little similarity goes a long way: the effects of peripheral but self-revealing similarities on improving and sustaining interracial relationships.

    Science.gov (United States)

    West, Tessa V; Magee, Joe C; Gordon, Sarah H; Gullett, Lindy

    2014-07-01

    Integrating theory on close relationships and intergroup relations, we construct a manipulation of similarity that we demonstrate can improve interracial interactions across different settings. We find that manipulating perceptions of similarity on self-revealing attributes that are peripheral to the interaction improves interactions in cross-race dyads and racially diverse task groups. In a getting-acquainted context, we demonstrate that the belief that one's different-race partner is similar to oneself on self-revealing, peripheral attributes leads to less anticipatory anxiety than the belief that one's partner is similar on peripheral, nonself-revealing attributes. In another dyadic context, we explore the range of benefits that perceptions of peripheral, self-revealing similarity can bring to different-race interaction partners and find (a) less anxiety during interaction, (b) greater interest in sustained contact with one's partner, and (c) stronger accuracy in perceptions of one's partners' relationship intentions. By contrast, participants in same-race interactions were largely unaffected by these manipulations of perceived similarity. Our final experiment shows that among small task groups composed of racially diverse individuals, those whose members perceive peripheral, self-revealing similarity perform superior to those who perceive dissimilarity. Implications for using this approach to improve interracial interactions across different goal-driven contexts are discussed.

  20. The performance of the backpropagation algorithm with varying slope of the activation function

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bai Yanping; Zhang Haixia; Hao Yilong

    2009-01-01

    Some adaptations are proposed to the basic BP algorithm in order to provide an efficient method to non-linear data learning and prediction. In this paper, an adopted BP algorithm with varying slope of activation function and different learning rates is put forward. The results of experiment indicated that this algorithm can get very good performance of training. We also test the prediction performance of our adopted BP algorithm on 16 instances. We compared the test results to the ones of the BP algorithm with gradient descent momentum and an adaptive learning rate. The results indicate this adopted BP algorithm gives best performance (100%) for test example, which conclude this adopted BP algorithm produces a smoothed reconstruction that learns better to new prediction function values than the BP algorithm improved with momentum.

  1. Impaired exercise performance and skeletal muscle mitochondrial function in rats with secondary carnitine deficiency

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jamal BOUITBIR

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Purpose: The effects of carnitine depletion upon exercise performance and skeletal muscle mitochondrial function remain largely unexplored. We therefore investigated the effect of N-trimethyl-hydrazine-3-propionate (THP, a carnitine analogue inhibiting carnitine biosynthesis and renal carnitine reabsorption, on physical performance and skeletal muscle mitochondrial function in rats.Methods: Male Sprague Dawley rats were treated daily with water (control rats; n=12 or with 20 mg/100 g body weight THP (n=12 via oral gavage for 3 weeks. Following treatment, half of the animals of each group performed an exercise test until exhaustion.Results: Distance covered and exercise performance were lower in THP-treated compared to control rats. In the oxidative soleus muscle, carnitine depletion caused atrophy (-24% and impaired function of complex II and IV of the mitochondrial electron transport chain. The free radical leak (ROS production relative to oxygen consumption was increased and the cellular glutathione pool decreased. Moreover, mRNA expression of markers of mitochondrial biogenesis and mitochondrial DNA were decreased in THP-treated compared to control rats. In comparison, in the glycolytic gastrocnemius muscle, carnitine depletion was associated with impaired function of complex IV and increased free radical leak, whilst muscle weight and cellular glutathione pool were maintained. Markers of mitochondrial proliferation and mitochondrial DNA were unaffected.Conclusions: Carnitine deficiency is associated with impaired exercise capacity in rats treated with THP. THP-induced carnitine deficiency is associated with impaired function of the electron transport chain in oxidative and glycolytic muscle as well as with atrophy and decreased mitochondrial DNA in oxidative muscle.

  2. An Experimental Comparison of Similarity Assessment Measures for 3D Models on Constrained Surface Deformation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quan, Lulin; Yang, Zhixin

    2010-05-01

    To address the issues in the area of design customization, this paper expressed the specification and application of the constrained surface deformation, and reported the experimental performance comparison of three prevail effective similarity assessment algorithms on constrained surface deformation domain. Constrained surface deformation becomes a promising method that supports for various downstream applications of customized design. Similarity assessment is regarded as the key technology for inspecting the success of new design via measuring the difference level between the deformed new design and the initial sample model, and indicating whether the difference level is within the limitation. According to our theoretical analysis and pre-experiments, three similarity assessment algorithms are suitable for this domain, including shape histogram based method, skeleton based method, and U system moment based method. We analyze their basic functions and implementation methodologies in detail, and do a series of experiments on various situations to test their accuracy and efficiency using precision-recall diagram. Shoe model is chosen as an industrial example for the experiments. It shows that shape histogram based method gained an optimal performance in comparison. Based on the result, we proposed a novel approach that integrating surface constrains and shape histogram description with adaptive weighting method, which emphasize the role of constrains during the assessment. The limited initial experimental result demonstrated that our algorithm outperforms other three algorithms. A clear direction for future development is also drawn at the end of the paper.

  3. Analyzing self-similar and fractal properties of the C. elegans neural network.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tyler M Reese

    Full Text Available The brain is one of the most studied and highly complex systems in the biological world. While much research has concentrated on studying the brain directly, our focus is the structure of the brain itself: at its core an interconnected network of nodes (neurons. A better understanding of the structural connectivity of the brain should elucidate some of its functional properties. In this paper we analyze the connectome of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Consisting of only 302 neurons, it is one of the better-understood neural networks. Using a Laplacian Matrix of the 279-neuron "giant component" of the network, we use an eigenvalue counting function to look for fractal-like self similarity. This matrix representation is also used to plot visualizations of the neural network in eigenfunction coordinates. Small-world properties of the system are examined, including average path length and clustering coefficient. We test for localization of eigenfunctions, using graph energy and spacial variance on these functions. To better understand results, all calculations are also performed on random networks, branching trees, and known fractals, as well as fractals which have been "rewired" to have small-world properties. We propose algorithms for generating Laplacian matrices of each of these graphs.

  4. Potential Functional Embedding Theory at the Correlated Wave Function Level. 2. Error Sources and Performance Tests.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheng, Jin; Yu, Kuang; Libisch, Florian; Dieterich, Johannes M; Carter, Emily A

    2017-03-14

    Quantum mechanical embedding theories partition a complex system into multiple spatial regions that can use different electronic structure methods within each, to optimize trade-offs between accuracy and cost. The present work incorporates accurate but expensive correlated wave function (CW) methods for a subsystem containing the phenomenon or feature of greatest interest, while self-consistently capturing quantum effects of the surroundings using fast but less accurate density functional theory (DFT) approximations. We recently proposed two embedding methods [for a review, see: Acc. Chem. Res. 2014 , 47 , 2768 ]: density functional embedding theory (DFET) and potential functional embedding theory (PFET). DFET provides a fast but non-self-consistent density-based embedding scheme, whereas PFET offers a more rigorous theoretical framework to perform fully self-consistent, variational CW/DFT calculations [as defined in part 1, CW/DFT means subsystem 1(2) is treated with CW(DFT) methods]. When originally presented, PFET was only tested at the DFT/DFT level of theory as a proof of principle within a planewave (PW) basis. Part 1 of this two-part series demonstrated that PFET can be made to work well with mixed Gaussian type orbital (GTO)/PW bases, as long as optimized GTO bases and consistent electron-ion potentials are employed throughout. Here in part 2 we conduct the first PFET calculations at the CW/DFT level and compare them to DFET and full CW benchmarks. We test the performance of PFET at the CW/DFT level for a variety of types of interactions (hydrogen bonding, metallic, and ionic). By introducing an intermediate CW/DFT embedding scheme denoted DFET/PFET, we show how PFET remedies different types of errors in DFET, serving as a more robust type of embedding theory.

  5. Measurement properties of performance-based measures to assess physical function in hip and knee osteoarthritis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dobson, F; Hinman, R S; Hall, M

    2012-01-01

    OBJECTIVES: To systematically review the measurement properties of performance-based measures to assess physical function in people with hip and/or knee osteoarthritis (OA). METHODS: Electronic searches were performed in MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase, and PsycINFO up to the end of June 2012. Two...... investigating measurement properties of performance measures, including responsiveness and interpretability in people with hip and/or knee OA, is needed. Consensus on which combination of measures will best assess physical function in people with hip/and or knee OA is urgently required....

  6. Examining Similarity Structure: Multidimensional Scaling and Related Approaches in Neuroimaging

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Svetlana V. Shinkareva

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper covers similarity analyses, a subset of multivariate pattern analysis techniques that are based on similarity spaces defined by multivariate patterns. These techniques offer several advantages and complement other methods for brain data analyses, as they allow for comparison of representational structure across individuals, brain regions, and data acquisition methods. Particular attention is paid to multidimensional scaling and related approaches that yield spatial representations or provide methods for characterizing individual differences. We highlight unique contributions of these methods by reviewing recent applications to functional magnetic resonance imaging data and emphasize areas of caution in applying and interpreting similarity analysis methods.

  7. Low- and High-Volume Water-Based Resistance Training Induces Similar Strength and Functional Capacity Improvements in Older Women: A Randomized Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reichert, Thaís; Delevatti, Rodrigo Sudatti; Prado, Alexandre Konig Garcia; Bagatini, Natália Carvalho; Simmer, Nicole Monticelli; Meinerz, Andressa Pellegrini; Barroso, Bruna Machado; Costa, Rochelle Rocha; Kanitz, Ana Carolina; Kruel, Luiz Fernando Martins

    2018-03-27

    Water-based resistance training (WRT) has been indicated to promote strength gains in elderly population. However, no study has compared different training strategies to identify the most efficient one. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of 3 WRT strategies on the strength and functional capacity of older women. In total, 36 women were randomly allocated to training groups: simple set of 30 seconds [1 × 30s; 66.41 (1.36) y; n = 12], multiple sets of 10 seconds [3 × 10s; 66.50 (1.43) y; n = 11], and simple set of 10 seconds [1 × 10s; 65.23 (1.09) y; n = 13]. Training lasted for 12 weeks. The maximal dynamic strength (in kilograms) and muscular endurance (number of repetitions) of knee extension, knee flexion, elbow flexion, and bench press, as well as functional capacity (number of repetitions), were evaluated. All types of training promoted similar gains in maximal dynamic strength of knee extension and flexion as well as elbow flexion. Only the 1 × 30s and 1 × 10s groups presented increments in bench press maximal strength. All 3 groups showed increases in muscular endurance in all exercises and functional capacity. WRT using long- or short-duration simple sets promotes the same gains in strength and functional capacity in older women as does WRT using multiple sets.

  8. Semantic similarity from natural language and ontology analysis

    CERN Document Server

    Harispe, Sébastien; Janaqi, Stefan

    2015-01-01

    Artificial Intelligence federates numerous scientific fields in the aim of developing machines able to assist human operators performing complex treatments---most of which demand high cognitive skills (e.g. learning or decision processes). Central to this quest is to give machines the ability to estimate the likeness or similarity between things in the way human beings estimate the similarity between stimuli.In this context, this book focuses on semantic measures: approaches designed for comparing semantic entities such as units of language, e.g. words, sentences, or concepts and instances def

  9. Effect of Forsythia suspensa extract and chito-oligosaccharide alone or in combination on performance, intestinal barrier function, antioxidant capacity and immune characteristics of weaned piglets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Panfeng; Piao, Xiangshu; Zeng, Zhikai; Li, Ping; Xu, Xiao; Wang, Hongliang

    2017-06-01

    We investigated the effects of Forsythia suspensa extract (FSE) and chito-oligosaccharide (COS), alone or together, on performance and health status of weaned piglets. The treatments included a basal diet and three diets with 160 mg/kg COS, 100 mg/kg FSE, or 100 mg/kg FSE and 160 mg/kg COS. Supplementation with COS or FSE alone improved (P antioxidant capacity and glutathione peroxidase activities and lower serum endotoxin (P concentrations, generated higher (P concentration, peripheral blood lymphocyte proliferation and serum-specific ovalbumin antibody level than the basal diet. No differences in oxidative injury and immunity indices were detected on day 28. The combined FSE and COS produced similar results compared with FSE or COS when given alone. These data indicate FSE or COS can increase performance by modulating intestinal permeability, antioxidant status and immune function in younger pigs. There appears to be similar advantage in feeding the additives in combination over those obtained from feeding them separately. © 2016 Japanese Society of Animal Science.

  10. The recent similarity hypotheses to describe water infiltration into homogeneous soils

    OpenAIRE

    Reichardt,Klaus; Timm,Luís Carlos; Dourado-Neto,Durval

    2016-01-01

    ABSTRACT A similarity hypothesis recently presented to describe horizontal infiltration into homogeneous soils, developed for coarse-textured soils like sieved marine sand, implies that the soil water retention function θ(h) is the mirror image of an extended Boltzmann transform function θ(λ2). A second hypothesis applicable to vertical infiltration suggests that the soil water retention function θ(h) is also the mirror image of the soil water profile θ(z). Using prev...

  11. Functional relations and cognitive psychology: Lessons from human performance and animal research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Proctor, Robert W; Urcuioli, Peter J

    2016-02-01

    We consider requirements for effective interdisciplinary communication and explore alternative interpretations of "building bridges between functional and cognitive psychology." If the bridges are intended to connect radical behaviourism and cognitive psychology, or functional contextualism and cognitive psychology, the efforts are unlikely to be successful. But if the bridges are intended to connect functional relationships and cognitive theory, no construction is needed because the bridges already exist within cognitive psychology. We use human performance and animal research to illustrate the latter point and to counter the claim that the functional approach is unique in offering a close relationship between science and practice. Effective communication will be enhanced and, indeed, may only occur if the goal of functional contextualism extends beyond just "the advancement of functional contextual cognitive and behavioral science and practice" to "the advancement of cognitive and behavioral science and practice" without restriction. © 2015 International Union of Psychological Science.

  12. Prioritization of candidate disease genes by combining topological similarity and semantic similarity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Bin; Jin, Min; Zeng, Pan

    2015-10-01

    The identification of gene-phenotype relationships is very important for the treatment of human diseases. Studies have shown that genes causing the same or similar phenotypes tend to interact with each other in a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network. Thus, many identification methods based on the PPI network model have achieved good results. However, in the PPI network, some interactions between the proteins encoded by candidate gene and the proteins encoded by known disease genes are very weak. Therefore, some studies have combined the PPI network with other genomic information and reported good predictive performances. However, we believe that the results could be further improved. In this paper, we propose a new method that uses the semantic similarity between the candidate gene and known disease genes to set the initial probability vector of a random walk with a restart algorithm in a human PPI network. The effectiveness of our method was demonstrated by leave-one-out cross-validation, and the experimental results indicated that our method outperformed other methods. Additionally, our method can predict new causative genes of multifactor diseases, including Parkinson's disease, breast cancer and obesity. The top predictions were good and consistent with the findings in the literature, which further illustrates the effectiveness of our method. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. The influences of obesity and age on functional performance during intermittent upper extremity tasks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cavuoto, Lora A; Nussbaum, Maury A

    2014-01-01

    In this study, the main and interactive effects of obesity and age on functional performance were assessed during intermittent exertions involving the upper extremity. The prevalence of obesity has doubled over the past 30 years and this increase is associated with higher health care costs, rates of workplace injury, and lost workdays. Obesity and aging can modify job demands and affect worker capacity in terms of muscular and psychomotor function. However, there is a lack of empirical studies quantifying the work-relevant (or ergonomic) impacts related to task demands, capacities, and their potential imbalance. Eight obese and eight non-obese participants from each of two age groups (18-25 and 50-65 years) completed three endurance tasks involving fixed levels of task demands: hand grip, shoulder flexion, and a simulated assembly task using the upper extremity. Measures of functional performance including endurance, discomfort, motor control, and task performance were recorded for each of the task conditions. Endurance times were ∼60% longer for the non-obese group, and older participants had longer endurance times; however there was no evidence of interactive effects of obesity and age. Obesity also impaired functional performance, as indicated by higher rates of strength loss, increases in discomfort, and declines in task performance. These observed impairments may reflect underlying physiological differences among individuals who are obese, but that are independent of age. Obesity-related impairments may have implications for the design of work duration and demand level to prevent fatigue development for workers who are obese.

  14. EXPLORING LINKAGES BETWEEN MANUFACTURING FUNCTIONS, OPERATIONS PRIORITIES AND PLANT PERFORMANCE IN MANUFACTURING SMES IN MUMBAI

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    B.E. Narkhede

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available Nowadays, in order for small and medium scale enterprises to excel in performance, it is necessary to have congruency among the manufacturing functions and the operational priorities. In this paper a model is presented to know the relationship between the manufacturing functions, operation priorities and manufacturing performance. Using data collected from small and medium scale manufacturing enterprises in Mumbai and suburban region, this study examines the seven hypothesis based on the relationship between manufacturing functions, priorities and perfomance. The structural equation model is tested using Amos7 software to test the hypothesis. The results show that there exists a positive relation between manufacturing functions and operation priorities as four out of six the dimensions measured such as Process control and implementation, Management of resources, Management of people, and Partnership with supplier are positively related, while two dimensions Training and developing and Teamwork are not positively related. Findings also support strong impact of operation priorities with growth in productivity as a measure of performance.

  15. Procedural and declarative memory performance, and the memory consolidation function of sleep, in recent and abstinent Ecstasy/MDMA users

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blagrove, Mark; Seddon, Jennifer; George, Sophie; Parrott, Andrew C.; Stickgold, Robert; Walker, Matthew; Jones, Katy; Morgan, Michael J.

    2013-01-01

    This study assessed the effects of ecstasy/MDMA on declarative memory (Rivermead Behavioral Memory task - RBMT), on procedural learning (Finger Tapping Task - FTT), and on the memory consolidation function of sleep for these two tasks. Testing occurred in 2 afternoon testing sessions, 24 hours apart so that a full period of sleep was allowed between them. Groups were: Non-drug taking Controls (n=24); Recent Ecstasy/MDMA users, who had taken ecstasy and/or MDMA 2–3 days before the first testing session (n=25), and Abstinent Ecstasy/MDMA users, who had not taken ecstasy/MDMA for at least 8 days before the first session (n=17). The recent ecstasy/MDMA users performed significantly worse than controls on the RBMT (mean recall 76.1% of control group recall), but did not differ from controls on FTT performance. Correspondingly there was a significant regression between the continuous variable of recency of ecstasy/MDMA use and RBMT performance. However, there was an interaction between ecstasy/MDMA use and subsequent other drug use. Controls had similar RBMT scores to recent ecstasy/MDMA users who did not take other drugs 48 – 24 hours before testing, but scored significantly better than recent ecstasy/MDMA users who took various other drugs (mainly cannabis) 48 – 24 hours before testing. For both tasks the control, recent ecstasy/MDMA and abstinent ecstasy/MDMA users did not differ in their change of performance across 24 hours; there was thus no evidence that ecstasy/MDMA impairs the memory consolidation function of sleep for either declarative or procedural memory. For participants in the two ecstasy/MDMA groups greater lifetime consumption of ecstasy tablets was associated with significantly more deficits in procedural memory. Furthermore, greater lifetime consumption of ecstasy tablets and of cocaine, were also associated with significantly more deficits in declarative memory. PMID:20615932

  16. Cross-sectional relationship between physical fitness components and functional performance in older persons living in long-term care facilities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    van Mechelen Willem

    2006-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The age-related deterioration of physiological capacities such as muscle strength and balance is associated with increased dependence. Understanding the contribution of physical fitness components to functional performance facilitates the development of adequate exercise interventions aiming at preservation of function and independence of older people. The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between physical fitness components and functional performance in older people living in long-term care facilities. Methods Design cross-sectional study Subjects 226 persons living in long-term care facilities (mean age: 81.6 ± 5.6. Outcome measures Physical fitness and functional performance were measured by performance-based tests. Results Knee and elbow extension strength were significantly higher in men (difference = 44.5 and 50.0 N, respectively, whereas women were more flexible (difference sit & reach test = 7.2 cm. Functional performance was not significantly different between the genders. In men, motor coordination (eye-hand coordination and measures of strength were the main contributors to functional performance, whereas in women flexibility (sit and reach test and motor coordination (tandem stance and eye-hand coordination played a major role. Conclusion The results of this study show that besides muscle strength, fitness components such as coordination and flexibility are associated with functional performance of older people living in long-term care facilities. This suggests that men and women living in long-term care facilities, differ considerably concerning the fitness factors contributing to functional performance. Women and men may, therefore, need exercise programs emphasizing different fitness aspects in order to improve functional performance.

  17. Functionalized Materials From Elastomers to High Performance Thermoplastics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Salazar, Laura Ann [Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States)

    2003-01-01

    Synthesis and incorporation of functionalized materials continues to generate significant research interest in academia and in industry. If chosen correctly, a functional group when incorporated into a polymer can deliver enhanced properties, such as adhesion, water solubility, thermal stability, etc. The utility of these new materials has been demonstrated in drug-delivery systems, coatings, membranes and compatibilizers. Two approaches exist to functionalize a material. The desired moiety can be added to the monomer either before or after polymerization. The polymers used range from low glass transition temperature elastomers to high glass transition temperature, high performance materials. One industrial example of the first approach is the synthesis of Teflon(reg. sign). Poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE or Teflon(reg. sign)) is synthesized from tetrafluoroethylene, a functionalized monomer. The resulting material has significant property differences from the parent, poly(ethylene). Due to the fluorine in the polymer, PTFE has excellent solvent and heat resistance, a low surface energy and a low coefficient of friction. This allows the material to be used in high temperature applications where the surface needs to be nonabrasive and nonstick. This material has a wide spread use in the cooking industry because it allows for ease of cooking and cleaning as a nonstick coating on cookware. One of the best examples of the second approach, functionalization after polymerization, is the vulcanization process used to make tires. Natural rubber (from the Hevea brasiliensis) has a very low glass transition temperature, is very tacky and would not be useful to make tires without synthetic alteration. Goodyear's invention was the vulcanization of polyisoprene by crosslinking the material with sulfur to create a rubber that was tough enough to withstand the elements of weather and road conditions. Due to the development of polymerization techniques to make cis

  18. Social Skills Intervention Participation and Associated Improvements in Executive Function Performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shawn E. Christ

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Autism spectrum disorder (ASD is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impairments in social communication. It has been postulated that such difficulties are related to disruptions in underlying cognitive processes such as executive function. The present study examined potential changes in executive function performance associated with participation in the Social Competence Intervention (SCI program, a short-term intervention designed to improve social competence in adolescents with ASD. Laboratory behavioral performance measures were used to separately evaluate potential intervention-related changes in individual executive function component processes (i.e., working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility in a sample of 22 adolescents with ASD both before and after intervention. For comparison purposes, a demographically matched sample of 14 individuals without ASD was assessed at identical time intervals. Intervention-related improvements were observed on the working memory task, with gains evident in spatial working memory and, to a slightly lesser degree, verbal working memory. Significant improvements were also found for a working memory-related aspect of the task switching test (i.e., mixing costs. Taken together, these findings provide preliminary support for the hypothesis that participation in the SCI program is accompanied by changes in underlying neurocognitive processes such as working memory.

  19. From Chi-t to mCRL : combining performance and functional analysis

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wijs, A.J.; Fokkink, W.J.

    2005-01-01

    In this paper the authors first gave short overviews of the modelling languages timed chi( chit) and muCRL. Then a general translation scheme was presented to translate chit specifications to muCRL specifications. As chit targets performance analysis and muCRL targets functional analysis of systems,

  20. Self-reported walking ability predicts functional mobility performance in frail older adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alexander, N B; Guire, K E; Thelen, D G; Ashton-Miller, J A; Schultz, A B; Grunawalt, J C; Giordani, B

    2000-11-01

    To determine how self-reported physical function relates to performance in each of three mobility domains: walking, stance maintenance, and rising from chairs. Cross-sectional analysis of older adults. University-based laboratory and community-based congregate housing facilities. Two hundred twenty-one older adults (mean age, 79.9 years; range, 60-102 years) without clinical evidence of dementia (mean Folstein Mini-Mental State score, 28; range, 24-30). We compared the responses of these older adults on a questionnaire battery used by the Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly (EPESE) project, to performance on mobility tasks of graded difficulty. Responses to the EPESE battery included: (1) whether assistance was required to perform seven Katz activities of daily living (ADL) items, specifically with walking and transferring; (2) three Rosow-Breslau items, including the ability to walk up stairs and walk a half mile; and (3) five Nagi items, including difficulty stooping, reaching, and lifting objects. The performance measures included the ability to perform, and time taken to perform, tasks in three summary score domains: (1) walking ("Walking," seven tasks, including walking with an assistive device, turning, stair climbing, tandem walking); (2) stance maintenance ("Stance," six tasks, including unipedal, bipedal, tandem, and maximum lean); and (3) chair rise ("Chair Rise," six tasks, including rising from a variety of seat heights with and without the use of hands for assistance). A total score combines scores in each Walking, Stance, and Chair Rise domain. We also analyzed how cognitive/ behavioral factors such as depression and self-efficacy related to the residuals from the self-report and performance-based ANOVA models. Rosow-Breslau items have the strongest relationship with the three performance domains, Walking, Stance, and Chair Rise (eta-squared ranging from 0.21 to 0.44). These three performance domains are as strongly

  1. Modeling the Non-functional Requirements in the Context of Usability, Performance, Safety and Security

    OpenAIRE

    Sadiq, Mazhar

    2007-01-01

    Requirement engineering is the most significant part of the software development life cycle. Until now great emphasis has been put on the maturity of the functional requirements. But with the passage of time it reveals that the success of software development does not only pertain to the functional requirements rather non-functional requirements should also be taken into consideration. Among the non-functional requirements usability, performance, safety and security are considered important. ...

  2. A vertex similarity index for better personalized recommendation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Ling-Jiao; Zhang, Zi-Ke; Liu, Jin-Hu; Gao, Jian; Zhou, Tao

    2017-01-01

    Recommender systems benefit us in tackling the problem of information overload by predicting our potential choices among diverse niche objects. So far, a variety of personalized recommendation algorithms have been proposed and most of them are based on similarities, such as collaborative filtering and mass diffusion. Here, we propose a novel vertex similarity index named CosRA, which combines advantages of both the cosine index and the resource-allocation (RA) index. By applying the CosRA index to real recommender systems including MovieLens, Netflix and RYM, we show that the CosRA-based method has better performance in accuracy, diversity and novelty than some benchmark methods. Moreover, the CosRA index is free of parameters, which is a significant advantage in real applications. Further experiments show that the introduction of two turnable parameters cannot remarkably improve the overall performance of the CosRA index.

  3. 49 CFR 1242.78 - Employees performing clerical and accounting functions, and loss and damage claims processing...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... Employees performing clerical and accounting functions, and loss and damage claims processing (accounts XX... 49 Transportation 9 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Employees performing clerical and accounting functions, and loss and damage claims processing (accounts XX-55-76 and XX-55-78). 1242.78 Section 1242.78...

  4. Gender similarities and differences in 200 individuals with body dysmorphic disorder⋆

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phillips, Katharine A.; Menard, William; Fay, Christina

    2006-01-01

    Background Gender is a critically important moderator of psychopathology. However, gender similarities and differences in body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) have received scant investigation. In this study, we examined gender similarities and differences in the broadest sample in which this topic has been examined. Methods Two hundred subjects with BDD recruited from diverse sources were assessed with a variety of standard measures. Results There were more similarities than differences between men and women, but many gender differences were found. The men were significantly older and more likely to be single and living alone. Men were more likely to obsess about their genitals, body build, and thinning hair/balding; excessively lift weights; and have a substance use disorder. In contrast, women were more likely to obsess about their skin, stomach, weight, breasts/chest, buttocks, thighs, legs, hips, toes, and excessive body/facial hair, and they were excessively concerned with more body areas. Women also performed more repetitive and safety behaviors, and were more likely to camouflage and use certain camouflaging techniques, check mirrors, change their clothes, pick their skin, and have an eating disorder. Women also had earlier onset of subclinical BDD symptoms and more severe BDD as assessed by the Body Dysmorphic Disorder Examination. However, men had more severe BDD as assessed by the Psychiatric Status Rating Scale for Body Dysmorphic Disorder, and they had poorer Global Assessment of Functioning Scale scores, were less likely to be working because of psychopathology, and were more likely to be receiving disability, including disability for BDD. Conclusions The clinical features of BDD in men and women have many similarities but also some interesting and important differences. These findings have implications for the detection and treatment of BDD. PMID:16490564

  5. Semantic similarity between ontologies at different scales

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhang, Qingpeng; Haglin, David J.

    2016-04-01

    In the past decade, existing and new knowledge and datasets has been encoded in different ontologies for semantic web and biomedical research. The size of ontologies is often very large in terms of number of concepts and relationships, which makes the analysis of ontologies and the represented knowledge graph computational and time consuming. As the ontologies of various semantic web and biomedical applications usually show explicit hierarchical structures, it is interesting to explore the trade-offs between ontological scales and preservation/precision of results when we analyze ontologies. This paper presents the first effort of examining the capability of this idea via studying the relationship between scaling biomedical ontologies at different levels and the semantic similarity values. We evaluate the semantic similarity between three Gene Ontology slims (Plant, Yeast, and Candida, among which the latter two belong to the same kingdom—Fungi) using four popular measures commonly applied to biomedical ontologies (Resnik, Lin, Jiang-Conrath, and SimRel). The results of this study demonstrate that with proper selection of scaling levels and similarity measures, we can significantly reduce the size of ontologies without losing substantial detail. In particular, the performance of Jiang-Conrath and Lin are more reliable and stable than that of the other two in this experiment, as proven by (a) consistently showing that Yeast and Candida are more similar (as compared to Plant) at different scales, and (b) small deviations of the similarity values after excluding a majority of nodes from several lower scales. This study provides a deeper understanding of the application of semantic similarity to biomedical ontologies, and shed light on how to choose appropriate semantic similarity measures for biomedical engineering.

  6. Cognitive function in early HIV infection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prakash, Aanchal; Hou, Jue; Liu, Lei; Gao, Yi; Kettering, Casey; Ragin, Ann B

    2017-04-01

    This study aimed to examine cognitive function in acute/early HIV infection over the subsequent 2 years. Fifty-six HIV+ subjects and 21 seronegative participants of the Chicago Early HIV Infection Study were evaluated using a comprehensive neuropsychological assessment at study enrollment and at 2-year follow-up. Cognitive performance measures were compared in the groups using t tests and mixed-effect models. Patterns of relationship with clinical measures were determined between cognitive function and clinical status markers using Spearman's correlations. At the initial timepoint, the HIV group demonstrated significantly weaker performance on measures of verbal memory, visual memory, psychomotor speed, motor speed, and executive function. A similar pattern was found when cognitive function was examined at follow-up and across both timepoints. The HIV subjects had generally weaker performance on psychomotor speed, executive function, motor speed, visual memory, and verbal memory. The rate of decline in cognitive function across the 2-year follow-up period did not differ between groups. Correlations between clinical status markers and cognitive function at both timepoints showed weaker performance associated with increased disease burden. Neurocognitive difficulty in chronic HIV infection may have very early onset and reflect consequences of initial brain viral invasion and neuroinflammation during the intense, uncontrolled viremia of acute HIV infection. Further characterization of the changes occurring in initial stages of infection and the risk and protective factors for cognitive function could inform new strategies for neuroprotection.

  7. Improved personalized recommendation based on a similarity network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Ximeng; Liu, Yun; Xiong, Fei

    2016-08-01

    A recommender system helps individual users find the preferred items rapidly and has attracted extensive attention in recent years. Many successful recommendation algorithms are designed on bipartite networks, such as network-based inference or heat conduction. However, most of these algorithms define the resource-allocation methods for an average allocation. That is not reasonable because average allocation cannot indicate the user choice preference and the influence between users which leads to a series of non-personalized recommendation results. We propose a personalized recommendation approach that combines the similarity function and bipartite network to generate a similarity network that improves the resource-allocation process. Our model introduces user influence into the recommender system and states that the user influence can make the resource-allocation process more reasonable. We use four different metrics to evaluate our algorithms for three benchmark data sets. Experimental results show that the improved recommendation on a similarity network can obtain better accuracy and diversity than some competing approaches.

  8. Cerebral palsy: Influence of TheraTogs ® on gait, posture and in functional performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Raquel Ehlert

    Full Text Available Abstract Introduction: For children with cerebral palsy, orthoses take an important role in improving posture, gait, functional performance and preventing secondary musculoskeletal disorders. Objective: To evaluate the influence of TheraTogs® on the posture, distribution of plantar pressure during gait and functional performance of a child with spastic diplegia cerebral palsy. Methods: A quantitative evaluation was carried out on a case study in which an 11-year-old child diagnosed with diplegic cerebral palsy underwent postural assessment through the Postural Assessment Software (PAS, plantar pressure distribution assessment during barefoot gait through the Emed-X system, before and after the intervention period of 8 weeks and functional assessment (Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory - PEDI, with and without TheraTogs®. Results: In posture, TheraTogs® had greater influence on hip extension and this change was greater during its use. In the plantar pressure distribution assessment, an increase in posteriorization of plantar pressure occurred in the initial contact, the performance of the push-off phase and initial swing phase improved. In functionality, the child showed improvements in mobility, however, their self-care ability with TheraTogs® was reduced. Conclusion: Although improvements in posture, gait and functionality were verified with the use of TheraTogs®, the excessive heat, difficulties in toileting and self-care were disadvantages in wearing TheraTogs®.

  9. Similarity-based search of model organism, disease and drug effect phenotypes

    KAUST Repository

    Hoehndorf, Robert

    2015-02-19

    Background: Semantic similarity measures over phenotype ontologies have been demonstrated to provide a powerful approach for the analysis of model organism phenotypes, the discovery of animal models of human disease, novel pathways, gene functions, druggable therapeutic targets, and determination of pathogenicity. Results: We have developed PhenomeNET 2, a system that enables similarity-based searches over a large repository of phenotypes in real-time. It can be used to identify strains of model organisms that are phenotypically similar to human patients, diseases that are phenotypically similar to model organism phenotypes, or drug effect profiles that are similar to the phenotypes observed in a patient or model organism. PhenomeNET 2 is available at http://aber-owl.net/phenomenet. Conclusions: Phenotype-similarity searches can provide a powerful tool for the discovery and investigation of molecular mechanisms underlying an observed phenotypic manifestation. PhenomeNET 2 facilitates user-defined similarity searches and allows researchers to analyze their data within a large repository of human, mouse and rat phenotypes.

  10. Similarly shaped letters evoke similar colors in grapheme-color synesthesia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brang, David; Rouw, Romke; Ramachandran, V S; Coulson, Seana

    2011-04-01

    Grapheme-color synesthesia is a neurological condition in which viewing numbers or letters (graphemes) results in the concurrent sensation of color. While the anatomical substrates underlying this experience are well understood, little research to date has investigated factors influencing the particular colors associated with particular graphemes or how synesthesia occurs developmentally. A recent suggestion of such an interaction has been proposed in the cascaded cross-tuning (CCT) model of synesthesia, which posits that in synesthetes connections between grapheme regions and color area V4 participate in a competitive activation process, with synesthetic colors arising during the component-stage of grapheme processing. This model more directly suggests that graphemes sharing similar component features (lines, curves, etc.) should accordingly activate more similar synesthetic colors. To test this proposal, we created and regressed synesthetic color-similarity matrices for each of 52 synesthetes against a letter-confusability matrix, an unbiased measure of visual similarity among graphemes. Results of synesthetes' grapheme-color correspondences indeed revealed that more similarly shaped graphemes corresponded with more similar synesthetic colors, with stronger effects observed in individuals with more intense synesthetic experiences (projector synesthetes). These results support the CCT model of synesthesia, implicate early perceptual mechanisms as driving factors in the elicitation of synesthetic hues, and further highlight the relationship between conceptual and perceptual factors in this phenomenon. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Development of measurement standards for verifying functional performance of surface texture measuring instruments

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fujii, A [Life and Industrial Product Development Department Olympus Corporation, 2951 Ishikawa-machi, Hachiouji-shi, Tokyo (Japan); Suzuki, H [Industrial Marketing and Planning Department Olympus Corporation, Shinjyuku Monolith, 3-1 Nishi-Shinjyuku 2-chome, Tokyo (Japan); Yanagi, K, E-mail: a_fujii@ot.olympus.co.jp [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Nagaoka University of Technology, 1603-1 Kamitomioka-machi, Nagaoka-shi, Niigata (Japan)

    2011-08-19

    A new measurement standard is proposed for verifying overall functional performance of surface texture measuring instruments. Its surface is composed of sinusoidal surface waveforms of chirp signals along horizontal cross sections of the material measure. One of the notable features is that the amplitude of each cycle in the chirp signal form is geometrically modulated so that the maximum slope is kept constant. The maximum slope of the chirp-like signal is gradually decreased according to movement in the lateral direction. We fabricated the measurement standard by FIB processing, and it was calibrated by AFM. We tried to evaluate the functional performance of Laser Scanning Microscope by this standard in terms of amplitude response with varying slope angles. As a result, it was concluded that the proposed standard can easily evaluate the performance of surface texture measuring instruments.

  12. Child abuse and performance task assessments of executive functions in boys.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mezzacappa, E; Kindlon, D; Earls, F

    2001-11-01

    We examined executive functions using performance tasks in 126 boys aged 6 to 16 years. who attended public schools and therapeutic schools for children with emotional and behavioral problems. Children were further grouped based on the presence or absence of substantiated abuse histories. Based on their abuse histories and schools of origin, children were classified as Therapeutic, Abused (TA, N = 25). Therapeutic, Nonabused (TN, N = 52), and Public School (PS, N = 48). Controlling IQ and medication status, we compared children in the three groups on teacher ratings of behavior, on experimenter observations of behavior during testing, and on performance tasks challenging the capacities to inhibit an act in progress, and to passively avoid responses associated with adverse consequences. We examined mean group differences in symptoms, behaviors, and task performance, as well as differential age-dependent changes in these dimensions. Independent of abuse history, therapeutic school children demonstrated comparable levels of internalizing and externalizing symptoms, and comparable levels of redirections to task during testing-sessions, that were significantly higher than those of the public school children. Both groups of therapeutic school children also showed comparable overall performance on the capacities to inhibit an act in progress, and to passively avoid responses associated with adverse consequences that were poorer than the performance of children from the public school. Children with histories of substantiated abuse showed diminished improvement with increasing age in the capacity to passively avoid responses associated with adverse consequences when compared not only to the public school children, but also to the children from the therapeutic schools without histories of abuse. Our findings complement reports of behavioral observations of abused children, and reports associating child abuse with altered cognitive development in other areas of competence

  13. Gene function prediction based on Gene Ontology Hierarchy Preserving Hashing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Yingwen; Fu, Guangyuan; Wang, Jun; Guo, Maozu; Yu, Guoxian

    2018-02-23

    Gene Ontology (GO) uses structured vocabularies (or terms) to describe the molecular functions, biological roles, and cellular locations of gene products in a hierarchical ontology. GO annotations associate genes with GO terms and indicate the given gene products carrying out the biological functions described by the relevant terms. However, predicting correct GO annotations for genes from a massive set of GO terms as defined by GO is a difficult challenge. To combat with this challenge, we introduce a Gene Ontology Hierarchy Preserving Hashing (HPHash) based semantic method for gene function prediction. HPHash firstly measures the taxonomic similarity between GO terms. It then uses a hierarchy preserving hashing technique to keep the hierarchical order between GO terms, and to optimize a series of hashing functions to encode massive GO terms via compact binary codes. After that, HPHash utilizes these hashing functions to project the gene-term association matrix into a low-dimensional one and performs semantic similarity based gene function prediction in the low-dimensional space. Experimental results on three model species (Homo sapiens, Mus musculus and Rattus norvegicus) for interspecies gene function prediction show that HPHash performs better than other related approaches and it is robust to the number of hash functions. In addition, we also take HPHash as a plugin for BLAST based gene function prediction. From the experimental results, HPHash again significantly improves the prediction performance. The codes of HPHash are available at: http://mlda.swu.edu.cn/codes.php?name=HPHash. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. Learning Faster by Discovering and Exploiting Object Similarities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tadej Janež

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available In this paper we explore the question: “Is it possible to speed up the learning process of an autonomous agent by performing experiments in a more complex environment (i.e., an environment with a greater number of different objects?” To this end, we use a simple robotic domain, where the robot has to learn a qualitative model predicting the change in the robot's distance to an object. To quantify the environment's complexity, we defined cardinal complexity as the number of objects in the robot's world, and behavioural complexity as the number of objects' distinct behaviours. We propose Error reduction merging (ERM, a new learning method that automatically discovers similarities in the structure of the agent's environment. ERM identifies different types of objects solely from the data measured and merges the observations of objects that behave in the same or similar way in order to speed up the agent's learning. We performed a series of experiments in worlds of increasing complexity. The results in our simple domain indicate that ERM was capable of discovering structural similarities in the data which indeed made the learning faster, clearly superior to conventional learning. This observed trend occurred with various machine learning algorithms used inside the ERM method.

  15. Similarities and differences between children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder and those with obsessive compulsive disorder: executive functioning and repetitive behaviour.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Scheeren, Anke M; Begeer, Sander; Banerjee, Robin; Meerum Terwogt, Mark; Koot, Hans M

    2010-01-01

    In order to examine hypothesized underlying neurocognitive processes in repetitive behaviour, children and adolescents (7-16 years) with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) were compared on a range of executive function (EF) measures. Performance on

  16. Is having similar eye movement patterns during face learning and recognition beneficial for recognition performance? Evidence from hidden Markov modeling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chuk, Tim; Chan, Antoni B; Hsiao, Janet H

    2017-12-01

    The hidden Markov model (HMM)-based approach for eye movement analysis is able to reflect individual differences in both spatial and temporal aspects of eye movements. Here we used this approach to understand the relationship between eye movements during face learning and recognition, and its association with recognition performance. We discovered holistic (i.e., mainly looking at the face center) and analytic (i.e., specifically looking at the two eyes in addition to the face center) patterns during both learning and recognition. Although for both learning and recognition, participants who adopted analytic patterns had better recognition performance than those with holistic patterns, a significant positive correlation between the likelihood of participants' patterns being classified as analytic and their recognition performance was only observed during recognition. Significantly more participants adopted holistic patterns during learning than recognition. Interestingly, about 40% of the participants used different patterns between learning and recognition, and among them 90% switched their patterns from holistic at learning to analytic at recognition. In contrast to the scan path theory, which posits that eye movements during learning have to be recapitulated during recognition for the recognition to be successful, participants who used the same or different patterns during learning and recognition did not differ in recognition performance. The similarity between their learning and recognition eye movement patterns also did not correlate with their recognition performance. These findings suggested that perceptuomotor memory elicited by eye movement patterns during learning does not play an important role in recognition. In contrast, the retrieval of diagnostic information for recognition, such as the eyes for face recognition, is a better predictor for recognition performance. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Development of multi-functional streetscape green infrastructure using a performance index approach

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Tiwary, A.; Williams, L. D.; Heidrich, O.; Namdeo, A.; Bandaru, V.; Calfapietra, Carlo

    2016-01-01

    Roč. 208, jan (2016), s. 209-220 ISSN 0269-7491 Institutional support: RVO:67179843 Keywords : Green infrastructure * Multi-functional * Pollution * Performance index * Streetscape Subject RIV: EH - Ecology, Behaviour Impact factor: 5.099, year: 2016

  18. Connectivity Neurofeedback Training Can Differentially Change Functional Connectivity and Cognitive Performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamashita, Ayumu; Hayasaka, Shunsuke; Kawato, Mitsuo; Imamizu, Hiroshi

    2017-10-01

    Advances in functional magnetic resonance imaging have made it possible to provide real-time feedback on brain activity. Neurofeedback has been applied to therapeutic interventions for psychiatric disorders. Since many studies have shown that most psychiatric disorders exhibit abnormal brain networks, a novel experimental paradigm named connectivity neurofeedback, which can directly modulate a brain network, has emerged as a promising approach to treat psychiatric disorders. Here, we investigated the hypothesis that connectivity neurofeedback can induce the aimed direction of change in functional connectivity, and the differential change in cognitive performance according to the direction of change in connectivity. We selected the connectivity between the left primary motor cortex and the left lateral parietal cortex as the target. Subjects were divided into 2 groups, in which only the direction of change (an increase or a decrease in correlation) in the experimentally manipulated connectivity differed between the groups. As a result, subjects successfully induced the expected connectivity changes in either of the 2 directions. Furthermore, cognitive performance significantly and differentially changed from preneurofeedback to postneurofeedback training between the 2 groups. These findings indicate that connectivity neurofeedback can induce the aimed direction of change in connectivity and also a differential change in cognitive performance. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press.

  19. Validation of the Mnemonic Similarity Task – Context Version

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Giulia A. Aldi

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Objective: Pattern separation (PS is the ability to represent similar experiences as separate, non-overlapping representations. It is usually assessed via the Mnemonic Similarity Task – Object Version (MST-O which, however, assesses PS performance without taking behavioral context discrimination into account, since it is based on pictures of everyday simple objects on a white background. We here present a validation study for a new task, the Mnemonic Similarity Task – Context Version (MST-C, which is designed to measure PS while taking behavioral context discrimination into account by using real-life context photographs. Methods: Fifty healthy subjects underwent the two MST tasks to assess convergent evidence. Instruments assessing memory and attention were also administered to study discriminant evidence. The test-retest reliability of MST-C was analyzed. Results: Weak evidence supports convergent validity between the MST-C task and the MST-O as measures of PS (rs = 0.464; p < 0.01; PS performance assessed via the MST-C did not correlate with memory or attention; a moderate test-retest reliability was found (rs = 0.595; p < 0.01. Conclusion: The MST-C seems useful for assessing PS performance conceptualized as the ability to discriminate complex and realistic spatial contexts. Future studies are welcome to evaluate the validity of the MST-C task as a measure of PS in clinical populations.

  20. Personalized Mortality Prediction Driven by Electronic Medical Data and a Patient Similarity Metric

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Joon; Maslove, David M.; Dubin, Joel A.

    2015-01-01

    Background Clinical outcome prediction normally employs static, one-size-fits-all models that perform well for the average patient but are sub-optimal for individual patients with unique characteristics. In the era of digital healthcare, it is feasible to dynamically personalize decision support by identifying and analyzing similar past patients, in a way that is analogous to personalized product recommendation in e-commerce. Our objectives were: 1) to prove that analyzing only similar patients leads to better outcome prediction performance than analyzing all available patients, and 2) to characterize the trade-off between training data size and the degree of similarity between the training data and the index patient for whom prediction is to be made. Methods and Findings We deployed a cosine-similarity-based patient similarity metric (PSM) to an intensive care unit (ICU) database to identify patients that are most similar to each patient and subsequently to custom-build 30-day mortality prediction models. Rich clinical and administrative data from the first day in the ICU from 17,152 adult ICU admissions were analyzed. The results confirmed that using data from only a small subset of most similar patients for training improves predictive performance in comparison with using data from all available patients. The results also showed that when too few similar patients are used for training, predictive performance degrades due to the effects of small sample sizes. Our PSM-based approach outperformed well-known ICU severity of illness scores. Although the improved prediction performance is achieved at the cost of increased computational burden, Big Data technologies can help realize personalized data-driven decision support at the point of care. Conclusions The present study provides crucial empirical evidence for the promising potential of personalized data-driven decision support systems. With the increasing adoption of electronic medical record (EMR) systems, our

  1. Validation of risk-based performance indicators: Safety system function trends

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boccio, J.L.; Vesely, W.E.; Azarm, M.A.; Carbonaro, J.F.; Usher, J.L.; Oden, N.

    1989-10-01

    This report describes and applies a process for validating a model for a risk-based performance indicator. The purpose of the risk-based indicator evaluated, Safety System Function Trend (SSFT), is to monitor the unavailability of selected safety systems. Interim validation of this indicator is based on three aspects: a theoretical basis, an empirical basis relying on statistical correlations, and case studies employing 25 plant years of historical data collected from five plants for a number of safety systems. Results using the SSFT model are encouraging. Application of the model through case studies dealing with the performance of important safety systems shows that statistically significant trends in, and levels of, system performance can be discerned which thereby can provide leading indications of degrading and/or improving performances. Methods for developing system performance tolerance bounds are discussed and applied to aid in the interpretation of the trends in this risk-based indicator. Some additional characteristics of the SSFT indicator, learned through the data-collection efforts and subsequent data analyses performed, are also discussed. The usefulness and practicality of other data sources for validation purposes are explored. Further validation of this indicator is noted. Also, additional research is underway in developing a more detailed estimator of system unavailability. 9 refs., 18 figs., 5 tabs

  2. K2 and K2*: efficient alignment-free sequence similarity measurement based on Kendall statistics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Jie; Adjeroh, Donald A; Jiang, Bing-Hua; Jiang, Yue

    2018-05-15

    Alignment-free sequence comparison methods can compute the pairwise similarity between a huge number of sequences much faster than sequence-alignment based methods. We propose a new non-parametric alignment-free sequence comparison method, called K2, based on the Kendall statistics. Comparing to the other state-of-the-art alignment-free comparison methods, K2 demonstrates competitive performance in generating the phylogenetic tree, in evaluating functionally related regulatory sequences, and in computing the edit distance (similarity/dissimilarity) between sequences. Furthermore, the K2 approach is much faster than the other methods. An improved method, K2*, is also proposed, which is able to determine the appropriate algorithmic parameter (length) automatically, without first considering different values. Comparative analysis with the state-of-the-art alignment-free sequence similarity methods demonstrates the superiority of the proposed approaches, especially with increasing sequence length, or increasing dataset sizes. The K2 and K2* approaches are implemented in the R language as a package and is freely available for open access (http://community.wvu.edu/daadjeroh/projects/K2/K2_1.0.tar.gz). yueljiang@163.com. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

  3. Similarity estimators for irregular and age uncertain time series

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rehfeld, K.; Kurths, J.

    2013-09-01

    Paleoclimate time series are often irregularly sampled and age uncertain, which is an important technical challenge to overcome for successful reconstruction of past climate variability and dynamics. Visual comparison and interpolation-based linear correlation approaches have been used to infer dependencies from such proxy time series. While the first is subjective, not measurable and not suitable for the comparison of many datasets at a time, the latter introduces interpolation bias, and both face difficulties if the underlying dependencies are nonlinear. In this paper we investigate similarity estimators that could be suitable for the quantitative investigation of dependencies in irregular and age uncertain time series. We compare the Gaussian-kernel based cross correlation (gXCF, Rehfeld et al., 2011) and mutual information (gMI, Rehfeld et al., 2013) against their interpolation-based counterparts and the new event synchronization function (ESF). We test the efficiency of the methods in estimating coupling strength and coupling lag numerically, using ensembles of synthetic stalagmites with short, autocorrelated, linear and nonlinearly coupled proxy time series, and in the application to real stalagmite time series. In the linear test case coupling strength increases are identified consistently for all estimators, while in the nonlinear test case the correlation-based approaches fail. The lag at which the time series are coupled is identified correctly as the maximum of the similarity functions in around 60-55% (in the linear case) to 53-42% (for the nonlinear processes) of the cases when the dating of the synthetic stalagmite is perfectly precise. If the age uncertainty increases beyond 5% of the time series length, however, the true coupling lag is not identified more often than the others for which the similarity function was estimated. Age uncertainty contributes up to half of the uncertainty in the similarity estimation process. Time series irregularity

  4. Similarity estimators for irregular and age-uncertain time series

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rehfeld, K.; Kurths, J.

    2014-01-01

    Paleoclimate time series are often irregularly sampled and age uncertain, which is an important technical challenge to overcome for successful reconstruction of past climate variability and dynamics. Visual comparison and interpolation-based linear correlation approaches have been used to infer dependencies from such proxy time series. While the first is subjective, not measurable and not suitable for the comparison of many data sets at a time, the latter introduces interpolation bias, and both face difficulties if the underlying dependencies are nonlinear. In this paper we investigate similarity estimators that could be suitable for the quantitative investigation of dependencies in irregular and age-uncertain time series. We compare the Gaussian-kernel-based cross-correlation (gXCF, Rehfeld et al., 2011) and mutual information (gMI, Rehfeld et al., 2013) against their interpolation-based counterparts and the new event synchronization function (ESF). We test the efficiency of the methods in estimating coupling strength and coupling lag numerically, using ensembles of synthetic stalagmites with short, autocorrelated, linear and nonlinearly coupled proxy time series, and in the application to real stalagmite time series. In the linear test case, coupling strength increases are identified consistently for all estimators, while in the nonlinear test case the correlation-based approaches fail. The lag at which the time series are coupled is identified correctly as the maximum of the similarity functions in around 60-55% (in the linear case) to 53-42% (for the nonlinear processes) of the cases when the dating of the synthetic stalagmite is perfectly precise. If the age uncertainty increases beyond 5% of the time series length, however, the true coupling lag is not identified more often than the others for which the similarity function was estimated. Age uncertainty contributes up to half of the uncertainty in the similarity estimation process. Time series irregularity

  5. ABINIT: Plane-Wave-Based Density-Functional Theory on High Performance Computers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Torrent, Marc

    2014-03-01

    For several years, a continuous effort has been produced to adapt electronic structure codes based on Density-Functional Theory to the future computing architectures. Among these codes, ABINIT is based on a plane-wave description of the wave functions which allows to treat systems of any kind. Porting such a code on petascale architectures pose difficulties related to the many-body nature of the DFT equations. To improve the performances of ABINIT - especially for what concerns standard LDA/GGA ground-state and response-function calculations - several strategies have been followed: A full multi-level parallelisation MPI scheme has been implemented, exploiting all possible levels and distributing both computation and memory. It allows to increase the number of distributed processes and could not be achieved without a strong restructuring of the code. The core algorithm used to solve the eigen problem (``Locally Optimal Blocked Congugate Gradient''), a Blocked-Davidson-like algorithm, is based on a distribution of processes combining plane-waves and bands. In addition to the distributed memory parallelization, a full hybrid scheme has been implemented, using standard shared-memory directives (openMP/openACC) or porting some comsuming code sections to Graphics Processing Units (GPU). As no simple performance model exists, the complexity of use has been increased; the code efficiency strongly depends on the distribution of processes among the numerous levels. ABINIT is able to predict the performances of several process distributions and automatically choose the most favourable one. On the other hand, a big effort has been carried out to analyse the performances of the code on petascale architectures, showing which sections of codes have to be improved; they all are related to Matrix Algebra (diagonalisation, orthogonalisation). The different strategies employed to improve the code scalability will be described. They are based on an exploration of new diagonalization

  6. Similarity indices of meteo-climatic gauging stations: definition and comparison.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barca, Emanuele; Bruno, Delia Evelina; Passarella, Giuseppe

    2016-07-01

    Space-time dependencies among monitoring network stations have been investigated to detect and quantify similarity relationships among gauging stations. In this work, besides the well-known rank correlation index, two new similarity indices have been defined and applied to compute the similarity matrix related to the Apulian meteo-climatic monitoring network. The similarity matrices can be applied to address reliably the issue of missing data in space-time series. In order to establish the effectiveness of the similarity indices, a simulation test was then designed and performed with the aim of estimating missing monthly rainfall rates in a suitably selected gauging station. The results of the simulation allowed us to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed similarity indices. Finally, the multiple imputation by chained equations method was used as a benchmark to have an absolute yardstick for comparing the outcomes of the test. In conclusion, the new proposed multiplicative similarity index resulted at least as reliable as the selected benchmark.

  7. Protein structure similarity from principle component correlation analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chou James

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Owing to rapid expansion of protein structure databases in recent years, methods of structure comparison are becoming increasingly effective and important in revealing novel information on functional properties of proteins and their roles in the grand scheme of evolutionary biology. Currently, the structural similarity between two proteins is measured by the root-mean-square-deviation (RMSD in their best-superimposed atomic coordinates. RMSD is the golden rule of measuring structural similarity when the structures are nearly identical; it, however, fails to detect the higher order topological similarities in proteins evolved into different shapes. We propose new algorithms for extracting geometrical invariants of proteins that can be effectively used to identify homologous protein structures or topologies in order to quantify both close and remote structural similarities. Results We measure structural similarity between proteins by correlating the principle components of their secondary structure interaction matrix. In our approach, the Principle Component Correlation (PCC analysis, a symmetric interaction matrix for a protein structure is constructed with relationship parameters between secondary elements that can take the form of distance, orientation, or other relevant structural invariants. When using a distance-based construction in the presence or absence of encoded N to C terminal sense, there are strong correlations between the principle components of interaction matrices of structurally or topologically similar proteins. Conclusion The PCC method is extensively tested for protein structures that belong to the same topological class but are significantly different by RMSD measure. The PCC analysis can also differentiate proteins having similar shapes but different topological arrangements. Additionally, we demonstrate that when using two independently defined interaction matrices, comparison of their maximum

  8. Myocardial functional responses do not contribute to maximal exercise performance in the heat.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Denise L; DeBlois, Jacob P; Wharton, Margaret; Rowland, Thomas

    2015-01-01

    Both the extent and means by which maximal oxygen uptake ([Formula: see text]) is depressed by elevated ambient temperature are uncertain. Particularly, information is currently unavailable regarding the possible influence of alterations in myocardial function on [Formula: see text] and performance during exercise in the heat. This study investigated the effects of environmental heat on [Formula: see text], peak work capacity, and myocardial function during a standard, progressive cycle test to exhaustion. Twelve euhydrated men (aged 20.7 ± 1.7 years) performed a maximal cycle test in an environmental chamber in both heat stress [35°C, 30% relative humidity (RH)] and temperate (20°C, 30% RH) conditions with measurement of standard gas exchange variables, core temperature, and echocardiographic measures of cardiac function. A small but statistically significant reduction of peak work capacity was observed in the heat stress versus temperate conditions (253 ± 30 and 259 ± 30 W, respectively, p = 0.02). Mean [Formula: see text] was not statistically different in the two conditions (p = 0.16) but values were 3.4% lower in the heat, and 9 of 12 participants demonstrated lower values in the heat stress trial. No differences in responses of heart rate, cardiac output, stroke volume, core temperature, hydration status, or myocardial systolic or diastolic function were observed between the two conditions, but perceived body temperature was higher in the heat. The small, negative impact of heat on exercise performance and [Formula: see text] could not be explained by disturbances in myocardial functional responses to exercise in young adult males.

  9. A study of concept-based similarity approaches for recommending program examples

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hosseini, Roya; Brusilovsky, Peter

    2017-07-01

    This paper investigates a range of concept-based example recommendation approaches that we developed to provide example-based problem-solving support in the domain of programming. The goal of these approaches is to offer students a set of most relevant remedial examples when they have trouble solving a code comprehension problem where students examine a program code to determine its output or the final value of a variable. In this paper, we use the ideas of semantic-level similarity-based linking developed in the area of intelligent hypertext to generate examples for the given problem. To determine the best-performing approach, we explored two groups of similarity approaches for selecting examples: non-structural approaches focusing on examples that are similar to the problem in terms of concept coverage and structural approaches focusing on examples that are similar to the problem by the structure of the content. We also explored the value of personalized example recommendation based on student's knowledge levels and learning goal of the exercise. The paper presents concept-based similarity approaches that we developed, explains the data collection studies and reports the result of comparative analysis. The results of our analysis showed better ranking performance of the personalized structural variant of cosine similarity approach.

  10. Lung function and functional capacity among foundry workers using effective risk control measures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bernardes, Rosane Andrea Bretas; Chiavegato, Luciana Dias; de Moraes, Mônica Vasconcelos; Negreiros, Alexandher; Padula, Rosimeire Simprini

    2015-01-01

    Inhaled dust in the environment can trigger specific reactions in the airways and cause various respiratory diseases. Evaluate the lung function and functional capacity of foundry workers who are exposed to metals and use effective control measures. A cross-sectional study was realized with 108 workers at a bronze foundry and machining plant and in maintenance at a private university, both in Brazil. The workers were divided into two groups: the study group exposed to metals but using risk control measues and a control group not exposed to metal work. The Medical Research Council Questionnaire on Respiratory Symptoms and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire were administered, and lung function and functional capacity were evaluated. Comparative statistics were used to identify differences in the outcome measures between the two groups. The groups had similar personal and anthropometric characteristics and time on the job. Spirometry and peak expiratory flow presented no significant differences between the groups. And there was also no statistically significant difference between groups in functional capacity as assessed by performance on the six-minute walk test. Foundry industry workers in Brazil who were exposed to metal but used risk control measures had similar lung function and functional capacity when compared to the control group who were not exposed to metal. This is a positive results and maybe related to age, time exposure and control of occupational hazards. However, these workers need to continue being monitored in longitudinal studies.

  11. Psychological and psychobiological stress in the relationship between basic cognitive function and school performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eugenia Fernández-Martín

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available This study analyses the role played by daily stress, assessed through self-report and at the psychobiological level, in relation to basic cognitive function when predicting school performance. The sample comprised 100 schoolchildren (55 girls and 45 boys, age range 8 to 11 years from a state school in the city of Malaga (Spain. Daily stress was assessed through the Children's Daily Stress Inventory (IIEC m Spanish; Tnanes et al., 2009. Psychobiological stress was measured through the cortisol/DHEAS ratio, derived from saliva samples taken in the morning on two consecutive days. Basic cognitive skills were assessed by means of the Computerized Cognitive Assessment System (CDR battery; Wesnes et al., 2003, 2000. Finally, the measure of school performance was the mean value of the final grades recorded in the child's school report. In addition to descriptive and correlational statistical analyses, multiple regression analyses were conducted in order to assess the model. The results show that children's daily stress self-reported contributes to predict school performance, and has proven to be more influential than basic cognitive function when it comes to predict school performance. Therefore, in order to achieve good school performance, a pupil not only requires good basic cognitive function, but must also present low levels of self-reported daily stress. These findings suggest a new way of explaining and predicting school failure.

  12. An advanced probabilistic structural analysis method for implicit performance functions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Y.-T.; Millwater, H. R.; Cruse, T. A.

    1989-01-01

    In probabilistic structural analysis, the performance or response functions usually are implicitly defined and must be solved by numerical analysis methods such as finite element methods. In such cases, the most commonly used probabilistic analysis tool is the mean-based, second-moment method which provides only the first two statistical moments. This paper presents a generalized advanced mean value (AMV) method which is capable of establishing the distributions to provide additional information for reliability design. The method requires slightly more computations than the second-moment method but is highly efficient relative to the other alternative methods. In particular, the examples show that the AMV method can be used to solve problems involving non-monotonic functions that result in truncated distributions.

  13. Neurocognitive functioning in pediatric craniopharyngioma: performance before treatment with proton therapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fournier-Goodnight, Ashley S; Ashford, Jason M; Merchant, Thomas E; Boop, Frederick A; Indelicato, Daniel J; Wang, Lei; Zhang, Hui; Conklin, Heather M

    2017-08-01

    The goal of this study was to investigate the impact of patient-, disease-, and treatment-related variables upon neurocognitive outcomes in pediatric patients with craniopharyngioma prior to treatment with proton therapy or observation after radical resection. For all participants (N = 104), relevant clinical and demographic variables were attained and neurocognitive evaluations completed prior to irradiation or planned observation. One-sample t-tests were conducted to compare performance to published normative data. Linear models were used to investigate predictors of performance on measures where performance was below normative expectations. Participants showed poorer performance in comparison to the normative group across neurocognitive domains including executive functions (e.g., working memory; Wechsler Digit Span Backward p = 0.03), learning and memory (e.g., California Verbal Learning Test [CVLT] Total T p = 0.00), and fine-motor coordination (e.g., Grooved Pegboard Dominant Hand p = 0.00). Poor performance across areas was predicted by presurgical hypothalamic involvement (e.g., Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function Working Memory Index Grade 2 β = -7.68, p = 0.03; CVLT Total T Grade 2 β = 7.94, p = 0.04; Grade 3 β = -9.80, p = 0.00), extent of surgery (e.g., CVLT Total T Resection β = -7.77, p = 0.04; Grooved Pegboard Dominant Hand β = -1.58, p = 0.04), and vision status (e.g., CVLT Total T Reduced vision without impairment β = -10.01, p = 0.02; Grooved Pegboard Dominant Hand Bilateral field defect β = -1.45, p = 0.01; Reduced vision without impairment β = -2.30, p = 0.00). This study demonstrated that patients with craniopharyngioma show weaker neurocognitive performance in comparison to the normative population resulting from tumor, events leading to diagnosis, and early surgical intervention. Systematic investigation of neurocognitive performance before

  14. Multi-scale structural similarity index for motion detection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Abdel-Salam Nasr

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available The most recent approach for measuring the image quality is the structural similarity index (SSI. This paper presents a novel algorithm based on the multi-scale structural similarity index for motion detection (MS-SSIM in videos. The MS-SSIM approach is based on modeling of image luminance, contrast and structure at multiple scales. The MS-SSIM has resulted in much better performance than the single scale SSI approach but at the cost of relatively lower processing speed. The major advantages of the presented algorithm are both: the higher detection accuracy and the quasi real-time processing speed.

  15. PERFORMANCE OF A COMPUTER-BASED ASSESSMENT OF COGNITIVE FUNCTION MEASURES IN TWO COHORTS OF SENIORS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Espeland, Mark A.; Katula, Jeffrey A.; Rushing, Julia; Kramer, Arthur F.; Jennings, Janine M.; Sink, Kaycee M.; Nadkarni, Neelesh K.; Reid, Kieran F.; Castro, Cynthia M.; Church, Timothy; Kerwin, Diana R.; Williamson, Jeff D.; Marottoli, Richard A.; Rushing, Scott; Marsiske, Michael; Rapp, Stephen R.

    2013-01-01

    Background Computer-administered assessment of cognitive function is being increasingly incorporated in clinical trials, however its performance in these settings has not been systematically evaluated. Design The Seniors Health and Activity Research Program (SHARP) pilot trial (N=73) developed a computer-based tool for assessing memory performance and executive functioning. The Lifestyle Interventions and Independence for Seniors (LIFE) investigators incorporated this battery in a full scale multicenter clinical trial (N=1635). We describe relationships that test scores have with those from interviewer-administered cognitive function tests and risk factors for cognitive deficits and describe performance measures (completeness, intra-class correlations). Results Computer-based assessments of cognitive function had consistent relationships across the pilot and full scale trial cohorts with interviewer-administered assessments of cognitive function, age, and a measure of physical function. In the LIFE cohort, their external validity was further demonstrated by associations with other risk factors for cognitive dysfunction: education, hypertension, diabetes, and physical function. Acceptable levels of data completeness (>83%) were achieved on all computer-based measures, however rates of missing data were higher among older participants (odds ratio=1.06 for each additional year; p<0.001) and those who reported no current computer use (odds ratio=2.71; p<0.001). Intra-class correlations among clinics were at least as low (ICC≤0.013) as for interviewer measures (ICC≤0.023), reflecting good standardization. All cognitive measures loaded onto the first principal component (global cognitive function), which accounted for 40% of the overall variance. Conclusion Our results support the use of computer-based tools for assessing cognitive function in multicenter clinical trials of older individuals. PMID:23589390

  16. Resting right ventricular function is associated with exercise performance in PAH, but not in CTEPH.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rehman, Michaela Beatrice; Howard, Luke S; Christiaens, Luc P; Gill, Dipender; Gibbs, J Simon R; Nihoyannopoulos, Petros

    2018-02-01

    To assess whether resting right ventricular (RV) function assessed by Global RV longitudinal strain (RVLS) and RV fractional area change (FAC) is associated with exercise performance in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and in chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH). We prospectively recruited 46 consecutive patients with PAH and 42 patients with CTEPH who were referred for cardio-pulmonary exercise testing (CPET) and transthoracic echocardiography. Resting RV systolic function was assessed with RVLS and FAC. CPET parameters analyzed were percentage of predicted maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) and the slope of ventilation against carbon dioxide production (VE/VCO2). Spearman correlation was performed between echocardiographic measurements and CPET measurements. In PAH, spearman correlation found an association between RVLS and VE/VCO2 (coefficient = 0.556, P PAH, resting RV function as assessed by FAC or RVLS is associated with exercise performance and could therefore make a significant contribution to non-invasive assessment in PAH patients. This association is not found in CTEPH, suggesting a disconnection between resting RV function and exercise performance, with implications for the use of exercise measurements as a prognostic marker and clinical/research endpoint in CTEPH. Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author 2017. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  17. The study on the cephalometric similarity between parents and offspring

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kang, Woo Ghon; Ahn, Hyung Kyu [Department of Radiology, College of Dentistry, Seoul National University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    1975-11-15

    The study was performed to investigate cephalometric similarity between parents and offspring of the Korean family by lateral cephalometric analysis. The lateral cephalograms consist of the 8 families comprising 16 parents, 5 sons and 7 daughters. In order to make an investigation of the similarity, 12 measuring points were set up, and 22 linear measurements on each depth, height and 5 angular measurements were made. The author drew up the profilograms to compare parents with offspring in each family group. The obtained results were as follows: 1. There was no common similarity on specific region between parents and offspring in each family group. 2. There was partial similarity between single parent and offspring. 3. The partial similarity between single parent and offspring was noted on the upper face in general.

  18. The study on the cephalometric similarity between parents and offspring

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kang, Woo Ghon; Ahn, Hyung Kyu

    1975-01-01

    The study was performed to investigate cephalometric similarity between parents and offspring of the Korean family by lateral cephalometric analysis. The lateral cephalograms consist of the 8 families comprising 16 parents, 5 sons and 7 daughters. In order to make an investigation of the similarity, 12 measuring points were set up, and 22 linear measurements on each depth, height and 5 angular measurements were made. The author drew up the profilograms to compare parents with offspring in each family group. The obtained results were as follows: 1. There was no common similarity on specific region between parents and offspring in each family group. 2. There was partial similarity between single parent and offspring. 3. The partial similarity between single parent and offspring was noted on the upper face in general.

  19. Executive function is less sensitive to estradiol than spatial memory: performance on an analog of the card sorting test in ovariectomized aged rhesus monkeys.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lacreuse, A; Chhabra, R K; Hall, M J; Herndon, J G

    2004-09-30

    Functions supported by the frontal lobes are particularly sensitive to the detrimental effects of aging. Recent studies on postmenopausal women find that estrogen replacement therapy benefits performance on tasks dependent on the frontal lobes. To determine whether estrogen has a similar influence in a rhesus monkey model of menopause, we tested five aged, long-term ovariectomized rhesus monkeys in a modified version of the Wisconsin Card Sort test which had been adapted to the nonhuman primate. In this test, monkeys had to select 3-D objects based either on color (blue, red, yellow) or shape (block, tube, cup) and had to be able to switch their response as a function of reinforcement contingencies. The monkeys were treated with placebo and ethinyl estradiol (EE2, 450 ng/kg/day) in alternation with each successive test. Contrary to our hypothesis, estradiol treatment did not affect performance. Because previous studies in the same monkeys [Neurobiol. Aging 23 (2002) 589] had shown that EE2 improves performance on a spatial memory task dependent on the hippocampus, but not on another task dependent upon the frontal lobes (the delayed response), we conclude that executive processes may be less sensitive to the effects of estradiol than hippocampal-dependent tasks.

  20. The immediate effects of foot orthoses on functional performance in individuals with patellofemoral pain syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barton, C J; Menz, H B; Crossley, K M

    2011-03-01

    Patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS) often results in reduced functional performance. There is growing evidence for the use of foot orthoses to treat this multifactorial condition. In this study, the immediate effects of foot orthoses on functional performance and the association of foot posture and footwear with improvements in function were evaluated. Fifty-two individuals with PFPS (18-35 years) were prescribed prefabricated foot orthoses (Vasyli Pro; Vasyli International, Labrador, Australia). Functional outcome measures evaluated included the change in (1) pain and (2) ease of a single-leg squat on a five-point Likert scale, and change in the number of (3) pain-free step downs and (4) single-leg rises from sitting. The association of foot posture using the Foot Posture Index, navicular drop and calcaneal angle relative to subtalar joint neutral; and the footwear motion control properties scale score with improved function were evaluated using Spearman's ρ statistics. Prefabricated foot orthoses produced significant improvements (psquat and improvements in the number of pain-free single-leg rises from sitting when wearing foot orthoses. In addition, a more pronated foot type was also found to be associated with improved ease of completing a single-leg squat when wearing foot orthoses. Prefabricated foot orthoses provide immediate improvements in functional performance, and these improvements are associated with a more pronated foot type and poorer footwear motion control properties.

  1. Functional impairment in patients with major depressive disorder: the 2-year PERFORM study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hammer-Helmich, Lene; Haro, Josep Maria; Jönsson, Bengt; Tanguy Melac, Audrey; Di Nicola, Sylvie; Chollet, Julien; Milea, Dominique; Rive, Benoît; Saragoussi, Delphine

    2018-01-01

    The Prospective Epidemiological Research on Functioning Outcomes Related to Major depressive disorder (PERFORM) study describes the course of depressive symptoms, perceived cognitive symptoms, and functional impairment over 2 years in outpatients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and investigates the patient-related factors associated with functional impairment. This was a 2-year observational study in 1,159 outpatients with MDD aged 18-65 years who were either initiating antidepressant monotherapy or undergoing their first switch of antidepressant. Functional impairment was assessed by the Sheehan Disability Scale and the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment questionnaire. Patients assessed depression severity using the nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire and severity of perceived cognitive symptoms using the five-item Perceived Deficit Questionnaire. To investigate which patient-related factors were associated with functional impairment, univariate analyses of variance were performed to identify relevant factors that were then included in multivariate analyses of covariance at baseline, month 2, months 6 and 12 combined, and months 18 and 24 combined. The greatest improvement in depressive symptoms, perceived cognitive symptoms, and functional impairment was seen immediately (within 2 months) following initiation or switch of antidepressant therapy, followed by more gradual improvement and long-term stabilization. Improvement in perceived cognitive symptoms was less marked than improvement in depressive symptoms during the acute treatment phase. Functional impairment in patients with MDD was not only associated with severity of depressive symptoms but also independently associated with severity of perceived cognitive symptoms when adjusted for depression severity throughout the 2 years of follow-up. These findings highlight the burden of functional impairment in MDD and the importance of recognizing and managing cognitive symptoms in daily practice.

  2. Musical structure analysis using similarity matrix and dynamic programming

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shiu, Yu; Jeong, Hong; Kuo, C.-C. Jay

    2005-10-01

    Automatic music segmentation and structure analysis from audio waveforms based on a three-level hierarchy is examined in this research, where the three-level hierarchy includes notes, measures and parts. The pitch class profile (PCP) feature is first extracted at the note level. Then, a similarity matrix is constructed at the measure level, where a dynamic time warping (DTW) technique is used to enhance the similarity computation by taking the temporal distortion of similar audio segments into account. By processing the similarity matrix, we can obtain a coarse-grain music segmentation result. Finally, dynamic programming is applied to the coarse-grain segments so that a song can be decomposed into several major parts such as intro, verse, chorus, bridge and outro. The performance of the proposed music structure analysis system is demonstrated for pop and rock music.

  3. PTSD is negatively associated with physical performance and physical function in older overweight military veterans

    OpenAIRE

    Hall, Katherine S.; Beckham, Jean C.; Bosworth, Hayden B.; Sloane, Richard; Pieper, Carl F.; Morey, Miriam C.

    2014-01-01

    This study examines the effect of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on function and physical performance in older overweight military Veterans with comorbid conditions. This is a secondary data analysis of older Veterans (mean age = 62.9 yr) participating in a physical activity counseling trial. Study participants with PTSD (n = 67) and without PTSD (n = 235) were identified. Self-reported physical function (36-item Short Form Health Survey) and directly measured physical performance (mobi...

  4. Phonological similarity effect in complex span task.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Camos, Valérie; Mora, Gérôme; Barrouillet, Pierre

    2013-01-01

    The aim of our study was to test the hypothesis that two systems are involved in verbal working memory; one is specifically dedicated to the maintenance of phonological representations through verbal rehearsal while the other would maintain multimodal representations through attentional refreshing. This theoretical framework predicts that phonologically related phenomena such as the phonological similarity effect (PSE) should occur when the domain-specific system is involved in maintenance, but should disappear when concurrent articulation hinders its use. Impeding maintenance in the domain-general system by a concurrent attentional demand should impair recall performance without affecting PSE. In three experiments, we manipulated the concurrent articulation and the attentional demand induced by the processing component of complex span tasks in which participants had to maintain lists of either similar or dissimilar words. Confirming our predictions, PSE affected recall performance in complex span tasks. Although both the attentional demand and the articulatory requirement of the concurrent task impaired recall, only the induction of an articulatory suppression during maintenance made the PSE disappear. These results suggest a duality in the systems devoted to verbal maintenance in the short term, constraining models of working memory.

  5. Modeling the effects of functional performance and post-transplant comorbidities on health-related quality of life after heart transplantation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Butler, Javed; McCoin, Nicole S; Feurer, Irene D; Speroff, Theodore; Davis, Stacy F; Chomsky, Don B; Wilson, John R; Merrill, Walter H; Drinkwater, Davis C; Pierson, Richard N; Pinson, C Wright

    2003-10-01

    Health-related quality of life and functional performance are important outcome measures following heart transplantation. This study investigates the impact of pre-transplant functional performance and post-transplant rejection episodes, obesity and osteopenia on post-transplant health-related quality of life and functional performance. Functional performance and health-related quality of life were measured in 70 adult heart transplant recipients. A composite health-related quality of life outcome measure was computed via principal component analysis. Iterative, multiple regression-based path analysis was used to develop an integrated model of variables that affect post-transplant functional performance and health-related quality of life. Functional performance, as measured by the Karnofsky scale, improved markedly during the first 6 months post-transplant and was then sustained for up to 3 years. Rejection Grade > or =2 was negatively associated with health-related quality of life, measured by Short Form-36 and reversed Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness Scale scores. Patients with osteopenia had lower Short Form-36 physical scores and obese patients had lower functional performance. Path analysis demonstrated a negative direct effect of obesity (beta = - 0.28, p or =2 had a negative direct effect on this measure (beta = -0.29, p < 0.05). Either directly or through effects mediated by functional performance, moderate-to-severe rejection, obesity and osteopenia negatively impact health-related quality of life. These findings indicate that efforts should be made to devise immunosuppressive regimens that reduce the incidence of acute rejection, weight gain and osteopenia after heart transplantation.

  6. Functional Movement Screen Scores and Physical Performance among Youth Elite Soccer Players

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bruno Silva

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available This study had two main objectives: (1 to determine if differences in Functional Movement Screen (FMS scores exist between two levels of competition; and (2 to analyze the association between FMS individual and overall scores and physical performance variables of lower-limb power (jumps, repeated sprint ability and shot speed. Twenty-two Under 16 (U16 and twenty-six Under 19 (U19 national competitive soccer players participated in this study. All participants were evaluated according to anthropometrics, FMS, jump performance, instep kick speed and anaerobic performance. There were no significant differences in the individual FMS scores between competitive levels. There were significant negative correlations between hurdle step (right and Running-based Anaerobic Sprint Test (RAST power average ( ρ = −0.293; p = 0.043 and RAST fatigue index (RAST FatIndex ( ρ = −0.340; p = 0.018. The hurdle step (left had a significant negative correlation to squat jump (SJ ( ρ = −0.369; p = 0.012. Rotary stability had a significant negative correlation to RAST fatigue index (Right: ρ = −0.311; p = 0.032. Left: ρ = −0.400; p = 0.005. The results suggest that individual FMS scores may be better discriminants of performance than FMS total score and established minimal association between FMS scores and physical variables. Based on that, FMS may be suitable for the purposes of determining physical function but not for discriminating physical performance.

  7. Effects of occupational therapy services on fine motor and functional performance in preschool children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Case-Smith, J

    2000-01-01

    This study examined how performance components and variables in intervention influenced fine motor and functional outcomes in preschool children. In a sample of 44 preschool-aged children with fine motor delays who received occupational therapy services, eight fine motor and functional performance assessments were administered at the beginning and end of the academic year. Data on the format and intervention activities of each occupational therapy session were recorded for 8 months. The children received a mean of 23 sessions, in both individual and group format. Most of the sessions (81%) used fine motor activities; 29% addressed peer interaction, and 16% addressed play skills. Visual motor outcomes were influenced by the number of intervention sessions and percent of sessions with play goals. Fine motor outcomes were most influenced by the therapists' emphasis on play and peer interaction goals; functional outcomes were influenced by number of sessions and percent of sessions that specifically addressed self-care goals. The influence of play on therapy outcomes suggests that a focus on play in intervention activities can enhance fine motor and visual motor performance.

  8. Structure-function relationships in elderly resting-state-networks : influence of age and cognitive performance

    OpenAIRE

    Jockwitz, Christiane

    2016-01-01

    The aim of this work was to investigate the structure-function relationship in cognitive resting state networks in a large population-based elderly sample. The first study characterized the functional connectivity in four cognitive resting state networks with respect to age, gender and cognitive performance: Default Mode Network (DMN), executive, and left and right frontoparietal resting state networks. The second study assessed the structural correlates of the functional reorganization of th...

  9. ClusTrack: feature extraction and similarity measures for clustering of genome-wide data sets.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Halfdan Rydbeck

    Full Text Available Clustering is a popular technique for explorative analysis of data, as it can reveal subgroupings and similarities between data in an unsupervised manner. While clustering is routinely applied to gene expression data, there is a lack of appropriate general methodology for clustering of sequence-level genomic and epigenomic data, e.g. ChIP-based data. We here introduce a general methodology for clustering data sets of coordinates relative to a genome assembly, i.e. genomic tracks. By defining appropriate feature extraction approaches and similarity measures, we allow biologically meaningful clustering to be performed for genomic tracks using standard clustering algorithms. An implementation of the methodology is provided through a tool, ClusTrack, which allows fine-tuned clustering analyses to be specified through a web-based interface. We apply our methods to the clustering of occupancy of the H3K4me1 histone modification in samples from a range of different cell types. The majority of samples form meaningful subclusters, confirming that the definitions of features and similarity capture biological, rather than technical, variation between the genomic tracks. Input data and results are available, and can be reproduced, through a Galaxy Pages document at http://hyperbrowser.uio.no/hb/u/hb-superuser/p/clustrack. The clustering functionality is available as a Galaxy tool, under the menu option "Specialized analyzis of tracks", and the submenu option "Cluster tracks based on genome level similarity", at the Genomic HyperBrowser server: http://hyperbrowser.uio.no/hb/.

  10. Virtual reality balance training for elderly: Similar skiing games elicit different challenges in balance training.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Vries, Aijse W; Faber, Gert; Jonkers, Ilse; Van Dieen, Jaap H; Verschueren, Sabine M P

    2018-01-01

    Virtual Reality (VR) balance training may have advantages over regular exercise training in older adults. However, results so far are conflicting potentially due to the lack of challenge imposed by the movements in those games. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess to which extent two similar skiing games challenge balance, as reflected in center of mass (COM) movements relative to their Functional Limits of Stability (FLOS). Thirty young and elderly participants performed two skiing games, one on the Wii Balance board (Wiiski), which uses a force plate, and one with the Kinect sensor (Kinski), which performs motion tracking. During gameplay, kinematics were captured using seven opto-electronical cameras. FLOS were obtained for eight directions. The influence of games and trials on COM displacement in each of the eight directions, and maximal COM speed, were tested with Generalized Estimated Equations. In all directions with anterior and medio-lateral, but not with a posterior component, subjects showed significantly larger maximal %FLOS displacements during the Kinski game than during the Wiiski game. Furthermore, maximal COM displacement, and COM speed in Kinski remained similar or increased over trials, whereas for Wiiski it decreased. Our results show the importance of assessing the movement challenge in games used for balance training. Similar games impose different challenges, with the control sensors and their gain settings playing an important role. Furthermore, adaptations led to a decrease in challenge in Wiiski, which might limit the effectiveness of the game as a balance-training tool. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. [Similarity system theory to evaluate similarity of chromatographic fingerprints of traditional Chinese medicine].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Yongsuo; Meng, Qinghua; Jiang, Shumin; Hu, Yuzhu

    2005-03-01

    The similarity evaluation of the fingerprints is one of the most important problems in the quality control of the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Similarity measures used to evaluate the similarity of the common peaks in the chromatogram of TCM have been discussed. Comparative studies were carried out among correlation coefficient, cosine of the angle and an improved extent similarity method using simulated data and experimental data. Correlation coefficient and cosine of the angle are not sensitive to the differences of the data set. They are still not sensitive to the differences of the data even after normalization. According to the similarity system theory, an improved extent similarity method was proposed. The improved extent similarity is more sensitive to the differences of the data sets than correlation coefficient and cosine of the angle. And the character of the data sets needs not to be changed compared with log-transformation. The improved extent similarity can be used to evaluate the similarity of the chromatographic fingerprints of TCM.

  12. Kolmogorov's refined similarity hypotheses for turbulence and general stochastic processes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stolovitzky, G.; Sreenivasan, K.R.

    1994-01-01

    Kolmogorov's refined similarity hypotheses are shown to hold true for a variety of stochastic processes besides high-Reynolds-number turbulent flows, for which they were originally proposed. In particular, just as hypothesized for turbulence, there exists a variable V whose probability density function attains a universal form. Analytical expressions for the probability density function of V are obtained for Brownian motion as well as for the general case of fractional Brownian motion---the latter under some mild assumptions justified a posteriori. The properties of V for the case of antipersistent fractional Brownian motion with the Hurst exponent of 1/3 are similar in many details to those of high-Reynolds-number turbulence in atmospheric boundary layers a few meters above the ground. The one conspicuous difference between turbulence and the antipersistent fractional Brownian motion is that the latter does not possess the required skewness. Broad implications of these results are discussed

  13. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FUNCTIONAL LIMITATIONS OF THE LOCOMOTOR SYSTEM AND PERFORMANCE IN JUDO

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Boguszewski Dariusz

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Introduction. The high demands imposed by judo with regard to physical fitness can predispose athletes practising this sport to injury. The aim of the current study was to determine the relationship between the degree of functional limitations and performance outcomes in judo athletes. Material and methods. The study involved 23 judo athletes aged 17-27 years. For the purpose of carrying out comparative analyses, the judokas were divided into two groups according to their level of achievement. The first group consisted of medallists in international tournaments and Polish championships, and the second group was composed of non-medallists. The research tool used was the Functional Movement Screen test battery, which included seven exercise tests whose performance was rated on a scale from 0 to 3. Relationships between variables were assessed using Spearman’s rho correlation coefficients. Inter-group differences were determined by means of the Mann-Whitney U test, and differences between the left and right side of the body in bilateral tests were examined using the Wilcoxon test (statistical significance was set at p ≤ 0.05. Results. The total score for the FMS test was significantly higher (p < 0.05 in judo athletes who had a higher level of achievement. Scores below 14 points, which were indicative of high susceptibility to injury, were received by two athletes from the group of medallists and 8 non-medallists. Major asymmetries were not found in the subjects; significant differences were observed only in the shoulder mobility test in senior judokas (p < 0.05 and non-medallists (p < 0.01. Conclusions. Judo athletes who had better performance outcomes in competitions had higher scores in the FMS test. Functional limitations can have an impact on the outcomes of performance in judo; their degree is indicative of the quality of the movement as well as of susceptibility to injury.

  14. Similar Outcome After Colonic Pouch and Side-to-End Anastomosis in Low Anterior Resection for Rectal Cancer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Machado, Mikael; Nygren, Jonas; Goldman, Sven; Ljungqvist, Olle

    2003-01-01

    Objectives To compare a colonic J-pouch or a side-to-end anastomosis after low-anterior resection for rectal cancer with regard to functional and surgical outcome. Summary Background Data: A complication after restorative rectal surgery with a straight anastomosis is low- anterior resection syndrome with a postoperatively deteriorated anorectal function. The colonic J-reservoir is sometimes used with the purpose of reducing these symptoms. An alternative method is to use a simple side-to-end anastomosis. Methods: One-hundred patients with rectal cancer undergoing total mesorectal excision and colo-anal anastomosis were randomized to receive either a colonic pouch or a side-to-end anastomosis using the descending colon. Surgical results and complications were recorded. Patients were followed with a functional evaluation at 6 and 12 months postoperatively. Results: Fifty patients were randomized to each group. Patient characteristics in both groups were very similar regarding age, gender, tumor level, and Dukes’ stages. A large proportion of the patients received short-term preoperative radiotherapy (78%). There was no significant difference in surgical outcome between the 2 techniques with respect to anastomotic height (4 cm), perioperative blood loss (500 ml), hospital stay (11 days), postoperative complications, reoperations or pelvic sepsis rates. Comparing functional results in the 2 study groups, only the ability to evacuate the bowel in <15 minutes at 6 months reached a significant difference in favor of the pouch procedure. Conclusions: The data from this study show that either a colonic J-pouch or a side-to-end anastomosis performed on the descending colon in low-anterior resection with total mesorectal excision are methods that can be used with similar expected functional and surgical results. PMID:12894014

  15. Do similarities or differences between CEO leadership and organizational culture have a more positive effect on firm performance? A test of competing predictions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hartnell, Chad A; Kinicki, Angelo J; Lambert, Lisa Schurer; Fugate, Mel; Doyle Corner, Patricia

    2016-06-01

    This study examines the nature of the interaction between CEO leadership and organizational culture using 2 common metathemes (task and relationship) in leadership and culture research. Two perspectives, similarity and dissimilarity, offer competing predictions about the fit, or interaction, between leadership and culture and its predicted effect on firm performance. Predictions for the similarity perspective draw upon attribution theory and social identity theory of leadership, whereas predictions for the dissimilarity perspective are developed based upon insights from leadership contingency theories and the notion of substitutability. Hierarchical regression results from 114 CEOs and 324 top management team (TMT) members failed to support the similarity hypotheses but revealed broad support for the dissimilarity predictions. Findings suggest that culture can serve as a substitute for leadership when leadership behaviors are redundant with cultural values (i.e., they both share a task- or relationship-oriented focus). Findings also support leadership contingency theories indicating that CEO leadership is effective when it provides psychological and motivational resources lacking in the organization's culture. We discuss theoretical and practical implications and delineate directions for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  16. A Comparison Study on Similarity and Dissimilarity Measures in Clustering Continuous Data.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ali Seyed Shirkhorshidi

    Full Text Available Similarity or distance measures are core components used by distance-based clustering algorithms to cluster similar data points into the same clusters, while dissimilar or distant data points are placed into different clusters. The performance of similarity measures is mostly addressed in two or three-dimensional spaces, beyond which, to the best of our knowledge, there is no empirical study that has revealed the behavior of similarity measures when dealing with high-dimensional datasets. To fill this gap, a technical framework is proposed in this study to analyze, compare and benchmark the influence of different similarity measures on the results of distance-based clustering algorithms. For reproducibility purposes, fifteen publicly available datasets were used for this study, and consequently, future distance measures can be evaluated and compared with the results of the measures discussed in this work. These datasets were classified as low and high-dimensional categories to study the performance of each measure against each category. This research should help the research community to identify suitable distance measures for datasets and also to facilitate a comparison and evaluation of the newly proposed similarity or distance measures with traditional ones.

  17. User recommendation in healthcare social media by assessing user similarity in heterogeneous network.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Ling; Yang, Christopher C

    2017-09-01

    The rapid growth of online health social websites has captured a vast amount of healthcare information and made the information easy to access for health consumers. E-patients often use these social websites for informational and emotional support. However, health consumers could be easily overwhelmed by the overloaded information. Healthcare information searching can be very difficult for consumers, not to mention most of them are not skilled information searcher. In this work, we investigate the approaches for measuring user similarity in online health social websites. By recommending similar users to consumers, we can help them to seek informational and emotional support in a more efficient way. We propose to represent the healthcare social media data as a heterogeneous healthcare information network and introduce the local and global structural approaches for measuring user similarity in a heterogeneous network. We compare the proposed structural approaches with the content-based approach. Experiments were conducted on a dataset collected from a popular online health social website, and the results showed that content-based approach performed better for inactive users, while structural approaches performed better for active users. Moreover, global structural approach outperformed local structural approach for all user groups. In addition, we conducted experiments on local and global structural approaches using different weight schemas for the edges in the network. Leverage performed the best for both local and global approaches. Finally, we integrated different approaches and demonstrated that hybrid method yielded better performance than the individual approach. The results indicate that content-based methods can effectively capture the similarity of inactive users who usually have focused interests, while structural methods can achieve better performance when rich structural information is available. Local structural approach only considers direct connections

  18. Improving Classification of Protein Interaction Articles Using Context Similarity-Based Feature Selection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Yifei; Sun, Yuxing; Han, Bing-Qing

    2015-01-01

    Protein interaction article classification is a text classification task in the biological domain to determine which articles describe protein-protein interactions. Since the feature space in text classification is high-dimensional, feature selection is widely used for reducing the dimensionality of features to speed up computation without sacrificing classification performance. Many existing feature selection methods are based on the statistical measure of document frequency and term frequency. One potential drawback of these methods is that they treat features separately. Hence, first we design a similarity measure between the context information to take word cooccurrences and phrase chunks around the features into account. Then we introduce the similarity of context information to the importance measure of the features to substitute the document and term frequency. Hence we propose new context similarity-based feature selection methods. Their performance is evaluated on two protein interaction article collections and compared against the frequency-based methods. The experimental results reveal that the context similarity-based methods perform better in terms of the F1 measure and the dimension reduction rate. Benefiting from the context information surrounding the features, the proposed methods can select distinctive features effectively for protein interaction article classification.

  19. Crystal structures of the F and pSLT plasmid TraJ N-terminal regions reveal similar homodimeric PAS folds with functional interchangeability

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lu, Jun; Wu, Ruiying; Adkins, Joshua N.; Joachimiak, Andrzej; Glover, Mark

    2014-09-16

    In the F-family of conjugative plasmids, TraJ is an essential transcriptional activator of the tra operon that encodes most of the proteins required for conjugation. Here we report for the first time the X-ray crystal structures of the TraJ N-terminal regions from the prototypic F plasmid (TraJF11-130) and from the Salmonella virulence plasmid pSLT (TraJpSLT 1-128). Both proteins form similar homodimeric Per-ARNT-Sim (PAS) fold structures. Mutational analysis reveals that the observed dimeric interface is critical for TraJF transcriptional activation, indicating that dimerization of TraJ is required for its in vivo function. An artificial ligand (oxidized dithiothreitol) occupies a cavity in the TraJF dimer interface, while a smaller cavity in corresponding region of the TraJpSLT structure lacks a ligand. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry-electron ionization analysis of dithiothreitol-free TraJF suggests indole may be the natural TraJ ligand; however, disruption of the indole biosynthetic pathway does not affect TraJF function. Heterologous PAS domains from pSLT and R100 TraJ can functionally replace the TraJF PAS domain, suggesting that TraJ allelic specificity is mediated by the region C-terminal to the PAS domain.

  20. Similarity-based search of model organism, disease and drug effect phenotypes

    KAUST Repository

    Hoehndorf, Robert; Gruenberger, Michael; Gkoutos, Georgios V; Schofield, Paul N

    2015-01-01

    Background: Semantic similarity measures over phenotype ontologies have been demonstrated to provide a powerful approach for the analysis of model organism phenotypes, the discovery of animal models of human disease, novel pathways, gene functions

  1. Gait Recognition Using Image Self-Similarity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chiraz BenAbdelkader

    2004-04-01

    Full Text Available Gait is one of the few biometrics that can be measured at a distance, and is hence useful for passive surveillance as well as biometric applications. Gait recognition research is still at its infancy, however, and we have yet to solve the fundamental issue of finding gait features which at once have sufficient discrimination power and can be extracted robustly and accurately from low-resolution video. This paper describes a novel gait recognition technique based on the image self-similarity of a walking person. We contend that the similarity plot encodes a projection of gait dynamics. It is also correspondence-free, robust to segmentation noise, and works well with low-resolution video. The method is tested on multiple data sets of varying sizes and degrees of difficulty. Performance is best for fronto-parallel viewpoints, whereby a recognition rate of 98% is achieved for a data set of 6 people, and 70% for a data set of 54 people.

  2. Motor performance of children with mild intellectual disability and borderline intellectual functioning

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vuijk, P. J.; Hartman, E.; Scherder, E.; Visscher, C.

    2010-01-01

    Background There is a relatively small body of research on the motor performance of children with mild intellectual disabilities (MID) and borderline intellectual functioning (BIF). Adequate levels of motor skills may contribute to lifelong enjoyment of physical activity, participation in sports and

  3. Uncovering Biological Network Function via Graphlet Degree Signatures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nataša Pržulj

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available Motivation: Proteins are essential macromolecules of life and thus understanding their function is of great importance. The number of functionally unclassified proteins is large even for simple and well studied organisms such as baker’s yeast. Methods for determining protein function have shifted their focus from targeting specific proteins based solely on sequence homology to analyses of the entire proteome based on protein-protein interaction (PPI networks. Since proteins interact to perform a certain function, analyzing structural properties of PPI networks may provide useful clues about the biological function of individual proteins, protein complexes they participate in, and even larger subcellular machines.Results: We design a sensitive graph theoretic method for comparing local structures of node neighborhoods that demonstrates that in PPI networks, biological function of a node and its local network structure are closely related. The method summarizes a protein’s local topology in a PPI network into the vector of graphlet degrees called the signature of the protein and computes the signature similarities between all protein pairs. We group topologically similar proteins under this measure in a PPI network and show that these protein groups belong to the same protein complexes, perform the same biological functions, are localized in the same subcellular compartments, and have the same tissue expressions. Moreover, we apply our technique on a proteome-scale network data and infer biological function of yet unclassified proteins demonstrating that our method can provide valuable guidelines for future experimental research such as disease protein prediction.Availability: Data is available upon request.

  4. Sensitivity functions for uncertainty analysis: Sensitivity and uncertainty analysis of reactor performance parameters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Greenspan, E.

    1982-01-01

    This chapter presents the mathematical basis for sensitivity functions, discusses their physical meaning and information they contain, and clarifies a number of issues concerning their application, including the definition of group sensitivities, the selection of sensitivity functions to be included in the analysis, and limitations of sensitivity theory. Examines the theoretical foundation; criticality reset sensitivities; group sensitivities and uncertainties; selection of sensitivities included in the analysis; and other uses and limitations of sensitivity functions. Gives the theoretical formulation of sensitivity functions pertaining to ''as-built'' designs for performance parameters of the form of ratios of linear flux functionals (such as reaction-rate ratios), linear adjoint functionals, bilinear functions (such as reactivity worth ratios), and for reactor reactivity. Offers a consistent procedure for reducing energy-dependent or fine-group sensitivities and uncertainties to broad group sensitivities and uncertainties. Provides illustrations of sensitivity functions as well as references to available compilations of such functions and of total sensitivities. Indicates limitations of sensitivity theory originating from the fact that this theory is based on a first-order perturbation theory

  5. The self-similar field and its application to a diffusion problem

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Michelitsch, Thomas M

    2011-01-01

    We introduce a continuum approach which accounts for self-similarity as a symmetry property of an infinite medium. A self-similar Laplacian operator is introduced which is the source of self-similar continuous fields. In this way ‘self-similar symmetry’ appears in an analogous manner as transverse isotropy or cubic symmetry of a medium. As a consequence of the self-similarity the Laplacian is a non-local fractional operator obtained as the continuum limit of the discrete self-similar Laplacian introduced recently by Michelitsch et al (2009 Phys. Rev. E 80 011135). The dispersion relation of the Laplacian and its Green’s function is deduced in closed forms. As a physical application of the approach we analyze a self-similar diffusion problem. The statistical distributions, which constitute the solutions of this problem, turn out to be Lévi-stable distributions with infinite variances characterizing the statistics of one-dimensional Lévi flights. The self-similar continuum approach introduced in this paper has the potential to be applied on a variety of scale invariant and fractal problems in physics such as in continuum mechanics, electrodynamics and in other fields. (paper)

  6. Performance of Several Density Functional Theory Methods on Describing Hydrogen-Bond Interactions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rao, Li; Ke, Hongwei; Fu, Gang; Xu, Xin; Yan, Yijing

    2009-01-13

    We have investigated eleven density functionals, including LDA, PBE, mPWPW91, TPSS, B3LYP, X3LYP, PBE0, O3LYP, B97-1, MPW1K, and TPSSh, for their performances on describing hydrogen bond (HB) interactions. The emphasis has been laid not only on their abilities to calculate the intermolecular hydrogen bonding energies but also on their performances in predicting the relative energies of intermolecular H-bonded complexes and the conformer stabilities due to intramolecular hydrogen bondings. As compared to the best theoretical values, we found that although PBE and PBE0 gave the best estimation of HB strengths, they might fail to predict the correct order of relative HB energies, which might lead to a wrong prediction of the global minimum for different conformers. TPSS and TPSSh did not always improve over PBE and PBE0. B3LYP was found to underestimate the intermolecular HB strengths but was among the best performers in calculating the relative HB energies. We showed here that X3LYP and B97-1 were able to give good values for both absolute HB strengths and relative HB energies, making these functionals good candidates for HB description.

  7. Spectral analysis of multi-dimensional self-similar Markov processes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Modarresi, N; Rezakhah, S

    2010-01-01

    In this paper we consider a discrete scale invariant (DSI) process {X(t), t in R + } with scale l > 1. We consider a fixed number of observations in every scale, say T, and acquire our samples at discrete points α k , k in W, where α is obtained by the equality l = α T and W = {0, 1, ...}. We thus provide a discrete time scale invariant (DT-SI) process X(.) with the parameter space {α k , k in W}. We find the spectral representation of the covariance function of such a DT-SI process. By providing the harmonic-like representation of multi-dimensional self-similar processes, spectral density functions of them are presented. We assume that the process {X(t), t in R + } is also Markov in the wide sense and provide a discrete time scale invariant Markov (DT-SIM) process with the above scheme of sampling. We present an example of the DT-SIM process, simple Brownian motion, by the above sampling scheme and verify our results. Finally, we find the spectral density matrix of such a DT-SIM process and show that its associated T-dimensional self-similar Markov process is fully specified by {R H j (1), R j H (0), j = 0, 1, ..., T - 1}, where R H j (τ) is the covariance function of jth and (j + τ)th observations of the process.

  8. Readout from iconic memory and selective spatial attention involve similar neural processes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruff, Christian C; Kristjánsson, Arni; Driver, Jon

    2007-10-01

    Iconic memory and spatial attention are often considered separately, but they may have functional similarities. Here we provide functional magnetic resonance imaging evidence for some common underlying neural effects. Subjects judged three visual stimuli in one hemifield of a bilateral array comprising six stimuli. The relevant hemifield for partial report was indicated by an auditory cue, administered either before the visual array (precue, spatial attention) or shortly after the array (postcue, iconic memory). Pre- and postcues led to similar activity modulations in lateral occipital cortex contralateral to the cued side. This finding indicates that readout from iconic memory can have some neural effects similar to those of spatial attention. We also found common bilateral activation of a fronto-parietal network for postcue and precue trials. These neuroimaging data suggest that some common neural mechanisms underlie selective spatial attention and readout from iconic memory. Some differences were also found; compared with precues, postcues led to higher activity in the right middle frontal gyrus.

  9. Translation and adaptation of functional auditory performance indicators (FAPI

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karina Ferreira

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available Work with deaf children has gained new attention since the expectation and goal of therapy has expanded to language development and subsequent language learning. Many clinical tests were developed for evaluation of speech sound perception in young children in response to the need for accurate assessment of hearing skills that developed from the use of individual hearing aids or cochlear implants. These tests also allow the evaluation of the rehabilitation program. However, few of these tests are available in Portuguese. Evaluation with the Functional Auditory Performance Indicators (FAPI generates a child's functional auditory skills profile, which lists auditory skills in an integrated and hierarchical order. It has seven hierarchical categories, including sound awareness, meaningful sound, auditory feedback, sound source localizing, auditory discrimination, short-term auditory memory, and linguistic auditory processing. FAPI evaluation allows the therapist to map the child's hearing profile performance, determine the target for increasing the hearing abilities, and develop an effective therapeutic plan. Objective: Since the FAPI is an American test, the inventory was adapted for application in the Brazilian population. Material and Methods: The translation was done following the steps of translation and back translation, and reproducibility was evaluated. Four translated versions (two originals and two back-translated were compared, and revisions were done to ensure language adaptation and grammatical and idiomatic equivalence. Results: The inventory was duly translated and adapted. Conclusion: Further studies about the application of the translated FAPI are necessary to make the test practicable in Brazilian clinical use.

  10. Approaching human performance the functionality-driven Awiwi robot hand

    CERN Document Server

    Grebenstein, Markus

    2014-01-01

    Humanoid robotics have made remarkable progress since the dawn of robotics. So why don't we have humanoid robot assistants in day-to-day life yet? This book analyzes the keys to building a successful humanoid robot for field robotics, where collisions become an unavoidable part of the game. The author argues that the design goal should be real anthropomorphism, as opposed to mere human-like appearance. He deduces three major characteristics to aim for when designing a humanoid robot, particularly robot hands: _ Robustness against impacts _ Fast dynamics _ Human-like grasping and manipulation performance   Instead of blindly copying human anatomy, this book opts for a holistic design me-tho-do-lo-gy. It analyzes human hands and existing robot hands to elucidate the important functionalities that are the building blocks toward these necessary characteristics.They are the keys to designing an anthropomorphic robot hand, as illustrated in the high performance anthropomorphic Awiwi Hand presented in this book.  ...

  11. Executive Functioning and School Performance Among Pediatric Survivors of Complex Congenital Heart Disease

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gerstle, Melissa; Beebe, Dean W.; Drotar, Dennis; Cassedy, Amy; Marino, Bradley S.

    2016-01-01

    Objective To investigate the presence and severity of real-world impairments in executive functioning– responsible for children’s regulatory skills (metacognition, behavioral regulation) – and its potential impact on school performance among pediatric survivors of complex congenital heart disease (CHD). Study design Survivors of complex CHD aged 8–16 years (n=143)and their parents/guardians from a regional CHD survivor registry participated (81% participation rate). Parents completed proxy measures of executive functioning, school competency, and school-related quality of life (QOL). Patients also completed a measure of school QOL and underwent IQ testing. Patients were categorized into two groups based on heart lesion complexity: two-ventricle or single-ventricle. Results Survivors of complex CHD performed significantly worse than norms for executive functioning, IQ, school competency, and school QOL. Metacognition was more severely affected than behavioral regulation, and metacognitive deficits were more often present in older children. Even after taking into account demographic factors, disease severity, and IQ, metacognition uniquely and strongly predicted poorer school performance. In exploratory analyses, patients with single-ventricle lesions were rated as having lower school competency and school QOL, and patients with two-ventricle lesions were rated as having poorer behavioral regulation. Conclusions Survivors of complex CHD experience greater executive functioning difficulties than healthy peers, with metacognition particularly impacted and particularly relevant for day-to-day school performance. Especially in older children, clinicians should watch for metacognitive deficits, such as problems with organization, planning, self-monitoring, and follow-through on tasks. PMID:26875011

  12. Similar hypotensive responses to resistance exercise with and without blood flow restriction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jr R Moriggi

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Low intensity resistance exercise (RE with blood flow restriction (BFR has gained attention in the literature due to the beneficial effects on functional and morphological variables, similar to those observed during traditional RE without BFR, while the effects of BFR on post-exercise hypotension remain unclear. The aim of the present study was to compare the blood pressure (BP response of trained normotensive individuals to RE with and without BFR. In this cross-over randomized trial, eight male subjects (23.8 ± 4 years, 74 ± 3 kg, 174 ± 4 cm completed two exercise protocols: traditional RE (3 x 10 repetitions at 70% one-repetition maximum [1-RM] and low intensity RE (3 x 15 repetitions at 20% 1-RM with BFR. Blood pressure measurements were performed after 15 min of seated rest (0, immediately after and 10 min, 20 min, 30 min, 40 min, 50 min and 60 min after the experimental sessions. Similar hypotensive effects for systolic BP (SBP were observed for both protocols (P 0.05 and no statistically significant difference for diastolic BP (P > 0.05. These results suggest that in normotensive trained individuals, both traditional RE and RE with BFR induce hypotension for SBP, which is important to prevent cardiovascular disturbances.

  13. Root Growth Optimizer with Self-Similar Propagation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiaoxian He

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Most nature-inspired algorithms simulate intelligent behaviors of animals and insects that can move spontaneously and independently. The survival wisdom of plants, as another species of biology, has been neglected to some extent even though they have evolved for a longer period of time. This paper presents a new plant-inspired algorithm which is called root growth optimizer (RGO. RGO simulates the iterative growth behaviors of plant roots to optimize continuous space search. In growing process, main roots and lateral roots, classified by fitness values, implement different strategies. Main roots carry out exploitation tasks by self-similar propagation in relatively nutrient-rich areas, while lateral roots explore other places to seek for better chance. Inhibition mechanism of plant hormones is applied to main roots in case of explosive propagation in some local optimal areas. Once resources in a location are exhausted, roots would shrink away from infertile conditions to preserve their activity. In order to validate optimization effect of the algorithm, twelve benchmark functions, including eight classic functions and four CEC2005 test functions, are tested in the experiments. We compared RGO with other existing evolutionary algorithms including artificial bee colony, particle swarm optimizer, and differential evolution algorithm. The experimental results show that RGO outperforms other algorithms on most benchmark functions.

  14. Color-Based Image Retrieval from High-Similarity Image Databases

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Michael Adsetts Edberg; Carstensen, Jens Michael

    2003-01-01

    Many image classification problems can fruitfully be thought of as image retrieval in a "high similarity image database" (HSID) characterized by being tuned towards a specific application and having a high degree of visual similarity between entries that should be distinguished. We introduce...... a method for HSID retrieval using a similarity measure based on a linear combination of Jeffreys-Matusita (JM) distances between distributions of color (and color derivatives) estimated from a set of automatically extracted image regions. The weight coefficients are estimated based on optimal retrieval...... performance. Experimental results on the difficult task of visually identifying clones of fungal colonies grown in a petri dish and categorization of pelts show a high retrieval accuracy of the method when combined with standardized sample preparation and image acquisition....

  15. Associative Interference in Pavlovian Conditioning: A Function of Similarity Between the Interfering and Target Associative Structures

    OpenAIRE

    Amundson, Jeffrey C.; Miller, Ralph R.

    2008-01-01

    Three lever-press suppression studies were conducted with water-deprived rats to investigate the role of similarity in proactive interference within first-order Pavlovian conditioning. Experiments 1a and 1b assessed the influence of stimulus complexity in proactive interference. Both experiments found greater interference when the interfering cue and target cue were composed of the same number of elements. Experiment 2 assessed the influence of context similarity in proactive interference and...

  16. Turboelectric Aircraft Drive Key Performance Parameters and Functional Requirements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jansen, Ralph H.; Brown, Gerald V.; Felder, James L.; Duffy, Kirsten P.

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to propose specific power and efficiency as the key performance parameters for a turboelectric aircraft power system and investigate their impact on the overall aircraft. Key functional requirements are identified that impact the power system design. Breguet range equations for a base aircraft and a turboelectric aircraft are found. The benefits and costs that may result from the turboelectric system are enumerated. A break-even analysis is conducted to find the minimum allowable electric drive specific power and efficiency that can preserve the range, initial weight, operating empty weight, and payload weight of the base aircraft.

  17. Metric distances derived from cosine similarity and Pearson and Spearman correlations

    OpenAIRE

    van Dongen, Stijn; Enright, Anton J.

    2012-01-01

    We investigate two classes of transformations of cosine similarity and Pearson and Spearman correlations into metric distances, utilising the simple tool of metric-preserving functions. The first class puts anti-correlated objects maximally far apart. Previously known transforms fall within this class. The second class collates correlated and anti-correlated objects. An example of such a transformation that yields a metric distance is the sine function when applied to centered data.

  18. Class attendance, peer similarity, and academic performance in a large field study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kassarnig, Valentin; Bjerre-Nielsen, Andreas; Mones, Enys

    2017-01-01

    Identifying the factors that determine academic performance is an essential part of educational research. Existing research indicates that class attendance is a useful predictor of subsequent course achievements. The majority of the literature is, however, based on surveys and self-reports, methods....... Based on measured attendance data of nearly 1,000 undergraduate students, we demonstrate that early and consistent class attendance strongly correlates with academic performance. In addition, our novel dataset allows us to determine that attendance among social peers was substantially correlated (>0...

  19. Image quality assessment based on inter-patch and intra-patch similarity.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fei Zhou

    Full Text Available In this paper, we propose a full-reference (FR image quality assessment (IQA scheme, which evaluates image fidelity from two aspects: the inter-patch similarity and the intra-patch similarity. The scheme is performed in a patch-wise fashion so that a quality map can be obtained. On one hand, we investigate the disparity between one image patch and its adjacent ones. This disparity is visually described by an inter-patch feature, where the hybrid effect of luminance masking and contrast masking is taken into account. The inter-patch similarity is further measured by modifying the normalized correlation coefficient (NCC. On the other hand, we also attach importance to the impact of image contents within one patch on the IQA problem. For the intra-patch feature, we consider image curvature as an important complement of image gradient. According to local image contents, the intra-patch similarity is measured by adaptively comparing image curvature and gradient. Besides, a nonlinear integration of the inter-patch and intra-patch similarity is presented to obtain an overall score of image quality. The experiments conducted on six publicly available image databases show that our scheme achieves better performance in comparison with several state-of-the-art schemes.

  20. Concurrence of rule- and similarity-based mechanisms in artificial grammar learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Opitz, Bertram; Hofmann, Juliane

    2015-03-01

    A current theoretical debate regards whether rule-based or similarity-based learning prevails during artificial grammar learning (AGL). Although the majority of findings are consistent with a similarity-based account of AGL it has been argued that these results were obtained only after limited exposure to study exemplars, and performance on subsequent grammaticality judgment tests has often been barely above chance level. In three experiments the conditions were investigated under which rule- and similarity-based learning could be applied. Participants were exposed to exemplars of an artificial grammar under different (implicit and explicit) learning instructions. The analysis of receiver operating characteristics (ROC) during a final grammaticality judgment test revealed that explicit but not implicit learning led to rule knowledge. It also demonstrated that this knowledge base is built up gradually while similarity knowledge governed the initial state of learning. Together these results indicate that rule- and similarity-based mechanisms concur during AGL. Moreover, it could be speculated that two different rule processes might operate in parallel; bottom-up learning via gradual rule extraction and top-down learning via rule testing. Crucially, the latter is facilitated by performance feedback that encourages explicit hypothesis testing. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.