Distribution of peak expiratory flow variability by age, gender and smoking habits in a random population sample aged 20-70 yrs

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Boezen, H M; Schouten, J. P.; Postma, D S; Rijcken, B

1994-01-01

Peak expiratory flow (PEF) variability can be considered as an index of bronchial lability. Population studies on PEF variability are few. The purpose of the current paper is to describe the distribution of PEF variability in a random population sample of adults with a wide age range (20-70 yrs),

ERGONOMIC CONSIDERATION OF THE EFFECT OF FLOUR DUST ON PEAK EXPIRATORY FLOW RATE OF BAKERS IN ABEOKUTA, OGUN STATE

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Adekunle Ibrahim MUSA

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Flour dusts are one of the most harmful chemicals in the bakery industries which could lead to serious heart and lung diseases. This study investigated the effect of flour dust on Peak Expiratory Flow Rate of male bakers in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria with the relationship to the anthropometrical parameters. A total of One hundred Eighty (180 male participants were investigated, where ninety (90 participants were bakers and ninety (90 individuals as control group. The Peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR and anthropometrical parameters of the participant were measured using mini-Wright peak flow meter (PFM 20, OMRON and Detecto PD300MDHR (Cardinal Scale manufacturing company, USA column scale with digital height rod was used to measure body mass [kg] and height (cm respectively. The PEFR and anthropometrical parameters of the bakers and control groups were analysed using descriptive statistics and T-test with SPSS. The results showed that lower PEFR, 182.67 ± 16.34 L/min existed in bakers compared to 287.67 ± 17.02 L/min in the control study. The result also showed that a significant correlation exist between body mass, height and age (P < 0.01, PEFR, height (P < 0.05 and years of exposure (P < 0.01 of the bakers respectively. Furthermore, the results also showed that workers in the dusting and mixing of flour are at a risk of developing related pulmonary function impairment such as asthma. The study concluded that there is need to develop an effective intervention strategy, treatment seeking behaviour through awareness programs to prevent lung impairment diseases among the bakery workers.

[Modification of expiratory peak flow (EPF) in 14 asthmatic subjects from Benin by short duration exercise training].

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Lawani, M M; Hounkpatin, S; Akplogan, B

2006-01-01

Asthma is a world wide public health problem. It is the most commom chronic disease of school age children. Its severity is in constant increase. The frequency of the hospitalizations for asthma increased in practically all countries. Physical exercises and sport are used more and more as therapeutic means, in northern deveopped countries of where it was very early understood that it is necessary to integrate the asthmatic subjects into a program of specific physical training. This study undertaken in south saharian african country considers also assiduity in a physical training program as the factor of increase in the expiratory peak flow, of reinforcement of some principal muscles necessary to the improvement, and of the respiratory function of the asthmatic subject. Physical exercise is used as a non pharmacological therapy of asthma. This transversal study was carried out on fourteen asthmatic subjects of colleges in Porto-Novo's town, aged 15 years old to 25 years, of the two sexes. The results showed that: the Expiratory Peak Flow of Point (EPF) of the subjects at the beginning of the program is lower than the minimal average value of the group whatever the sex; the subjects average EPF increased from approximately 35% compared to the average at the beginning of the program; the subjects from family with asthmatic line, are much more inclined with respiratory embarrassments post-exercises than those who did not come from it; the respiratory embarrassments post-exercises noticed in the first weeks, grew blurred before the end of the program. This study suggests physical exercise adapted to the asthmatic subjects for the improvement of their health.

PROGRESSIVE MUSCLE RELAXATION INCREASE PEAK EXPIRATORY FLOW RATE ON CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE PATIENTS

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Tintin Sukartini

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Limited progressive air flow in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD can caused by small airway disease (bronchiolitis obstructive and loss of elasticity of the lung (emphysema. Further it can be decreasing the quality of life in COPD patients because dyspnea and uncomfortable in activity. Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR is one of the relaxation technique that can repair pulmonary ventilation by decreasing chronic constriction of the respiratory muscles. The objective of this study was to analyze the effect of progressive muscle relaxation on raised peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR. Method: A pre-experimental one group pre-post test design was used in this study. Population was all of the COPD patients at Pulmonary Specialist Polyclinic Dr Mohamad Soewandhie Surabaya. There were 8 respondents taken by using purposive sampling. PEFR was counted by using peak flow meter every six day. Data were analyzed by using Paired t-Test with significance level  p≤0.05. Result: The result showed that PMR had significance level on increasing of PEFR (p=0.012. Discussion: It can be concluded that PMR has an effect on raise PEFR. Further studies are recommended to measure the effect of PMR on respiratory rate (RR, heart rate (HR subjective dyspnoe symptoms, forced expiration volume on the first minute (FEV1 and mid maximum flow rate (MMFR in COPD patients.

Static end-expiratory and dynamic forced expiratory tracheal collapse in COPD

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

O'Donnell, C.R.; Bankier, A.A.; O'Donnell, D.H.; Loring, S.H.; Boiselle, P.M.

2014-01-01

Aim: To determine the range of tracheal collapse at end-expiration among chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients and to compare the extent of tracheal collapse between static end-expiratory and dynamic forced-expiratory multidetector-row computed tomography (MDCT). Materials and methods: After institutional review board approval and obtaining informed consent, 67 patients meeting the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)/World Health Organization (WHO) Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) criteria for COPD were sequentially imaged using a 64-detector-row CT machine at end-inspiration, during forced expiration, and at end-expiration. Standardized respiratory coaching and spirometric monitoring were employed. Mean percentage tracheal collapse at end-expiration and forced expiration were compared using correlation analysis, and the power of end-expiratory cross-sectional area to predict excessive forced-expiratory tracheal collapse was computed following construction of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Results: Mean percentage expiratory collapse among COPD patients was 17 ± 18% at end-expiration compared to 62 ± 16% during forced expiration. Over the observed range of end-expiratory tracheal collapse (approximately 10–50%), the positive predictive value of end-expiratory collapse to predict excessive (≥80%) forced expiratory tracheal collapse was <0.3. Conclusion: COPD patients demonstrate a wide range of end-expiratory tracheal collapse. The magnitude of static end-expiratory tracheal collapse does not predict excessive dynamic expiratory tracheal collapse

Use of tidal breathing curves for evaluating expiratory airway obstruction in infants.

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Hevroni, Avigdor; Goldman, Aliza; Blank-Brachfeld, Miriam; Abu Ahmad, Wiessam; Ben-Dov, Lior; Springer, Chaim

2018-01-15

To evaluate tidal breathing (TB) flow-volume and flow-time curves for identification of expiratory airway obstruction in infants. Pulmonary function tests were analyzed retrospectively in 156 infants aged 3-24 months with persistent or recurrent respiratory complaints. Parameters derived from TB curves were compared to maximal expiratory flow at functional residual capacity ([Formula: see text]maxFRC) measured by rapid thoracoabdominal compression technique. Analyzed parameters were: inspiratory time (t I ), expiratory time (t E ), tidal volume, peak tidal expiratory flow (PTEF), time to peak tidal expiratory flow (t PTEF ), expiratory flow when 50% and 25% of tidal volume remains in the lungs (FEF 50 , FEF 25 , respectively), and the ratios t PTEF /t E , t I /t E , FEF 50 /PTEF, and FEF 25 /PTEF. Statistical comparisons between flow indices and TB parameters were performed using mean squared error and Pearson's sample correlation coefficient. The study population was also divided into two groups based on severity of expiratory obstruction (above or below z-score for [Formula: see text]maxFRC of -2) to generate receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and calculate discriminatory values between the groups. TB parameters that were best correlated to [Formula: see text]maxFRC were: t PTEF /t E , FEF 50 /PTEF, and FEF 25 /PTEF, with r = 0.61, 0.67, 0.65, respectively (p < 0.0001 for all). ROC curves for FEF 50 /PTEF, FEF 25 /PTEF and t PTEF /t E showed areas under the curve of 0.813, 0.797, and 0.796, respectively. Cutoff value z-scores of -0.35, -0.34, and -0.43 for these three parameters, respectively, showed an 86% negative predictive value for severe airway obstructions. TB curves can assist in ruling out severe expiratory airway obstruction in infants.

Can Preoperative Peak Expiratory Flow Predict Postoperative Pulmonary Complications in Lung Cancer Patients Undergoing Lobectomy?

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Kun ZHOU

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Background and objective Postoperative pulmonary complications (PPCs, especially postoperative pneumonia (POP, directly affect the rapid recovery of lung cancer patients after surgery. Peak expiratory flow (PEF can reflect airway patency and cough efficiency. Moreover, cough impairment may lead to accumulation of pulmonary secretions which can increase the risk of PPCs. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of preoperative PEF on PPCs in patients with lung cancer. Methods Retrospective research was conducted on 433 lung cancer patients who underwent lobectomy at the West China Hospital of Sichuan University from January 2014 to December 2015. The associations between preoperative PEF and PPCs were analyzed based on patients’ basic characteristics and clinical data in hospital. Results Preoperative PEF value in PPCs group (280.93±88.99 L/min was significantly lower than that in non-PPCs group (358.38±93.69 L/min (P320 L/min group (9.4%(P<0.001. Conclusion Preoperative PEF and PPCs are correlated, and PEF may be used as a predictor of PPCs.

The effects of smokeless cookstoves on peak expiratory flow rates in rural Honduras.

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Rennert, W P; Porras Blanco, R M; Muniz, G B

2015-09-01

The use of biomass fuel for cooking in traditional cookstove designs negatively affects respiratory health of communities in developing countries. Indoor pollution affects particularly women and children, who are participating in food preparation. The effects of smokeless cookstove designs on indoor pollution are well documented, but few studies exist to assess the effects of improved stove designs on the respiratory health of community members. This study uses peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) measurements in a before-and-after format to assess respiratory function of inhabitants of all 30 houses of Buenas Noches in central Honduras. PEFRs are measured before and 6 months after the installation of Justa stoves in people's homes. Health behaviors, respiratory symptoms and fire wood use are evaluated in a door-to-door survey format. A total of 137 eligible women and children between 6 and 14 years participated in the study. PEFR improved by 9.9-18.5% (P < 0.001) depending on the participants' exposure to indoor pollution. Health complaints like cough and behaviors like clinic visits did not change with the introduction of smokeless cookstove technology. Smokeless stoves improve respiratory health in an environment of high levels of indoor pollution. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Faculty of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Influence Of Number Of Pregnancies In Peak Expiratory Flow And Body Composition Of Pregnant Women

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Andrea Carla Brandao da Costa Santos

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Objectives: to describe and compare the mean values of the body composition and the peak expiratory flow (PEF in primigravidae and multigravidae and, to determine its correlation with obstetric, anthropometric and body composition variables. Method: it was performed a cross-sectional study of 120 healthy pregnant women at low risk, including 77 primigravidae and 43 multigravidae. The PEF was measured by spirometry and the body composition by multisegmental electrical impedance. The unpaired t test was used to compare the groups and the Pearson correlation test was used to determine the association between PEF and independent variables. A multiple linear regression was used to estimate the relationship between the dependent variable, the PEF and the independent variables. Results: the body composition variables in multigravidae women showed higher values compared to the primigravidae, being statistically significant, except for fat mass. In primigravidae, the PEF was correlated significantly with maternal age and height. In multigravidae, the PEF was correlated with maternal age, height, pre-pregnancy and current weight, total body water, extracellular water, fat mass, lean mass and fat-free mass. A Multiple linear regression analysis showed that, in primigravidae, height and maternal age were associated with PEF, being responsible for explaining 14.5% of its variability. The current weight and the maternal age explained 42.3% of peak flow variability in multigravidae. Conclusion: The PEF seemed to be influenced by the number of pregnancies. Changes were observed in relation to the body composition, as it was evidenced in correlation with the PEF in multigravidae women. Keywords: Pregnancy. Spirometry. Weight gain.

Functional Magnetic Stimulation of Inspiratory and Expiratory Muscles in Subjects With Tetraplegia.

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Zhang, Xiaoming; Plow, Ela; Ranganthan, Vinoth; Huang, Honglian; Schmitt, Melissa; Nemunaitis, Gregory; Kelly, Clay; Frost, Frederick; Lin, Vernon

2016-07-01

Respiratory complications are major causes of morbidity and mortality in persons with a spinal cord injury, partly because of respiratory muscle paralysis. Earlier investigation has demonstrated that functional magnetic stimulation (FMS) can be used as a noninvasive technology for activating expiratory muscles, thus producing useful expiratory functions (simulated cough) in subjects with spinal cord injury. To evaluate the effectiveness of FMS for conditioning inspiratory and expiratory muscles in persons with tetraplegia. A prospective before and after trial. FMS Laboratory, Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, Cleveland, OH. Six persons with tetraplegia. Each subject participated in a 6-week FMS protocol for conditioning the inspiratory and expiratory muscles. A magnetic stimulator was used with the center of a magnetic coil placed at the C7-T1 and T9-T10 spinous processes, respectively. Pulmonary function tests were performed before, during, and after the protocol. Respiratory variables included maximal inspiratory pressure (MIP), inspiratory reserve volume (IRV), peak inspiratory flow (PIF), maximal expiratory pressure (MEP), expiratory reserve volume (ERV), and peak expiratory flow (PEF). After 6 weeks of conditioning, the main outcome measurements (mean ± standard error) were as follows: MIP, 89.6 ± 7.3 cm H2O; IRV, 1.90 ± 0.34 L; PIF, 302.4 ± 36.3 L/min; MEP, 67.4 ± 11.1 cm H2O; ERV, 0.40 ± 0.06 L; and PEF, 372.4 ± 31.9 L/min. These values corresponded to 117%, 107%, 136%, 109%, 130%, and 124% of pre-FMS conditioning values, respectively. Significant improvements were observed in MIP (P = .022), PIF (P = .0001), and PEF (P = .0006), respectively. When FMS was discontinued for 4 weeks, these values showed decreases from their values at the end of the conditioning protocol, which suggests that continual FMS may be necessary to maintain improved respiratory functions. FMS conditioning of the inspiratory and expiratory muscles improved

The longitudinal relationship of work stress with peak expiratory flow: a cohort study.

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Loerbroks, Adrian; Karrasch, Stefan; Lunau, Thorsten

2017-10-01

Research has suggested that psychological stress is associated with reduced lung function and with the development of respiratory disease. Among the major potential sources of stress in adulthood are working conditions. We aimed to examine the relationship of work stress with lung function. We drew on 4-year prospective data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe. The analyzed sample comprised 2627 workers aged 50 years or older who were anamnestically free of respiratory disease. Work stress at baseline was operationalized by abbreviated instruments measuring the well-established effort-reward imbalance model (seven items) and the control component of the job-demand control (two items). Peak expiratory flow (PEF) was determined at baseline and at follow-up. Continuous and categorized (i.e., by the tertile) work stress variables were employed in multivariable linear regression models to predict PEF change. Work stress did not show statistically significant associations with PEF change. For instance, the unstandardized regression coefficient for PEF decline according to high versus low effort-reward imbalance was -1.41 (95% confidence interval = -3.75, 0.94). Our study is the first to examine prospective relationships between work stress and PEF. Overall, we did not observe meaningful associations. Future studies should consider a broader spectrum of spirometric parameters and should expand research to younger and possibly less-selected working populations (i.e., aged <50 years).

An asthma patient with steroid-resistant decrease in peak expiratory flow after the Great East Japan earthquake showing spontaneous recovery after 1 month.

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Yanagimoto, Shintaro; Haida, Michiko; Suko, Matsunobu

2012-01-01

People living in Japan were affected in various ways after the Great East Japan earthquake of March 11, 2011. A 52-year-old female asthma patient not directly affected by the disaster experienced a decrease in peak expiratory flow (PEF) immediately after the earthquake. Despite increasing the inhaled and oral corticosteroid doses, her PEF did not recover. One month later, her PEF level abruptly returned to normal with minimal medications, which were previously ineffective, and the asthma-related symptoms vanished. The stabilization of her state of mind and actual social state seemed to be a part of the reason for the patient's recovery.

Difficulty in obtaining peak expiratory flow measurements in children with acute asthma.

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Gorelick, Marc H; Stevens, Molly W; Schultz, Theresa; Scribano, Philip V

2004-01-01

To determine the frequency with which children >or=6 years with acute asthma can perform peak expiratory flow rate measurements (PEFR) in an emergency department (ED). Data were obtained from a prospective cohort study of children with acute asthma. All children (age 2-18 years old) treated in an urban pediatric ED for an acute exacerbation during randomly selected days over a 12-month period were prospectively evaluated. According to treatment protocols, PEFR was to be measured in all children age 6 years and older before therapy and after each treatment with inhaled bronchodilators. Registered respiratory therapists obtained PEFR and evaluated whether patients were able to perform the maneuver adequately. Four hundred and fifty-six children, 6 to 18 years old (median 10 years), were enrolled; 291 (64%) had PEFR measured at least once. Of those in whom PEFR was attempted at least once, only 190 (65%) were able to perform adequately. At the start of therapy, 54% (142/262) were able to perform PEFR. Of the 120 who were unable to perform initially, 76 had another attempt at the end of the ED treatment, and 55 (72%) were still unable to perform. A total of 149 patients had attempts at PEFR both at the start and end of treatment, of these, only 71 (48%) provided valid information on both attempts. Patients unable to perform PEFR were younger (mean +/- SD = 8.7 +/- 2.8 years) than those who were able to perform successfully (11.2 +/- 3.2 years) and those with no attempts (10.0 +/- 3.4 years). Children admitted to the hospital were more likely to be unable to perform PEFR (58/126 = 46%) than those discharged from the ED (43/330 = 13%, P < 0.0001). Adequate PEFR measurements are difficult to obtain in children with acute asthma. Treatment and research protocols cannot rely exclusively on PEFR for evaluation of severity.

factors influencing peak expiratory flow in teenage boys

African Journals Online (AJOL)

smoked. Regression analysis suggested peak flow differenct.s ... Medical Research Council Centre for Molecular and Cellular Biology, Department ... J leasure of lung function and a tool for asthma management.'.2 ... by the subjects were assigned a numerical value based on how .... Our data differ marginally from data.

Abdominal wall reconstruction for large incisional hernia restores expiratory lung function

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Kristian K; Backer, Vibeke; Jorgensen, Lars N

2017-01-01

BACKGROUND: Respiratory complications secondary to intermittent intra-abdominal hypertension and/or atelectasis are common after abdominal wall reconstruction for large incisional hernias. It is unknown if the respiratory function of this patient group is affected long term or impairs activities...... of daily living. We hypothesized that abdominal wall reconstruction for large incisional hernia would not lead to improved, long-term pulmonary function or respiratory quality of life. METHODS: Eighteen patients undergoing open abdominal wall reconstruction with mesh for a large incisional hernia...... (horizontal fascial defect width >10 cm) were compared with 18 patients with an intact abdominal wall who underwent colorectal resection. Patients were examined pre- and 1-year postoperatively. Examined measures included forced vital capacity, forced expiratory volume in first second, peak expiratory flow...

Multi-detector CT evaluation in patients suspected of tracheobronchomalacia: Comparison of end-expiratory with dynamic expiratory volumetric acquisitions

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Ferretti, Gilbert R. [Department of Radiology (France)], E-mail: gferretti@chu-grenoble.fr; Jankowski, Adrien [Department of Radiology (France)], E-mail: ajankowski@chu-grenoble.fr; Perrin, Marie Amelie [Department of Radiology (France)], E-mail: maperrin@chu-grenoble.fr; Chouri, Nathalie [Department of Respiratory Diseases (France)], E-mail: nchouri@chu-grenoble.fr; Arnol, Nathalie [Sleep Laboratory and EFCR, University Hospital, Grenoble (France); HP2 Laboratory, INSERM ERI 0017 (Hypoxia: Pathophysiology), Joseph Fourier University, Grenoble (France)], E-mail: narnold@chu-grenoble.fr; Aubaud, Laurent [Department of Radiology (France)], E-mail: laubaud@chu-grenoble.fr; Pepin, Jean-Louis [Sleep Laboratory and EFCR, University Hospital, Grenoble (France); HP2 Laboratory, INSERM ERI 0017 (Hypoxia: Pathophysiology), Joseph Fourier University, Grenoble (France)], E-mail: jlpepin@chu-grenoble.fr

2008-11-15

Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare dynamic expiratory imaging and end-expiratory imaging using multi-detector CT (MDCT) of the central airways in patients suspected of tracheobronchomalacia (TBM). Methods: This study had local ethical committee approval. Seventy patients suspected of TBM were prospectively included. All patients underwent evaluation of central airways by three different low-dose MDCT acquisitions: end inspiration, end expiration, and dynamic expiration. Degree of airway collapse was measured by calculating the percentage change in the area and diameter of the airways between inspiratory and the two expiratory techniques at three levels of the trachea and in the sagittal diameter of the right and left main bronchi. Three threshold levels of percentage reduction in diameter or area (30%, 50%, and 70%) for defining TBM were evaluated. Results: In the entire population, the mean percentage of airway collapse was significantly greater with dynamic expiratory imaging than with the end-expiratory imaging at three different levels: lower thoracic trachea (26% vs. 16.6%, p < 0.009), right (25.2% vs. 14%, p < 0.01) and left main (24.7% vs. 13.3%, p < 0.01) bronchus. Whatever the threshold value for defining TBM, dynamic expiratory imaging always resulted in diagnosing TBM in more patients than end-expiratory imaging. Conclusions: Dynamic expiratory imaging shows a significantly greater degree and a significantly greater extent of airway collapse than standard end-expiratory imaging in patients suspected of TBM. Further evaluation of the clinical relevance of such findings is warranted.

Comparison of changes in tidal volume associated with expiratory rib cage compression and expiratory abdominal compression in patients on prolonged mechanical ventilation.

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Morino, Akira; Shida, Masahiro; Tanaka, Masashi; Sato, Kimihiro; Seko, Toshiaki; Ito, Shunsuke; Ogawa, Shunichi; Takahashi, Naoaki

2015-07-01

[Purpose] This study was designed to compare and clarify the relationship between expiratory rib cage compression and expiratory abdominal compression in patients on prolonged mechanical ventilation, with a focus on tidal volume. [Subjects and Methods] The subjects were 18 patients on prolonged mechanical ventilation, who had undergone tracheostomy. Each patient received expiratory rib cage compression and expiratory abdominal compression; the order of implementation was randomized. Subjects were positioned in a 30° lateral recumbent position, and a 2-kgf compression was applied. For expiratory rib cage compression, the rib cage was compressed unilaterally; for expiratory abdominal compression, the area directly above the navel was compressed. Tidal volume values were the actual measured values divided by body weight. [Results] Tidal volume values were as follows: at rest, 7.2 ± 1.7 mL/kg; during expiratory rib cage compression, 8.3 ± 2.1 mL/kg; during expiratory abdominal compression, 9.1 ± 2.2 mL/kg. There was a significant difference between the tidal volume during expiratory abdominal compression and that at rest. The tidal volume in expiratory rib cage compression was strongly correlated with that in expiratory abdominal compression. [Conclusion] These results indicate that expiratory abdominal compression may be an effective alternative to the manual breathing assist procedure.

Peak expiratory flow mediates the relationship between handgrip strength and timed up and go performance in elderly women, but not men.

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Ritti-Dias, Raphael Mendes; Cucato, Gabriel Grizzo; de Mello Franco, Fábio Gazelato; Cendoroglo, Maysa Seabra; Nasri, Fábio; Monteiro-Costa, Maria Luiza; de Carvalho, José Antonio Maluf; de Matos, Luciana Diniz Nagem Janot

2016-09-01

The aim of the present study was to verify if there is sex difference in the associations among handgrip strength, peak expiratory flow (PEF) and timed up and go (TUG) test results. The sample included 288 consecutive elderly men (n=93) and women (n=195). Functional capacity was measured using the TUG test, and muscle strength was measured based on handgrip. Moreover, as a measure of current health status, PEF was evaluated. Linear regression procedures were performed to analyze the relationships between handgrip and both PEF and TUG test results, with adjustment for confounders, and to identify the possible mediating role of PEF in the association between handgrip strength and TUG test results. In men, handgrip strength was associated with both PEF and TUG performance (prelationship between handgrip strength and TUG performance remained significant. In women, handgrip strength was also associated with both PEF and TUG performance (prelationship between handgrip strength and TUG performance was no longer significant. Mobility in the elderly is sex dependent. In particular, PEF mediates the relationship between handgrip strength and TUG performance in women, but not in men.

Comparison of changes in tidal volume associated with expiratory rib cage compression and expiratory abdominal compression in patients on prolonged mechanical ventilation

OpenAIRE

Morino, Akira; Shida, Masahiro; Tanaka, Masashi; Sato, Kimihiro; Seko, Toshiaki; Ito, Shunsuke; Ogawa, Shunichi; Takahashi, Naoaki

2015-01-01

[Purpose] This study was designed to compare and clarify the relationship between expiratory rib cage compression and expiratory abdominal compression in patients on prolonged mechanical ventilation, with a focus on tidal volume. [Subjects and Methods] The subjects were 18 patients on prolonged mechanical ventilation, who had undergone tracheostomy. Each patient received expiratory rib cage compression and expiratory abdominal compression; the order of implementation was randomized. Subjects ...

Expiratory muscle control during vomiting - Role of brain stem expiratory neurons

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, A. D.; Tan, L. K.

1987-01-01

The neural mechanisms controlling the muscles involved during vomiting were examined using decerebrated cats. In one experiment, the activity of the ventral respiratory group (VRG) expiratory (E) neurons was recorded during induced 'fictive vomiting' (i.e., a series of bursts of coactivation of abdominal and phrenic nerves that would be expected to produce expulsion in unparalyzed animals) and vomiting. In a second, abdominal muscle electromyographic and nerve activity were compared before and after sectioning the axons of descending VRG E neurons as they cross the midline between C1 and the obex (the procedure that is known to abolish expiratory modulation of internal intercostal muscle activity). The results of the study indicate that the abdominal muscles are controlled differently during respiration and vomiting.

Knowledge, attitude and practice of physicians toward peak ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background: Peak expiratory flow meter (PEFM) may reduce diagnostic delay and improve decision-making in asthma by providing an objective assessment of their flow and hence identify air flow variability that is essential for management of air way diseases. Objectives: This study was designed to reveal extent of ...

Volumetric expiratory high-resolution CT of the lung

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nishino, Mizuki; Hatabu, Hiroto

2004-01-01

We developed a volumetric expiratory high-resolution CT (HRCT) protocol that provides combined inspiratory and expiratory volumetric imaging of the lung without increasing radiation exposure, and conducted a preliminary feasibility assessment of this protocol to evaluate diffuse lung disease with small airway abnormalities. The volumetric expiratory high-resolution CT increased the detectability of the conducting airway to the areas of air trapping (P<0.0001), and added significant information about extent and distribution of air trapping (P<0.0001)

Study of Peak Expiratory Flow Rate as the Assessment of Lung Function in Occupationally Exposed Petrol Pump Workers of Western Maharashtra

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Patil Smita V

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Background: Fast urbanization trends, rapid industrial growth, globalization, and poor environmental conditions at work places have created a lot of healthrelated issues. Aim and Objectives: The aim of this study is to investigate Peak Expiratory Flow Rate (PEFR as the assessment of lung function in occupationally exposed petrol pump workers and also check whether PEFR increases or decreases with duration of exposure. Material and Methods: The study was conducted on 60 male petrol pump workers between age group of 20-40 years who were working as petrol filling attendants for more than one year from western Maharashtra. 50 normal healthy males with same socioeconomic status were chosen as controls to find out the effect of occupational exposure to petroleum product on PEFR as the assessment of lung function tests. Petrol pump workers were divided into three groups based on their duration of exposure i.e. 1- 5 yrs, 6- 10 yrs and more than 11 years. PEFR of petrol pump workers and control was measured by using a Mini Wright peak flow meter which is a portable device for measuring ventilator functions. Comparisons was done using unpaired t-test for 2 groups comparisons and one way ANOVAfor multiple groups of exposures. Results: The PEFR was significantly lower decrease (p=0.001 around petrol pump workers (389.17 as compared to control (534.2. As year of exposure increased mean value of PEFR was significantly decreased from 452.17, 378.00 and 283.64 respectively in petrol pump workers. Conclusion: The results suggested that respiratory functions i.e. PEFR of occupationally exposed petrol pump workers are significantly reduced as compared to controls, also PEFR is significantly reduced with increase in the duration of exposure.

Comparison of peak expiratory flow rate and lipid profile in asymptomatic smokers and non-smokers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fatima, F.; Abbasi, M.A.; Jadoon, J.; Sohail, M.; Shah, J.; Afridi, U.; Noor, M.M.

2015-01-01

Tobacco is the major risk factor for chronic obstructive airway disease (COAD), other pulmonary diseases, cancer, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. The objective of study was to determine the mean Peak Expiratory Flow Rate (PEFR) and serum lipid profile in apparently healthy male smokers and non-smokers. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Ayub Teaching Hospital, Abbottabad from 15th December, 2009 to 15th June, 2010. Apparently healthy smokers and non-smokers from population coming to Hospital as attendants of the patients or as employees of the hospital were inducted in the study. PEFR and lipid profile of all the subjects was accessed. Results: There were total of 300 male subjects, 150 smokers and 150 non-smokers. The mean age of study subjects was 26.60 ± 5.5 years. The mean PEFR of smokers was 450.62l/min and that of non-smokers was 494.81 L/min, the difference being statistically significant (p-value <0.05).The mean total cholesterol of smokers is 5.30 ± 0.86 mmol/l and it was 3.84 ± 0.54 mmol/l in non-smokers. Mean serum Triacyl Glycerols (TAGs) and Low Density Lipoproteins (LDL) cholesterol of smokers was 2.04 ± 0.38 and 3.5 ± 0.83 mmol/l whereas it was 1.44 ± 0.52 and 2.02 ± 0.66 mmol/l in non-smokers. Mean High Density Lipo-protein (HDL) of smokers was 0.86 ± 0.30 mmol/l and of non-smokers is 1.20 ± 0.41 mmo/l. There was statistically significant difference between serum lipid profile of smokers and non-smokers (p<0.05). the mean serum Total Cholesterol (TC), TAGs and LDL were significantly higher in smokers as compared to non-smokers. However HDL was significantly lower in smokers in comparison to non-smokers. Conclusion: There was statistically significant difference between PEFR of smokers and non-smokers. Higher and significant mean values of TC, TAG and LDL-C was observed in smokers as compared to non-smokers. (author)

Effect of bedding control on amount of house dust mite allergens, asthma symptoms, and peak expiratory flow rate.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Inn-Sook

2003-04-30

This quasi-experimental study was designed to investigate the effect of bedding control on the amount of house dust mite (HDM) allergens, asthma symptoms, and peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) in asthmatics sensitive to HDMs. The subjects in the study were drawn from patients receiving treatment at the allergy clinics of three university-affiliated hospitals in Seoul. Forty-two patients without prior practice of the bedding control used in this study were selected. They commonly showed bronchial asthma caused by HDMs, and exhibited strong positive points (more than 3 points) in skin prick test (D. farinae, D. pteronyssinus), and positive response in both fluoro-allergosorbent test (FAST), and PC20 methacholine test. Of the subjects, alternatively, 22 were assigned to the experimental group and 20 to control group. Bedding control consisted of the use of outer cotton covers, boiling them for 10 minutes fortnightly, and disinfecting bedding by sunlight fortnightly. The experimental group was under bedding control for 4 weeks. The data were collected from October 2000 to January 2001. The results were as follows: 1. After bedding control, the total amount of HDM allergens decreased significantly in the experimental group. However there was no significant difference in the decrease of the amount of HDM allergens between the two groups. 2. Of the asthma symptoms, there was significant difference only in the decrease of the frequency of dyspnea, and in the increase of sleeping disturbance between the two groups after bedding control. 3. After bedding control, PEFR increased in the experimental group whereas it decreased in the control group. However, neither change was significant. The above findings indicate that bedding control improved several asthma symptoms in asthmatics sensitive to HDMs. Accordingly, we suggest that bedding control is adopted as a useful nursing intervention in the field.

Effect of 1,6-hexamethylene diisocyanate exposure on peak flowmetry in automobile paint shop workers in Iran.

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Pourabedian, Siyamak; Barkhordari, Abdullah; Habibi, Ehsanallah; Rismanchiyan, Masoud; Zare, Mohsen

2010-06-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of occupational exposure to 1,6-hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI) on peak flowmetry in automobile body paint shop workers in Iran. We studied a population of 43 car painters exposed to HDI at their workplaces. Peak expiratory flow was tested for one working week, from the start to the end of each shift. Air was sampled and HDI analysed in parallel, according to the OSHA 42 method. Daily and weekly HDI exposure averages were (0.42+/-0.1) mg m(-3) and (0.13+/-0.05) mg m(-3), respectively. On painting days, 72 % of workers showed more than a 10 % variation in peak expiratory flow. Inhalation exposure exceeded the threshold limit value (TLV) ten times over. This strongly suggests that HDI affected the peak flowmetry in the studied workers.

A Methodology for Rapid Prototyping Peak-Constrained Least-Squares Bit-Serial Finite Impulse Response Filters in FPGAs

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Alex Carreira

2003-05-01

Full Text Available Area-efficient peak-constrained least-squares (PCLS bit-serial finite impulse response (FIR filter implementations can be rapidly prototyped in field programmable gate arrays (FPGA with the methodology presented in this paper. Faster generation of the FPGA configuration bitstream is possible with a new application-specific mapping and placement method that uses JBits to avoid conventional general-purpose mapping and placement tools. JBits is a set of Java classes that provide an interface into the Xilinx Virtex FPGA configuration bitstream, allowing the user to generate new configuration bitstreams. PCLS coefficient generation allows passband-to-stopband energy ratio (PSR performance to be traded for a reduction in the filter's hardware cost without altering the minimum stopband attenuation. Fixed-point coefficients that meet the frequency response and hardware cost specifications can be generated with the PCLS method. It is not possible to meet these specifications solely by the quantization of floating-point coefficients generated in other methods.

Effect of Training Frequency on Maximum Expiratory Pressure

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Anand, Supraja; El-Bashiti, Nour; Sapienza, Christine

2012-01-01

Purpose: To determine the effects of expiratory muscle strength training (EMST) frequency on maximum expiratory pressure (MEP). Method: We assigned 12 healthy participants to 2 groups of training frequency (3 days per week and 5 days per week). They completed a 4-week training program on an EMST trainer (Aspire Products, LLC). MEP was the primary…

Dangerous Pressurization and Inappropriate Alarms during Water Occlusion of the Expiratory Circuit of Commonly Used Infant Ventilators.

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Murray Hinder

Full Text Available Non-invasive continuous positive airways pressure is commonly a primary respiratory therapy delivered via multi-purpose ventilators in premature newborns. Expiratory limb occlusion due to water accumulation or 'rainout' from gas humidification is a frequent issue. A case of expiratory limb occlusion due to rainout causing unexpected and excessive repetitive airway pressurisation in a Draeger VN500 prompted a systematic bench test examination of currently available ventilators.To assess neonatal ventilator response to partial or complete expiratory limb occlusion when set to non-invasive continuous positive airway pressure mode.Seven commercially available neonatal ventilators connected to a test lung using a standard infant humidifier circuit with partial and/or complete expiratory limb occlusion were examined in a bench test study. Each ventilator was set to deliver 6 cmH2O in non-invasive mode and respiratory mechanics data for 75%, 80% and 100% occlusion were collected.Several ventilators responded inappropriately with complete occlusion by cyclical pressurisation/depressurisation to peak pressures of between 19·4 and 64·6 cm H2O at rates varying between 2 to 77 inflations per minute. Tidal volumes varied between 10·1 and 24·3mL. Alarm responses varied from 'specific' (tube occluded to 'ambiguous' (Safety valve open. Carefusion Avea responded by continuing to provide the set distending pressure and displaying an appropriate alarm message. Draeger Babylog 8000 did not alarm with partial occlusions and incorrectly displayed airways pressure at 6·1cmH2O compared to the measured values of 13cmH2O.This study found a potential for significant adverse ventilator response due to complete or near complete expiratory limb occlusion in CPAP mode.

Expiratory timing in obstructive sleep apnoeas.

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Cibella, F; Marrone, O; Sanci, S; Bellia, V; Bonsignore, G

1990-03-01

Diaphragmatic electromyogram was recorded during NREM sleep in 4 patients affected by obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) syndrome in order to evaluate the behaviour of expiratory time (TE) in the course of the obstructive apnoea-ventilation cycle. The two components of TE, i.e. time of post-inspiratory inspiratory activity (TPIIA) and time of expiratory phase 2 (TE2) were separately analysed. TPIIA showed a short duration, with only minor variations, within the apnoea, while its duration was more variable and longer in the interapnoeic periods: the longest TPIIA values were associated with the highest inspiratory volumes in the same breaths. This behaviour seemed regulated according to the need of a more or less effective expiratory flow braking, probably as a result of pulmonary stretch receptors discharge. Conversely TE2 showed a continuous gradual modulation, progressively increasing in the pre-apnoeic period, decreasing during the apnoea and increasing in the post-apnoeic period: these TE2 variations seemed related to oscillations in chemical drive. These data show that TE in the obstructive apnoea-ventilation cycle results from a different modulation in its two components and suggest that both mechanical and chemical influences play a role in its overall duration.

Physiological techniques for detecting expiratory flow limitation during tidal breathing

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N.G. Koulouris

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD often exhale along the same flow–volume curve during quiet breathing as they do during the forced expiratory vital capacity manoeuvre, and this has been taken as an indicator of expiratory flow limitation at rest (EFLT. Therefore, EFLT, namely attainment of maximal expiratory flow during tidal expiration, occurs when an increase in transpulmonary pressure causes no increase in expiratory flow. EFLT leads to small airway injury and promotes dynamic pulmonary hyperinflation, with concurrent dyspnoea and exercise limitation. In fact, EFLT occurs commonly in COPD patients (mainly in Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease III and IV stage, in whom the latter symptoms are common, but is not exclusive to COPD, since it can also be detected in other pulmonary and nonpulmonary diseases like asthma, acute respiratory distress syndrome, heart failure and obesity, etc. The existing up to date physiological techniques of assessing EFLT are reviewed in the present work. Among the currently available techniques, the negative expiratory pressure has been validated in a wide variety of settings and disorders. Consequently, it should be regarded as a simple, noninvasive, practical and accurate new technique.

What's in a name? Expiratory tracheal narrowing in adults explained

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leong, P.; Bardin, P.G.; Lau, K.K.

2013-01-01

Tracheomalacia, tracheobronchomalacia, and excessive dynamic airway collapse are all terms used to describe tracheal narrowing in expiration. The first two describe luminal reduction from cartilage softening and the latter refers to luminal reduction from exaggerated posterior membrane movement. Expiratory tracheal narrowing is a frequent occurrence that can cause symptoms of airway obstruction, such as dyspnoea, wheeze, and exercise intolerance. The accurate diagnosis and quantification of expiratory tracheal narrowing has important aetiological, therapeutic, and prognostic implications. The reference standard for diagnosis has traditionally been bronchoscopy; however, this method has significant limitations. Expiratory tracheal disorders are readily detected by four-dimensional dynamic volume multidetector computed tomography (4D-CT), an emerging, non-invasive method that will potentially enable detection and quantification of these conditions. This review discusses the morphological forms of expiratory tracheal narrowing and demonstrates the utility of 4D-CT in the diagnosis, quantification, and treatment of these important conditions

The need for standardisation of peak flow charts

OpenAIRE

Reddel, H; Vincent, S; Civitico, J

2005-01-01

Peak expiratory flow (PEF) monitoring is recommended in asthma guidelines as a tool for assessing severity, monitoring response to treatment, detecting exacerbations, identifying triggers, and providing objective justification for treatment to the patient, but some clinicians have expressed concerns about its relevance in the management of asthma. We have identified a sevenfold variation in the scale of existing PEF charts, with resulting wide variation in the appearance of the same PEF date ...

The effect of positive end-expiratory pressure on pulse pressure ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The effect of positive end-expiratory pressure on pulse pressure variation. FJ Smith, M Geyser, I Schreuder, PJ Becker. Abstract. Objectives: To determine the effect of different levels of positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) on pulse pressure variation (PPV). Design: An observational study. Setting: Operating theatres of a ...

Mapping the continuous reciprocal space intensity distribution of X-ray serial crystallography.

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Yefanov, Oleksandr; Gati, Cornelius; Bourenkov, Gleb; Kirian, Richard A; White, Thomas A; Spence, John C H; Chapman, Henry N; Barty, Anton

2014-07-17

Serial crystallography using X-ray free-electron lasers enables the collection of tens of thousands of measurements from an equal number of individual crystals, each of which can be smaller than 1 µm in size. This manuscript describes an alternative way of handling diffraction data recorded by serial femtosecond crystallography, by mapping the diffracted intensities into three-dimensional reciprocal space rather than integrating each image in two dimensions as in the classical approach. We call this procedure 'three-dimensional merging'. This procedure retains information about asymmetry in Bragg peaks and diffracted intensities between Bragg spots. This intensity distribution can be used to extract reflection intensities for structure determination and opens up novel avenues for post-refinement, while observed intensity between Bragg peaks and peak asymmetry are of potential use in novel direct phasing strategies.

Inspiratory and expiratory HRCT findings in healthy smokers' lung

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Hyeon Seon; Kwak, Byung Kook; Choi, Chi Hoon; Yang, Keun Mung; Lee, Chang Joon; Joo, Dong Il; Kim, Yang Soo

1998-01-01

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the lung changes in healthy smokers, as seen on inspiratory and expiratory high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT). Twenty-seven healthy smokers (light smokers, below 20 pack-years, n=16; heavy smokers, above 20 pack-years, n=11) and 25 nonsmokers underwent inspiratory and expiratory HRCT. All healthy smokers had normal pulmonary function and chest radiography. Parenchymal and subpleural micronodules, ground-glass attenuation, centrilobular and paraseptal emphysema, bronchial wall thickening, bronchiectasis and septal line were evaluated on inspiratory scan and by air-trapping on expiratory scan. According to the findings of HRCT, heavy smokers and higher frequency of parenchymal micronodules, ground-glass attenuation, centrilobular and paraseptal emphysema, and air-trapping than nonsmokers and light smokers. (author). 13 refs., 1 tab., 4 figs

Interaction between intra-abdominal pressure and positive-end expiratory pressure

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Jamili Anbar Torquato

2009-02-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to quantify the interaction between increased intra-abdominal pressure and Positive-End Expiratory Pressure. METHODS: In 30 mechanically ventilated ICU patients with a fixed tidal volume, respiratory system plateau and abdominal pressure were measured at a Positive-End Expiratory Pressure level of zero and 10 cm H2O. The measurements were repeated after placing a 5 kg weight on the patients' belly. RESULTS: After the addition of 5 kg to the patients' belly at zero Positive-End Expiratory Pressure, both intra-abdominal pressure (p<0.001 and plateau pressures (p=0.005 increased significantly. Increasing the Positive-End Expiratory Pressure levels from zero to 10 cm H2O without weight on the belly did not result in any increase in intra-abdominal pressure (p=0.165. However, plateau pressures increased significantly (p< 0.001. Increasing Positive-End Expiratory Pressure from zero to 10 cm H2O and adding 5 kg to the belly increased intra-abdominal pressure from 8.7 to 16.8 (p<0.001 and plateau pressure from 18.26 to 27.2 (p<0.001. Maintaining Positive-End Expiratory Pressure at 10 cm H2O and placing 5 kg on the belly increased intra-abdominal pressure from 12.3 +/- 1.7 to 16.8 +/- 1.7 (p<0.001 but did not increase plateau pressure (26.6+/-1.2 to 27.2 +/-1.1 -p=0.83. CONCLUSIONS: The addition of a 5kg weight onto the abdomen significantly increased both IAP and the airway plateau pressure, confirming that intra-abdominal hypertension elevates the plateau pressure. However, plateau pressure alone cannot be considered a good indicator for the detection of elevated intra-abdominal pressure in patients under mechanical ventilation using PEEP. In these patients, the intra-abdominal pressure must also be measured.

Peak flow variation in childhood asthma : Relationship to symptoms, atopy, airways obstruction and hyperresponsiveness

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brand, PLP; Duiverman, EJ; Postma, DS; Waalkens, HJ; Kerrebijn, KF; vanEssenZandvliet, EEM; Quanjer, PH; Sluiter, HJ; Pouw, EM; Schoonbrood, DFME; Roos, CM; Jansen, HM; DeGooijer, A; Kerstjens, HAM; vanderMark, TW; Koeter, GH; deJong, PM; Sterk, PJ; Weaver, AMJ; Dijkman, JH; Dekhuijzen, PNR; Folgering, HTM; vanHerwaarden, CLA; Overbeek, SE; Bogaard, JM; Hilvering, C; Gans, SJ; Mengelers, HJJ; vanderBruggenBogaarts, BAHA; Kreukniet, J; Kouwenberg, JM; Prinsen, JE; Gerritsen, J; Knol, K; deMonchy, JGR; Dekker, FW; Kaptein, AA; Merkus, PJFM; Pocock, SJ; Hughes, MD; Robinson, NJ; Bleecker, ER; Meyers, DA

Although home recording of peak expiratory flow (PEF) is considered useful in managing asthma, little is known about the relationship of PEF variation to other indicators of disease activity, We examined the relationship of PEF variation, expressed in various ways, to symptoms, atopy, level of lung

Quick, sensitive serial NMR experiments with Radon transform.

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Dass, Rupashree; Kasprzak, Paweł; Kazimierczuk, Krzysztof

2017-09-01

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

Effects of equipment and technique on peak flow measurements

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O'Driscoll B Ronan

2006-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Different lung function equipment and different respiratory manoeuvres may produce different Peak Expiratory Flow (PEF results. Although the PEF is the most common lung function test, there have been few studies of these effects and no previous study has evaluated both factors in a single group of patients. Methods We studied 36 subjects (PEF range 80–570 l/min. All patients recorded PEF measurements using a short rapid expiration following maximal inspiration (PEF technique or a forced maximal expiration to residual volume (FVC technique. Measurements were made using a Wright's peak flow meter, a turbine spirometer and a Fleisch pneumotachograph spirometer. Results The mean PEF was 8.7% higher when the PEF technique was used (compared with FVC technique, p Conclusion Peak flow measurements are affected by the instruction given and by the device and Peak Flow scale used. Patient management decisions should not be based on PEF measurement made on different instruments.

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

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

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

2015-05-01

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

Comparative evaluation of ventilatory function through pre and postoperative peak expiratory flow in patients submitted to elective upper abdominal surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Scheeren, Caio Fernando Cavanus; Gonçalves, José Júlio Saraiva

2016-01-01

to evaluate the ventilatory function by Peak Expiratory Flow (PEF) in the immediate pre and postoperative periods of patients undergoing elective surgical procedures in the upper abdomen. we conducted a prospective cohort study including 47 patients admitted to the Hospital Regional de Mato Grosso do Sul from July to December 2014, who underwent elective surgeries of the upper abdomen, and submiited to spirometric evaluation and measurement of PEF immediately before and after surgery. of the 47 patients, 22 (46.8%) were male and 25 (53.20%) female. The mean preoperative PEF was 412.1±91.7, and postoperative, 331.0±87.8, indicating significant differences between the two variables. Men had higher PEF values than women, both in the pre and postoperative periods. There was a reasonable inverse correlation between age and decreased PEF. Both situations showed statistical significance (pvalores de PFE do que o feminino, tanto no pré-cirúrgico quanto no pós-cirúrgico. Observou-se razoável correlação inversamente proporcional entre as variáveis idade e diminuição do PFE. Ambas as situações mostraram significância estatística (pvalores de PFE tanto no pré como no pós-operatório. O grupo composto por portadores de co-morbidades (HAS e/ou DM) apresentou menores valores de PFE tanto no pré como no pós-operatório (p=0,005). Em ambos os grupos, o pós-operatório determinou uma diminuição significativa do PFE (p<0,001). O tipo de cirurgia realizada e o tipo de anestesia não mostraram diferenças significantes em relação ao PFE. as variáveis mais implicadas na diminuição da função ventilatória, avaliadas através da PFE, foram: idade avançada, tabagismo e presença de comorbidades.

Parameters affecting the tidal volume during expiratory abdominal compression in patients with prolonged tracheostomy mechanical ventilation.

Science.gov (United States)

Morino, Akira; Shida, Masahiro; Tanaka, Masashi; Sato, Kimihiro; Seko, Toshiaki; Ito, Shunsuke; Ogawa, Shunichi; Takahashi, Naoaki

2015-07-01

[Purpose] The aim of this study was to clarify physical parameters affecting the tidal volume during expiratory abdominal compression in patients with prolonged tracheostomy mechanical ventilation. [Methods] Eighteen patients with prolonged mechanical ventilation were included in this study. Expiratory abdominal compression was performed on patients lying in a supine position. The abdomen above the navel was vertically compressed in synchronization with expiration and released with inspiration. We measured the tidal volume during expiratory abdominal compression. [Results] The mean tidal volume during expiratory abdominal compression was higher than that at rest (430.6 ± 127.1 mL vs. 344.0 ± 94.3 mL). The tidal volume during expiratory abdominal compression was correlated with weight, days of ventilator support, dynamic compliance and abdominal expansion. Stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that weight (β = 0.499), dynamic compliance (β = 0.387), and abdominal expansion (β = 0.365) were factors contributing to the tidal volume during expiratory abdominal compression. [Conclusion] Expiratory abdominal compression increased the tidal volume in patients with prolonged tracheostomy mechanical ventilation. The tidal volume during expiratory abdominal compression was influenced by each of the pulmonary conditions and the physical characteristics.

Impact of expiratory strength training in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Plowman, Emily K; Watts, Stephanie A; Tabor, Lauren; Robison, Raele; Gaziano, Joy; Domer, Amanda S; Richter, Joel; Vu, Tuan; Gooch, Clifton

2016-06-01

We evaluated the feasibility and impact of expiratory muscle strength training (EMST) on respiratory and bulbar function in persons with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Twenty-five ALS patients participated in this delayed intervention open-label clinical trial. Following a lead-in period, patients completed a 5-week EMST protocol. Outcome measures included: maximum expiratory pressure (MEP); physiologic measures of swallow and cough; and penetration-aspiration scale (PAS) scores. Of participants who entered the active phase of the study (n = 15), EMST was well tolerated and led to significant increases in MEPs and maximum hyoid displacement during swallowing post-EMST (P < 0.05). No significant differences were observed for PAS scores or cough spirometry measures. EMST was feasible and well tolerated in this small cohort of ALS patients and led to improvements in expiratory force-generating pressures and swallow kinematics. Further investigation is warranted to confirm these preliminary findings. Muscle Nerve 54: 48-53, 2016. Published 2015. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Effects of non-fatiguing respiratory muscle loading induced by expiratory flow limitation during strenuous incremental cycle exercise on metabolic stress and circulating natural killer cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Rolland-Debord, Camille; Morelot-Panzini, Capucine; Similowski, Thomas; Duranti, Roberto; Laveneziana, Pierantonio

2017-12-01

Exercise induces release of cytokines and increase of circulating natural killers (NK) lymphocyte during strong activation of respiratory muscles. We hypothesised that non-fatiguing respiratory muscle loading during exercise causes an increase in NK cells and in metabolic stress indices. Heart rate (HR), ventilation (VE), oesophageal pressure (Pes), oxygen consumption (VO 2 ), dyspnoea and leg effort were measured in eight healthy humans (five men and three women, average age of 31 ± 4 years and body weight of 68 ± 10 kg), performing an incremental exercise testing on a cycle ergometer under control condition and expiratory flow limitation (FL) achieved by putting a Starling resistor. Blood samples were obtained at baseline, at peak of exercise and at iso-workload corresponding to that reached at the peak of FL exercise during control exercise. Diaphragmatic fatigue was evaluated by measuring the tension time index of the diaphragm. Respiratory muscle overloading caused an earlier interruption of exercise. Diaphragmatic fatigue did not occur in the two conditions. At peak of flow-limited exercise compared to iso-workload, HR, peak inspiratory and expiratory Pes, NK cells and norepinephrine were significantly higher. The number of NK cells was significantly related to ΔPes (i.e. difference between the most and the less negative Pes) and plasmatic catecholamines. Loading of respiratory muscles is able to cause an increase of NK cells provided that activation of respiratory muscles is intense enough to induce a significant metabolic stress.

Positive expiratory pressure - Common clinical applications and physiological effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Fagevik Olsén, Monika; Lannefors, Louise; Westerdahl, Elisabeth

2015-03-01

Breathing out against resistance, in order to achieve positive expiratory pressure (PEP), is applied by many patient groups. Pursed lips breathing and a variety of devices can be used to create the resistance giving the increased expiratory pressure. Effects on pulmonary outcomes have been discussed in several publications, but the expected underlying physiology of the effect is seldom discussed. The aim of this article is to describe the purpose, performance, clinical application and underlying physiology of PEP when it is used to increase lung volumes, decrease hyperinflation or improve airway clearance. In clinical practice, the instruction how to use an expiratory resistance is of major importance since it varies. Different breathing patterns during PEP increase or reduce expiratory flow, result in movement of EPP centrally or peripherally and can increase or decrease lung volume. It is therefore necessary to give the right instructions to obtain the desired effects. As the different PEP techniques are being used by diverse patient groups it is not possible to give standard instructions. Based on the information given in this article the instructions have to be adjusted to give the optimal effect. There is no consensus regarding optimal treatment frequency and number of cycles included in each treatment session and must also be individualized. In future research, more precise descriptions are needed about physiological aims and specific instructions of how the treatments have been performed to assure as good treatment quality as possible and to be able to evaluate and compare treatment effects. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Serial assessment of left ventricular function following coronary bypass surgery by radionuclide angiocardiography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kawasuji, Michio; Sawa, Shigeharu; Sakakibara, Naoki; Iwa, Takashi; Taki, Junichi; Bunko, Hisashi

1988-01-01

The serial change in left ventricular function was investigated by radionuclide angiocardiography in 25 patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Multiple gated equilibrium blood pool imaging was performed at rest before, and at 1, 2 and 4 weeks after the operation and also during exercise on a supine bicycle ergometer before and 4 weeks after surgery. Global ejection fraction at rest was unchanged after CABG while peak ejection rate increased significantly at 1 and 2 weeks (p < 0.01 and p < 0.05 respectively) after the operation. Peak filling rate at rest was generally unchanged after surgery but peak filling rate during the first third of diastole at rest decreased significantly at 1 and 2 weeks (p < 0.01 and p < 0.05). After CABG, the increases in ejection fraction and peak ejection rate with exercise were significantly greater than those values measured before surgery. The increases, due to exercise, in peak filling rate and peak filling rate during the first third of diastole were unchanged after the operation. Radionuclide angiocardiography affords a safe, noninvasive, and highly reproducible procedure for serially assessing ventricular function in patients undergoing CABG. Our study revealed early diastolic dysfunction within 2 weeks of surgery and that CABG abolished abnormalities in left ventricular function induced by exercise. (author)

RELATIONSHIP OF AIRWAY HYPERRESPONSIVENESS TO RESPIRATORY SYMPTOMS AND DIURNAL PEAK FLOW VARIATION IN PATIENTS WITH OBSTRUCTIVE LUNG-DISEASE

NARCIS (Netherlands)

BRAND, PLP; POSTMA, DS; KERSTJENS, HAM; KOETER, GH

This study reports on the relationship of airway hyperresponsiveness (AH) with respiratory symptoms and diurnal peak flow expiratory (PEF) variation in 221 hyperresponsive patients with moderately severe airways obstruction. The disease was in a stable phase in all patients. Closely adhering to the

Hyperinflation and intrinsic positive end-expiratory pressure: less room to breathe.

Science.gov (United States)

Krieger, Bruce P

2009-01-01

Clinically, the symptoms and limited exercise capabilities of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) correlate better with changes in lung volumes than with airflow measurements. The realization of the clinical importance of hyperinflation has been overshadowed for decades by the use of forced expiratory volume during 1 s (FEV(1)) and the ratio of the FEV(1) to the forced expiratory vital capacity (FEV(1)/FVC) to categorize the severity and progression of COPD. Hyperinflation is defined as an elevation in the end-expiratory lung volume or functional residual capacity. When severe hyperinflation encroaches upon inspiratory capacity and limits vital capacity, it results in elevated intrinsic positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEPi) that places the diaphragm at a mechanical disadvantage and increases the work of breathing. Severe hyperinflation is the major physiologic cause of the resulting hypercarbic respiratory failure and patients' inability to transition (i.e. wean) from mechanical ventilatory support to spontaneous breathing. This paper reviews the basic physiologic principles of hyperinflation and its clinical manifestations as demonstrated by PEEPi. Also reviewed are the adverse effects of hyperinflation and PEEPi in critically ill patients with COPD, and methods for minimizing or counterbalancing these effects. Copyright 2009 S. Karger AG, Basel.

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

Science.gov (United States)

Castle, Tammy; Hensley, Christopher

2002-08-01

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

American video peak store gives fuel a better image

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1989-01-01

A new American image enhancement system using a video peak frame store aims to overcome the common problems of viewing serial numbers on irradiated fuel assemblies within the reactor core whilst reducing operator exposure at the same time. Other nuclear plant inspection applications are envisaged. (author)

Long-range correlations of serial FEV1 measurements in emphysematous patients and normal subjects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dirksen, A; Holstein-Rathlou, N H; Madsen, F

1998-01-01

are autocorrelated. The purpose of this study was to describe the correlation structure in time series of FEV1 measurements. Nineteen patients with severe alpha1-antitrypsin deficiency (phenotype PiZ) and moderate to severe emphysema and two subjects with normal lungs were followed for several years with daily self......In obstructive lung disease the annual change in lung function is usually estimated from serial measurements of forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1). Frequent measurements in each patient may not improve this estimate because data are not statistically independent; i.e., the measurements...... measurements show long-range correlations. The practical implication is that FEV1 need not be measured more often than once every 3 mo in studies of the long-term trends in lung function....

Acute effects of particulate matter and black carbon from seasonal fires on peak expiratory flow of schoolchildren in the Brazilian Amazon.

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Ludmilla da Silva Viana Jacobson

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Panel studies have shown adverse effects of air pollution from biomass burning on children's health. This study estimated the effect of current levels of outdoor air pollution in the Amazonian dry season on peak expiratory flow (PEF. METHODS: A panel study with 234 schoolchildren from 6 to 15 years old living in the municipality of Tangará da Serra, Brazil was conducted. PEF was measured daily in the dry season in 2008. Mixed-effects models and unified modelling repeated for every child were applied. Time trends, temperature, humidity, and subject characteristics were regarded. Inhalable particulate matter (PM10, fine particulate matter (PM2.5, and black carbon (BC effects were evaluated based on 24-hour exposure lagged by 1 to 5 days and the averages of 2 or 3 days. Polynomial distributed lag models (PDLM were also applied. RESULTS: The analyses revealed reductions in PEF for PM10 and PM2.5 increases of 10 µg/m(3 and 1 µg/m(3 for BC. For PM10, the reductions varied from 0.15 (confidence interval (CI95%: -0.29; -0.01 to 0.25 l/min (CI95%: -0.40; -0.10. For PM2.5, they ranged from 0.46 (CI95%: -0.86 to -0.06 to 0.54 l/min (CI95%:-0.95; -0.14. As for BC, the reduction was approximately 1.40 l/min. In relation to PDLM, adverse effects were noticed in models based on the exposure on the current day through the previous 3 days (PDLM 0-3 and on the current day through the previous 5 days (PDLM 0-5, specially for PM10. For all children, for PDLM 0-5 the global effect was important for PM10, with PEF reduction of 0.31 l/min (CI95%: -0.56; -0.05. Also, reductions in lags 3 and 4 were observed. These associations were stronger for children between 6 and 8 years old. CONCLUSION: Reductions in PEF were associated with air pollution, mainly for lagged exposures of 3 to 5 days and for younger children.

Inspiratory and expiratory computed tomographic volumetry for lung volume reduction surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Morimura, Yuki; Chen, Fengshi; Sonobe, Makoto; Date, Hiroshi

2013-06-01

Three-dimensional (3D) computed tomographic (CT) volumetry has been introduced into the field of thoracic surgery, and a combination of inspiratory and expiratory 3D-CT volumetry provides useful data on regional pulmonary function as well as the volume of individual lung lobes. We report herein a case of a 62-year-old man with severe emphysema who had undergone lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS) to assess this technique as a tool for the evaluation of regional lung function and volume before and after LVRS. His postoperative pulmonary function was maintained in good condition despite a gradual slight decrease 2 years after LVRS. This trend was also confirmed by a combination of inspiratory and expiratory 3D-CT volumetry. We confirm that a combination of inspiratory and expiratory 3D-CT volumetry might be effective for the preoperative assessment of LVRS in order to determine the amount of lung tissue to be resected as well as for postoperative evaluation. This novel technique could, therefore, be used more widely to assess local lung function.

Diagnostic methods to assess inspiratory and expiratory muscle strength

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Pedro Caruso

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Impairment of (inspiratory and expiratory respiratory muscles is a common clinical finding, not only in patients with neuromuscular disease but also in patients with primary disease of the lung parenchyma or airways. Although such impairment is common, its recognition is usually delayed because its signs and symptoms are nonspecific and late. This delayed recognition, or even the lack thereof, occurs because the diagnostic tests used in the assessment of respiratory muscle strength are not widely known and available. There are various methods of assessing respiratory muscle strength during the inspiratory and expiratory phases. These methods are divided into two categories: volitional tests (which require patient understanding and cooperation; and non-volitional tests. Volitional tests, such as those that measure maximal inspiratory and expiratory pressures, are the most commonly used because they are readily available. Non-volitional tests depend on magnetic stimulation of the phrenic nerve accompanied by the measurement of inspiratory mouth pressure, inspiratory esophageal pressure, or inspiratory transdiaphragmatic pressure. Another method that has come to be widely used is ultrasound imaging of the diaphragm. We believe that pulmonologists involved in the care of patients with respiratory diseases should be familiar with the tests used in order to assess respiratory muscle function.Therefore, the aim of the present article is to describe the advantages, disadvantages, procedures, and clinical applicability of the main tests used in the assessment of respiratory muscle strength.

Changes in forced expiratory volume in 1 second over time in COPD

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vestbo, Jørgen; Edwards, Lisa D; Scanlon, Paul D

2011-01-01

A key feature of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an accelerated rate of decline in forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV(1)), but data on the variability and determinants of this change in patients who have established disease are scarce.......A key feature of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an accelerated rate of decline in forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV(1)), but data on the variability and determinants of this change in patients who have established disease are scarce....

The Windows serial port programming handbook

CERN Document Server

Bai, Ying

2004-01-01

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

Decreasing Serial Cost Sharing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hougaard, Jens Leth; Østerdal, Lars Peter

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

Decreasing serial cost sharing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hougaard, Jens Leth; Østerdal, Lars Peter Raahave

2009-01-01

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

Cystic lung disease: a comparison of cystic size, as seen on expiratory and inspiratory HRCT scans

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Ki Nam; Yoon, Seong Kuk; Nam, Kyung Jin; Choi, Seok Jin; Goo, Jin Mo

2000-01-01

To determine the effects of respiration on the size of lung cysts by comparing inspiratory and expiratory high-resolution CT (HRCT) scans. The authors evaluated the size of cystic lesions, as seen on paired inspiratory and expiratory HRCT scans, in 54 patients with Langerhans cell histiocytosis (n = 3), pulmonary lymphangiomyomatosis (n = 4), confluent centrilobular emphysema (n = 9), paraseptal emphysema and bullae (n = 16), cystic bronchiectasis (n = 13), and honeycombing (n = 9). Using paired inspiratory and expiratory HRCT scans obtained at the corresponding anatomic level, a total of 270 cystic lesions were selected simultaneously on the basis of five lesions per lung disease. Changes in lung cyst size observed during respiration were assessed by two radiologists. In a limited number of cases (n = 11), pathologic specimens were obtained by open lung biopsy or lobectomy. All cystic lesions in patients with Langerhans cell histiocytosis, lymphangiomyomatosis, cystic bronchiectasis, honeycombing, and confluent centrilobular emphysema became smaller on expiration, but in two cases of paraseptal emphysema and bullae there was no change. In cases in which expiratory CT scans indicate that cysts have become smaller, cystic lesions may communicate with the airways. To determine whether, for cysts and cystic lesions, this connection does in fact exist, paired inspiratory and expiratory HRCT scans are necessary

Cystic lung disease: a comparison of cystic size, as seen on expiratory and inspiratory HRCT scans

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Ki Nam; Yoon, Seong Kuk; Nam, Kyung Jin [Donga University College of Medicine, Pusan (Korea, Republic of); Choi, Seok Jin [Inje University College of Medicine, Gimhae (Korea, Republic of); Goo, Jin Mo [Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2000-06-01

To determine the effects of respiration on the size of lung cysts by comparing inspiratory and expiratory high-resolution CT (HRCT) scans. The authors evaluated the size of cystic lesions, as seen on paired inspiratory and expiratory HRCT scans, in 54 patients with Langerhans cell histiocytosis (n = 3), pulmonary lymphangiomyomatosis (n = 4), confluent centrilobular emphysema (n = 9), paraseptal emphysema and bullae (n = 16), cystic bronchiectasis (n = 13), and honeycombing (n = 9). Using paired inspiratory and expiratory HRCT scans obtained at the corresponding anatomic level, a total of 270 cystic lesions were selected simultaneously on the basis of five lesions per lung disease. Changes in lung cyst size observed during respiration were assessed by two radiologists. In a limited number of cases (n = 11), pathologic specimens were obtained by open lung biopsy or lobectomy. All cystic lesions in patients with Langerhans cell histiocytosis, lymphangiomyomatosis, cystic bronchiectasis, honeycombing, and confluent centrilobular emphysema became smaller on expiration, but in two cases of paraseptal emphysema and bullae there was no change. In cases in which expiratory CT scans indicate that cysts have become smaller, cystic lesions may communicate with the airways. To determine whether, for cysts and cystic lesions, this connection does in fact exist, paired inspiratory and expiratory HRCT scans are necessary.

Thoracoabdominal mobility evaluation by photogrammetry in newborns after expiratory flow increase technique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Júlia Isabel de Araújo Guerra

Full Text Available Abstract Introduction: Expiratory flow increase is a maneuver of respiratory physical therapy that promotes flow direction to the upper airways however, when applied in newborns, it may result in changes of thoracoabdominal mobility. Objective: To evaluate the thoracoabdominal mobility by photogrammetry in newborns after expiratory flow increase technique. Methods: Experimental blind study performed with newborns in supine position on a support table with upper limbs flexed, abducted and externally rotated and hip flexed at 110°. Adhesive markers were allocated for geometric delimitation of the thoracoabdominal compartment and expiratory flow increase technique was performed for 5 minutes with the therapist’s hands on the thorax and abdomen. Newborns were filmed before and after the maneuver and the frames were analyzed in AutoCAD® software by a blinded investigator at the time of the procedure. The largest and the smallest thoracoabdominal area were expressed in cm2 and the mean values were compared between two moments (pre and post maneuver by paired t test. Results: Twenty newborns with a mean age of 39 weeks were included. Before the maneuver, thoracoabdominal area was 56.1 cm2 during expiration and 59.7 cm2 during inspiration, and after the maneuver the value was 56.2 cm2 during expiration and 59.8 cm2 during inspiration, with no statistical difference between before and after (p = 0.97, p = 0.92, respectively. Conclusion: Results demonstrate that expiratory flow increase technique does not seem to change thoracoabdominal mobility of healthy newborns.

Focal airtrapping at expiratory high-resolution CT: comparison with pulmonary function tests

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kauczor, H.U.; Hast, J.; Heussel, C.P.; Mildenberger, P.; Thelen, M.; Schlegel, J.

2000-01-01

This study was undertaken to determine prevalence, extent, and severity of focal airtrapping at expiratory high-resolution CT, and to compare focal airtrapping with age, gender, pulmonary function tests, and blood gas analysis. Two-hundred seventeen patients with and without pulmonary disease underwent paired inspiratory/expiratory high-resolution CT. Six scan pairs with corresponding scan levels were visually assessed for focal - not diffuse - airtrapping using a four-point scale. Pulmonary function tests and blood gas analysis were available for correlation in all patients (mean interval 5 days). Focal airtrapping with lower lung predominance was observed in 80 % of patients. Twenty-six of 26 patients with restrictive lung function impairment exhibited focal airtrapping (mean score 2.4), whereas only 72 of 98 (74 %) patients with obstruction did (mean score 1.5; p < 0.05). Fifty-eight of 70 (83 %) patients with normal lung function (mean score 1.8) and 19 of 23 (83 %) patients with mixed impairment (mean score 1.8) had focal airtrapping. Focal airtrapping showed negative correlations with static lung volumes (-0.27 to -0.37; p < 0.001) in all patients and moderate positive correlations with dynamic parameters (0.3-0.4; p < 0.001) in patients with obstruction. No significant correlations were found with age, gender, and blood gas analysis. Visual assessment of focal - not diffuse - airtrapping at expiratory high-resolution CT does not correlate with physiological evidence of obstruction as derived from pulmonary function tests since the perception of focal airtrapping requires an adequate expiratory increase in lung density. (orig.)

High resolution CT in cystic fibrosis--the contribution of expiratory scans

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dorloechter, Ludger; Nes, Harald; Fluge, Gjermund; Rosendahl, Karen

2003-01-01

Introduction: The use of high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) is well accepted as an accurate method for evaluation of lung parenchyma in cystic fibrosis (CF). Several scoring methods exist and, in common, all are based on HRCT findings during inspiration alone. Objective: To examine whether expiratory HRCT scans could add information about the degree of mosaic perfusion in patients with CF. Methods and patients: Pulmonary HRCT was performed in 17 CF patients (median age of 12 years) with 1-mm thin sections and 10-mm intervals during inspiration, followed by 1-mm thin sections with 20-mm intervals during expiration. HRCT was scored by using a modified Bhalla method. Results: The mean HRCT score was 8.2. Out of 17 patients, 11 (65%) demonstrated a pathological mosaic perfusion in expiration, while only three patients showed mosaic perfusion in inspiration. The degree of expiratory mosaic perfusion was graded as severe in nine patients and moderate in two patients. There was a significant correlation between our modified HRCT score and lung function, as measured by forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1% predicted, P<0.01). Conclusion: Mosaic perfusion in expiration was a common pathological HRCT finding in our study group. The clinical significance of this finding needs further evaluation

Serial dynamic CT scan in patients with acute basal ganglia infarctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Node, Yoji; Nakazawa, Shozo; Tsuji, Yukihide.

1987-01-01

Dynamic computed tomography (CT) was performed on 15 patients (37 to 93 years of age) with acute basal ganglia infarctions, and the perfusion patterns of the infarcted regions on CT were evaluated. The initial dynamic CT was performed within 12 hours after onset, while the serial studies of the dynamic CT were performed on the 3rd and 7th days. The left-over-right ratio in the peak value in the basal ganglia in 15 normal subjects was 1.01 ± 0.03 (mean ± SD), so there were no differences in the peak values of the bilateral basal ganglia. We also examined the left-over-right ratio in the peak value and in the rapid-washout ratio in the basal ganglia in the 15 normal subjects. There was no difference in the peak values of the bilateral basal ganglia. The mean rapid-washout ratio was 0.62 ± 0.11 (mean ± SD). The prognoses of these patients three months after onset were as follows: 8 showed a good recovery, 5 had a moderate disability, and 2 had a severe disability. The perfusions on admission were as follows. 10 were hypoperfusions, 3 were hypo + late perfusions, one was a normoperfusion, and one was a late perfusion. There was a tendency for the rapid-washout ratio decrease more in the hypo + late perfusion group than in the other groups. Twelve patients showed an iso-density, while 3 showed a low density, on admission. The ''low-density'' group showed a decrease in the A/N ratio of the peak value. We performed serial dynamic CT in 11 cases. The group with severe disabilities (2 cases) showed a hypo + late perfusion in the initial CT, one case kept a hypo + late perfusion, and another case changed to a hypoperfusion; also, there was a tendency for there to be a poor improvement in the A/N ratio of the peak value in these two ''severe-disability'' patients. (J.P.N.)

Volume-monitored chest CT: a simplified method for obtaining motion-free images near full inspiratory and end expiratory lung volumes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mueller, Kathryn S. [The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH (United States); Long, Frederick R. [Nationwide Children' s Hospital, The Children' s Radiological Institute, Columbus, OH (United States); Flucke, Robert L. [Nationwide Children' s Hospital, Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Columbus, OH (United States); Castile, Robert G. [The Research Institute at Nationwide Children' s Hospital, Center for Perinatal Research, Columbus, OH (United States)

2010-10-15

Lung inflation and respiratory motion during chest CT affect diagnostic accuracy and reproducibility. To describe a simple volume-monitored (VM) method for performing reproducible, motion-free full inspiratory and end expiratory chest CT examinations in children. Fifty-two children with cystic fibrosis (mean age 8.8 {+-} 2.2 years) underwent pulmonary function tests and inspiratory and expiratory VM-CT scans (1.25-mm slices, 80-120 kVp, 16-40 mAs) according to an IRB-approved protocol. The VM-CT technique utilizes instruction from a respiratory therapist, a portable spirometer and real-time documentation of lung volume on a computer. CT image quality was evaluated for achievement of targeted lung-volume levels and for respiratory motion. Children achieved 95% of vital capacity during full inspiratory imaging. For end expiratory scans, 92% were at or below the child's end expiratory level. Two expiratory exams were judged to be at suboptimal volumes. Two inspiratory (4%) and three expiratory (6%) exams showed respiratory motion. Overall, 94% of scans were performed at optimal volumes without respiratory motion. The VM-CT technique is a simple, feasible method in children as young as 4 years to achieve reproducible high-quality full inspiratory and end expiratory lung CT images. (orig.)

Regional specific mean expiratory gas flow from Slmsub(Kr) equilibrium inhalation data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hamilton, D.; Causer, D.A.; McIntosh, J.A.; Godfrey, K.R.

1985-01-01

A new method of analysing the data available from routine sup(81m) Kr equilibrium inhalation investigations has been developed. The data for analysis are acquired from a gamma camera in the form of a sequential series of images from which multiple breath activity-time curves are generated for eight regions in the lung. The method is based on a description of the behaviour of the radioactive gas in the lung using a mathematical model. Values of specific mean expiratory gas flow, that is mean expiratory gas flow per unit lung volume, are calculated from the application of the model to the expiratory phase only only of a single breath activity-time curve which is generated from the multiple breath activity-time curve using post-acquisition gating. This method overcomes the problem of non-uniform inspiratory concentration of tracer gas experienced in previously reported techniques of analysing inhalation data obtained using poorly soluble radioactive gases. The model is shown, in simulation studies, to be an adequate description of the behaviour of radioactive gas in the lung and the analysis technique is shown, in clinical studies, to be both reproducible and sensitive to disease state. (orig.)

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maya De Belder

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

Differing responses in right and left ventricular filling, loading and volumes during positive end-expiratory pressure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schulman, D.S.; Biondi, J.W.; Matthay, R.A.; Zaret, B.L.; Soufer, R.

1989-01-01

Using a combined hemodynamic and radionuclide technique, 20 patients with varied ventricular function were evaluated during positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) application. Left ventricular (LV) and right ventricular (RV) ejection fractions and cardiac output were measured, and ventricular volumes were derived. Seven patients (group 1) who had an increase in LV end-diastolic volume with PEEP and 13 patients (group 2) who had the more typical response, a decrease in LV end-diastolic volume with PEEP, were identified. Compared with group 2, group 1 patients had a higher incidence of coronary artery disease (5 of 7 vs 1 of 13, p less than 0.005) and lower cardiac output (3.9 +/- 1.6 vs 9.1 +/- 3.2 liters/min, p less than 0.005), LV ejection fraction (27 +/- 13 vs 51 +/- 21%, p less than 0.05), RV ejection fraction (15 +/- 6 vs 32 +/- 8%, p less than 0.005) and peak filling rate (1.32 +/- 0.43 vs 3.51 +/- 1.70 end-diastolic volumes/s, p less than 0.05). LV and RV volumes increased and peak filling rate decreased with PEEP in group 1, whereas in group 2 LV volume decreased and RV volume and peak filling rate remained unchanged. Using stepwise regression analysis, the change in LV volume with PEEP was related directly to baseline systemic vascular resistance and inversely to baseline blood pressure. Similarly, the change in peak filling rate with PEEP was inversely related to the change in RV end-diastolic volume. Thus, the hemodynamic response to PEEP is heterogeneous and may be related to LV ischemia

The unique contribution of manual chest compression-vibrations to airflow during physiotherapy in sedated, fully ventilated children.

Science.gov (United States)

Gregson, Rachael K; Shannon, Harriet; Stocks, Janet; Cole, Tim J; Peters, Mark J; Main, Eleanor

2012-03-01

This study aimed to quantify the specific effects of manual lung inflations with chest compression-vibrations, commonly used to assist airway clearance in ventilated patients. The hypothesis was that force applied during the compressions made a significant additional contribution to increases in peak expiratory flow and expiratory to inspiratory flow ratio over and above that resulting from accompanying increases in inflation volume. Prospective observational study. Cardiac and general pediatric intensive care. Sedated, fully ventilated children. Customized force-sensing mats and a commercial respiratory monitor recorded force and respiration during physiotherapy. Percentage changes in peak expiratory flow, peak expiratory to inspiratory flow ratios, inflation volume, and peak inflation pressure between baseline and manual inflations with and without compression-vibrations were calculated. Analysis of covariance determined the relative contribution of changes in pressure, volume, and force to influence changes in peak expiratory flow and peak expiratory to inspiratory flow ratio. Data from 105 children were analyzed (median age, 1.3 yrs; range, 1 wk to 15.9 yrs). Force during compressions ranged from 15 to 179 N (median, 46 N). Peak expiratory flow increased on average by 76% during compressions compared with baseline ventilation. Increases in peak expiratory flow were significantly related to increases in inflation volume, peak inflation pressure, and force with peak expiratory flow increasing by, on average, 4% for every 10% increase in inflation volume (p children.

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2010-01-01

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

Developments in Serials: 1977

Science.gov (United States)

James, John R.

1978-01-01

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

Impact of humidification and nebulization during expiratory limb protection: an experimental bench study.

Science.gov (United States)

Tonnelier, Alexandre; Lellouche, François; Bouchard, Pierre Alexandre; L'Her, Erwan

2013-08-01

Different filtering devices are used during mechanical ventilation to avoid dysfunction of flow and pressure transducers or for airborne microorganisms containment. Water condensates, resulting from the use of humidifiers, but also residual nebulization particles may have a major influence on expiratory limb resistance. To evaluate the influence of nebulization and active humidification on the resistance of expiratory filters. A respiratory system analog was constructed using a test lung, an ICU ventilator, heated humidifiers, and a piezoelectric nebulizer. Humidifiers were connected to different types of circuits (unheated, mono-heated, new-generation and old-generation bi-heated). Five filter types were evaluated: electrostatic, heat-and-moisture exchanger, standard, specific, and internal heated high-efficiency particulate air [HEPA] filter. Baseline characteristics were obtained from each dry filter. Differential pressure measurements were carried out after 24 hours of continuous in vitro use for each condition, and after 24 hours of use with an old-generation bi-heated circuit without nebulization. While using unheated circuits, measurements had to be interrupted before 24 hours for all the filtering devices except the internal heated HEPA filter. The heat-and-moisture exchangers occluded before 24 hours with the unheated and mono-heated circuits. The circuit type, nebulization practice, and duration of use did not influence the internal heated HEPA filter resistance. Expiratory limb filtration is likely to induce several major adverse events. Expiratory filter resistance increase is due mainly to the humidification circuit type, rather than to nebulization. If filtration is mandatory while using an unheated circuit, a dedicated filter should be used for ≤ 24 hours, or a heated HEPA for a longer duration.

Malaysian Serials: Issues and Problems.

Science.gov (United States)

Bahri, Che Norma

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

Role of bronchodilation and pattern of breathing in increasing tidal expiratory flow with progressive induced hypercapnia in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Finucane, Kevin E; Singh, Bhajan

2018-01-01

Hypercapnia (HC) in vitro relaxes airway smooth muscle; in vivo, it increases respiratory effort, tidal expiratory flows (V̇ exp ), and, by decreasing inspiratory duration (Ti), increases elastic recoil pressure (Pel) via lung viscoelasticity; however, its effect on airway resistance is uncertain. We examined the contributions of bronchodilation, Ti, and expiratory effort to increasing V̇ exp with progressive HC in 10 subjects with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): mean forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV 1 ) 53% predicted. Lung volumes (Vl), V̇ exp , esophageal pressure (Pes), Ti, and end-tidal Pco 2 ([Formula: see text]) were measured during six tidal breaths followed by an inspiratory capacity (IC), breathing air, and at three levels of HC. V̇ exp and V̇ with submaximal forced vital capacities breathing air (V̇ sFVC ) were compared. Pulmonary resistance ( Rl) was measured from the Pes-V̇ relationship. V̇ exp and Pes at end-expiratory lung volume (EELV) + 0.3 tidal volume [V̇ (0.3Vt) and Pes (0.3Vt) , respectively], Ti, and Rl correlated with [Formula: see text] ( P pulmonary disease (COPD), progressive HC increases tidal expiratory flows by inducing bronchodilation and via an increased rate of inspiration and lung viscoelasticity, a probable increase in lung elastic recoil pressure, both changes increasing expiratory flows, promoting lung emptying and a stable end-expiratory volume. Bronchodilation with HC occurred despite optimal standard bronchodilator therapy, suggesting that in COPD further bronchodilation is possible.

CRNL library serials list

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alburger, T.P.

1982-04-01

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

Using an expiratory resistor, arterial pulse pressure variations predict fluid responsiveness during spontaneous breathing: an experimental porcine study.

Science.gov (United States)

Dahl, Michael K; Vistisen, Simon T; Koefoed-Nielsen, Jacob; Larsson, Anders

2009-01-01

Fluid responsiveness prediction is difficult in spontaneously breathing patients. Because the swings in intrathoracic pressure are minor during spontaneous breathing, dynamic parameters like pulse pressure variation (PPV) and systolic pressure variation (SPV) are usually small. We hypothesized that during spontaneous breathing, inspiratory and/or expiratory resistors could induce high arterial pressure variations at hypovolemia and low variations at normovolemia and hypervolemia. Furthermore, we hypothesized that SPV and PPV could predict fluid responsiveness under these conditions. Eight prone, anesthetized and spontaneously breathing pigs (20 to 25 kg) were subjected to a sequence of 30% hypovolemia, normovolemia, and 20% and 40% hypervolemia. At each volemic level, the pigs breathed in a randomized order either through an inspiratory and/or an expiratory threshold resistor (7.5 cmH2O) or only through the tracheal tube without any resistor. Hemodynamic and respiratory variables were measured during the breathing modes. Fluid responsiveness was defined as a 15% increase in stroke volume (DeltaSV) following fluid loading. Stroke volume was significantly lower at hypovolemia compared with normovolemia, but no differences were found between normovolemia and 20% or 40% hypervolemia. Compared with breathing through no resistor, SPV was magnified by all resistors at hypovolemia whereas there were no changes at normovolemia and hypervolemia. PPV was magnified by the inspiratory resistor and the combined inspiratory and expiratory resistor. Regression analysis of SPV or PPV versus DeltaSV showed the highest R2 (0.83 for SPV and 0.52 for PPV) when the expiratory resistor was applied. The corresponding sensitivity and specificity for prediction of fluid responsiveness were 100% and 100%, respectively, for SPV and 100% and 81%, respectively, for PPV. Inspiratory and/or expiratory threshold resistors magnified SPV and PPV in spontaneously breathing pigs during hypovolemia

Effect of simultaneous application of postural techniques and expiratory muscle strength training on the enhancement of the swallowing function of patients with dysphagia caused by parkinson's disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Byeon, Haewon

2016-06-01

[Purpose] This study aimed to investigate the effect of simultaneous application of postural techniques and expiratory muscle strength training on the enhancement of the swallowing function of patients with dysphagia caused by Parkinson's disease. [Subjects and Methods] The subjects of this study were 18 patients who received simultaneous application of postural techniques and expiratory muscle strength training and 15 patients who received expiratory muscle strength training only. Postural techniques were conducted in the order of chin tucking, head rotation, head tilting, bending head back, and lying down, while expiratory muscle strength training was conducted at a resistance level of about 70% of the maximal expiratory pressure. Swallowing recovery was assessed by using the Functional Dysphagia Scale based on videofluoroscopic studies. [Results] The mean value obtained in the videofluoroscopic studies for both groups decreased after the treatment. In the postural techniques plus expiratory muscle strength training group, the decrease was significantly greater than that in the expiratory muscle strength training-only group. [Conclusion] The results imply that simultaneous performance of postural techniques and expiratory muscle strength training is more effective than expiratory muscle strength training alone when applied in the swallowing rehabilitation for patients with dysphagia caused by Parkinson's disease.

Cystic Fibrosis: Are Volumetric Ultra-Low-Dose Expiratory CT Scans Sufficient for Monitoring Related Lung Disease?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Loeve, Martine; Lequin, Maarten H; Bruijne, Marleen de

2009-01-01

Purpose: To assess whether chest computed tomography (CT) scores from ultra-low-dose end-expiratory scans alone could suffice for assessment of all cystic fibrosis (CF)-related structural lung abnormalities. Materials and Methods: In this institutional review board–approved study, 20 patients...... with CF aged 6–20 years (eight males, 12 females) underwent low-dose end-inspiratory CT and ultra-low-dose end-expiratory CT. Informed consent was obtained. Scans were randomized and scored by using the Brody-II CT scoring system to assess bronchiectasis, airway wall thickening, mucus plugging......-Altman plots. Results: Median age was 12.6 years (range, 6.3–20.3 years), median forced expiratory volume in 1 second was 100% (range, 46%–127%) of the predicted value, and median forced vital capacity was 99% (range, 61%–123%) of the predicted value. Very good agreement was observed between end...

Age group classification and gender detection based on forced expiratory spirometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Cosgun, Sema; Ozbek, I Yucel

2015-08-01

This paper investigates the utility of forced expiratory spirometry (FES) test with efficient machine learning algorithms for the purpose of gender detection and age group classification. The proposed method has three main stages: feature extraction, training of the models and detection. In the first stage, some features are extracted from volume-time curve and expiratory flow-volume loop obtained from FES test. In the second stage, the probabilistic models for each gender and age group are constructed by training Gaussian mixture models (GMMs) and Support vector machine (SVM) algorithm. In the final stage, the gender (or age group) of test subject is estimated by using the trained GMM (or SVM) model. Experiments have been evaluated on a large database from 4571 subjects. The experimental results show that average correct classification rate performance of both GMM and SVM methods based on the FES test is more than 99.3 % and 96.8 % for gender and age group classification, respectively.

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

Science.gov (United States)

Bensman, Stephen J.; Wilder, Stanley J.

1998-01-01

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

Pulmonary emphysema quantitation with Computed Tomography. Comparison between the visual score with high resolution CT, expiratory density mask with spiral CT and lung function studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zompatori, Maurizio; Battaglia, Milva; Rimondi, Maria Rita; Vivacqua, Donatella; Biscarini, Manuela; Fasano, Luca; Pacilli, Angela Maria Grazia; Guerrieri, Aldo; Fabbri, Mario; Cavina, Mauro

1997-01-01

CT is the most accurate method to detect pulmonary emphysema in vivo. They compared prospectively two different methods for emphysema quantitation in 5 normal volunteers and 20 consecutive patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). All subjects were submitted to function tests and HRCT; three scans were acquired at preselected levels during inspiration. The type and extent of pulmonary emphysema were defined by two independent observers under blind conditions. Disagreements were subsequently settled by consent. All subjects were also examined with expiratory spiral CT using a density mask program, at two different cut-off levels (-850,-900 HU). Visual score and expiratory spiral density mask values (-850 HU) were significantly correlated (r = 0.86), but the visual extent of emphysema was always higher than shown by expiratory spiral CT. The emphysema extent assessed with both CT methods correlated with the function result of expiratory airflow obstruction and gas diffusion impairment (visual score versus forced expiratory volume in one second: r = -0.81, versus single breath carbon monoxide diffusion: r = -0.78. Spiral expiratory density mask -850 HU versus forced expiratory volume in one second: r = -0.85 versus single breath carbon monoxide diffusion: r = -0.77). When -900 HU was used as the cut-off value for the expiratory density mask, the correlation with single breath carbon monoxide diffusion worsened (r = -0.56). Visual score and expiratory density mask -850 HU gave similar results and permitted COPD patients to be clearly distinguished from normal controls (p < 0.01). They believe the true residual volume should lie somewhere in between the CT value and the function results with the helium dilution technique and conclude that the extent of pulmonary emphysema can be confidently assessed with CT methods. Finally, the simple visual score may be as reliable as such highly sophisticated new methods as the spiral expiratory density mask

Union Listing via OCLC's Serials Control Subsystem.

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O'Malley, Terrence J.

1984-01-01

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

Comparison of five portable peak flow meters.

Science.gov (United States)

Takara, Glaucia Nency; Ruas, Gualberto; Pessoa, Bruna Varanda; Jamami, Luciana Kawakami; Di Lorenzo, Valéria Amorim Pires; Jamami, Mauricio

2010-05-01

To compare the measurements of spirometric peak expiratory flow (PEF) from five different PEF meters and to determine if their values are in agreement. Inaccurate equipment may result in incorrect diagnoses of asthma and inappropriate treatments. Sixty-eight healthy, sedentary and insufficiently active subjects, aged from 19 to 40 years, performed PEF measurements using Air Zone, Assess, Galemed, Personal Best and Vitalograph peak flow meters. The highest value recorded for each subject for each device was compared to the corresponding spirometric values using Friedman's test with Dunn's post-hoc (pmeters were 428 (263-688 L/min), 450 (350-800 L/min), 420 (310-720 L/min), 380 (300-735 L/min), 400 (310-685 L/min) and 415 (335-610 L/min), respectively. Significant differences were found when the spirometric values were compared to those recorded by the Air Zone(R) (pmeters. There was no agreement between the spirometric values and the five PEF meters. The results suggest that the values recorded from Galemed meters may underestimate the actual value, which could lead to unnecessary interventions, and that Air Zone meters overestimate spirometric values, which could obfuscate the need for intervention. These findings must be taken into account when interpreting both devices' results in younger people. These differences should also be considered when directly comparing values from different types of PEF meters.

Universal Linear Motor Driven Leg Press Dynamometer and Concept of Serial Stretch Loading.

Science.gov (United States)

Hamar, Dušan

2015-08-24

Paper deals with backgrounds and principles of universal linear motor driven leg press dynamometer and concept of serial stretch loading. The device is based on two computer controlled linear motors mounted to the horizontal rails. As the motors can keep either constant resistance force in selected position or velocity in both directions, the system allows simulation of any mode of muscle contraction. In addition, it also can generate defined serial stretch stimuli in a form of repeated force peaks. This is achieved by short segments of reversed velocity (in concentric phase) or acceleration (in eccentric phase). Such stimuli, generated at the rate of 10 Hz, have proven to be a more efficient means for the improvement of rate of the force development. This capability not only affects performance in many sports, but also plays a substantial role in prevention of falls and their consequences. Universal linear motor driven and computer controlled dynamometer with its unique feature to generate serial stretch stimuli seems to be an efficient and useful tool for enhancing strength training effects on neuromuscular function not only in athletes, but as well as in senior population and rehabilitation patients.

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

CERN Document Server

Frenzel, Louis

2015-01-01

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

THE EFFECT OF SUBMAXIMAL INHALATION ON MEASURES DERIVED FROM FORCED EXPIRATORY SPIROMETRY

Science.gov (United States)

THE EFFECT OF SUBMAXIMAL INHALATION ON MEASURES DERIVED FROM FORCED EXPIRATORY SPIROMETRY. William F. McDonnell Human Studies Division, NHEERL, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, RTP, NC 27711. Short-term exposure to ozone results in a neurally-mediated decrease in the ab...

Changes in forced expiratory volume in 1 second over time in COPD

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vestbo, Jørgen; Edwards, Lisa D; Scanlon, Paul D

2011-01-01

A key feature of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an accelerated rate of decline in forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV(1)), but data on the variability and determinants of this change in patients who have established disease are scarce....

Effects of positive end-expiratory pressure on renal function.

Science.gov (United States)

Järnberg, P O; de Villota, E D; Eklund, J; Granberg, P O

1978-01-01

The effects were studied positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) on renal function in eight patients with acute respiratory failure, requiring mechanical ventilation. On application of PEEP + 10 cm H2O, central venous pressure increased, systolic blood pressure decreased, urine flow and PAH-clearance were reduced, while inulin clearance remained stable. There was a marked increase in fractional sodium reabsorption and a concurrent decrease in fractional osmolal excretion. Fractional free-water clearance and the ratio UOsm/POsm did change.

Physiological and morphological determinants of maximal expiratory flow in chronic obstructive lung disease

NARCIS (Netherlands)

H.A.W.M. Tiddens (Harm); J.M. Bogaard (Jan); J.C. de Jongste (Johan); W.C.J. Hop (Wim); H.O. Coxson (Harvey); P.D. Pare

1996-01-01

textabstractMaximal expiratory flow in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) could be reduced by three different mechanisms; loss of lung elastic recoil, decreased airway conductance upstream of flow-limiting segments; and increased collapsibility of airways.

Short-term effects of positive expiratory airway pressure in patients being weaned from mechanical ventilation

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Marcelo de Mello Rieder

2009-05-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: To investigate the feasibility and the cardiorespiratory effects of using positive expiratory airway pressure, a physiotherapeutic tool, in comparison with a T-tube, to wean patients from mechanical ventilation. METHODS/DESIGN: A prospective, randomized, cross-over study. SETTING: Two intensive care units. PATIENTS AND INTERVENTIONS: We evaluated forty patients who met weaning criteria and had been mechanically-ventilated for more than 48 hours, mean age 59 years, including 23 males. All patients were submitted to the T-tube and Expiratory Positive Airway Pressure devices, at 7 cm H2O, during a 30-minute period. Cardiorespiratory variables including work of breathing, respiratory rate (rr, peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2, heart rate (hr, systolic, diastolic and mean arterial pressures (SAP, DAP, MAP were measured in the first and thirtieth minutes. The condition was analyzed as an entire sample set (n=40 and was also divided into subconditions: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (n=14 and non-chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (non- chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (n=26 categories. Comparisons were made using a t-test and Analysis of Variance. The level of significance was p < 0.05. RESULTS: Our data showed an increase in work of breathing in the first and thirtieth minutes in the EPAP condition (0.86+ 0.43 and 1.02+1.3 as compared with the T-tube condition (0.25+0.26 and 0.26+0.35 (p<0.05, verified by the flow-sensor monitor (values in J/L. No statistical differences were observed when comparing the Expiratory Positive Airway Pressure and T-tube conditions with regard to cardiorespiratory measurements. The same result was observed for both chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and non- chronic obstructive pulmonary disease subconditions. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrated that, in weaning patients from mechanical ventilation, the use of a fixed level of Expiratory Positive Airway Pressure caused an increase in work of

Effects of Ramadan Fasting on Spirometric Values and Clinical Symptoms in Asthmatic Patients

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Abdolreza Norouzy

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Ramadan is the 9th Islamic lunar month during which Muslims avoid eating and drinking from sunrise to sunset. The effect of Ramadan intermittent fasting on asthma control is controversial. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of Ramadan fasting on the spirometric variables and clinical symptoms on well-controlled asthmatic patients during Ramadan. Material and Methods: a cohort study was conducted in Mashhad, Khorasan Razavi, Iran. Twenty-nine (19 females and 10 males well-controlled asthmatic patients aged 47 (12 years completed the study. The average duration of fasting was 26.5 days. Assessment of spirometric variables (daily peak expiratory flow, peak expiratory flow variability, peak expiratory flow home monitoring as well as asthma clinical symptoms including dyspnea, cough, wheezing, and chest tightness were carried out. Results: No significant changes in clinical symptoms were reported in asthmatic patients at the end of Ramadan fasting. Among spirometric variables, only peak expiratory flow improved after Ramadan (p <0.05. There was a reduction in the mean peak expiratory flow variability from 13% at the first week of fasting to 10% at the fourth week (p <0.05. Conclusion: In well-controlled asthmatic patients, Ramadan fasting resulted in improvement in peak expiratory flow and peak expiratory flow variability.

Physiologic Evaluation of Ventilation Perfusion Mismatch and Respiratory Mechanics at Different Positive End-expiratory Pressure in Patients Undergoing Protective One-lung Ventilation.

Science.gov (United States)

Spadaro, Savino; Grasso, Salvatore; Karbing, Dan Stieper; Fogagnolo, Alberto; Contoli, Marco; Bollini, Giacomo; Ragazzi, Riccardo; Cinnella, Gilda; Verri, Marco; Cavallesco, Narciso Giorgio; Rees, Stephen Edward; Volta, Carlo Alberto

2018-03-01

Arterial oxygenation is often impaired during one-lung ventilation, due to both pulmonary shunt and atelectasis. The use of low tidal volume (VT) (5 ml/kg predicted body weight) in the context of a lung-protective approach exacerbates atelectasis. This study sought to determine the combined physiologic effects of positive end-expiratory pressure and low VT during one-lung ventilation. Data from 41 patients studied during general anesthesia for thoracic surgery were collected and analyzed. Shunt fraction, high V/Q and respiratory mechanics were measured at positive end-expiratory pressure 0 cm H2O during bilateral lung ventilation and one-lung ventilation and, subsequently, during one-lung ventilation at 5 or 10 cm H2O of positive end-expiratory pressure. Shunt fraction and high V/Q were measured using variation of inspired oxygen fraction and measurement of respiratory gas concentration and arterial blood gas. The level of positive end-expiratory pressure was applied in random order and maintained for 15 min before measurements. During one-lung ventilation, increasing positive end-expiratory pressure from 0 cm H2O to 5 cm H2O and 10 cm H2O resulted in a shunt fraction decrease of 5% (0 to 11) and 11% (5 to 16), respectively (P ventilation, high positive end-expiratory pressure levels improve pulmonary function without increasing high V/Q and reduce driving pressure.

The magnitude of muscle strain does not influence serial sarcomere number adaptations following eccentric exercise.

Science.gov (United States)

Butterfield, Timothy A; Herzog, Walter

2006-02-01

It is generally accepted that eccentric exercise, when performed by a muscle that is unaccustomed to that type of contraction, results in a delayed onset of muscle soreness (DOMS). A prolonged exposure to eccentric exercise leads to the disappearance of the signs and symptoms associated with DOMS, which has been referred to as the repeated bout effect (RBE). Although the mechanisms underlying the RBE remain unclear, several mechanisms have been proposed, including the serial sarcomere number addition following exercise induced muscle damage. In the traditional DOMS and RBE protocols, muscle injury has been treated as a global parameter, with muscle force and strain assumed to be uniform throughout the muscle. To assess the effects of muscle-tendon unit strain, fiber strain, torque and injury on serial sarcomere number adaptations, three groups of New Zealand White (NZW) rabbits were subjected to chronic repetitive eccentric exercise bouts of the ankle dorsiflexors for 6 weeks. These eccentric exercise protocols consisted of identical muscle tendon unit (MTU) strain, but other mechanical factors were systematically altered. Following chronic eccentric exercise, serial sarcomere number adaptations were not identical between the three eccentric exercise protocols, and serial sarcomere number adaptations were not uniform across all regions of the muscle. Peak torque and relaxation fiber strain were the best predictors of serial sarcomere number across all three protocols. Therefore, MTU strain does not appear to be the primary cause for sarcomerogenesis, and differential adaptations within the muscle may be explained by the nonuniform architecture of the muscle, resulting in differential local fiber strains.

variations of peak expiratory flow rate with anthropometric

African Journals Online (AJOL)

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Decreased bronchomotor tone would lead to a fall in airway resistance, and hence increased flow rate of air along it. Tests of. PEFR reflect changes in airway calibers. (Hughes and Empey, 1981). There have been reports on the variations of various ventilatory parameters with anthropometric determinants in. Nigerians.

Reference population equations using peak expiratory flow meters ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Many formulae for predicting lung function values for Nigerians have been produced by a lot of investigators. The same principle but different statistical methods were adopted by different authors in generating these equations, hence the variability observed among these formulae. Most equations in current use are based on ...

Reframing Serial Murder Within Empirical Research.

Science.gov (United States)

Gurian, Elizabeth A

2017-04-01

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

Female serial killing: review and case report.

Science.gov (United States)

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

2006-01-01

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

Serial femtosecond X-ray diffraction of enveloped virus microcrystals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert M. Lawrence

2015-07-01

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

Respiratory System Mechanics During Low Versus High Positive End-Expiratory Pressure in Open Abdominal Surgery: A Substudy of PROVHILO Randomized Controlled Trial

NARCIS (Netherlands)

D'Antini, Davide; Huhle, Robert; Herrmann, Jacob; Sulemanji, Demet S.; Oto, Jun; Raimondo, Pasquale; Mirabella, Lucia; Hemmes, Sabrine N. T.; Schultz, Marcus J.; Pelosi, Paolo; Kaczka, David W.; Vidal Melo, Marcos Francisco; Gama de Abreu, Marcelo; Cinnella, Gilda

2018-01-01

In the 2014 PROtective Ventilation using HIgh versus LOw positive end-expiratory pressure (PROVHILO) trial, intraoperative low tidal volume ventilation with high positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP = 12 cm H2O) and lung recruitment maneuvers did not decrease postoperative pulmonary complications

Pharmacologic Interventions to Improve Splanchnic Oxygenation During Ventilation with Positive End-Expiratory Pressure

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fournell, A.; Scheeren, T. W. L.; Picker, O.; Schwarte, L. A.; Wolf, M; Bucher, HU; Rudin, M; VanHuffel, S; Wolf, U; Bruley, DF; Harrison, DK

2012-01-01

Mechanical ventilation with positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) is an indispensable tool in the management of respiratory failure to preserve or improve lung function and systemic oxygenation. However, PEEP per se may also, as has been shown in experimental animals, impair regional

Dead space and slope indices from the expiratory carbon dioxide tension-volume curve

NARCIS (Netherlands)

A.H. Kars (Alice); J.M. Bogaard (Jan); Th. Stijnen (Theo); J. de Vries; A.F.M. Verbraak (Anton); C. Hilvering

1997-01-01

textabstractThe slope of phase 3 and three noninvasively determined dead space estimates derived from the expiratory carbon dioxide tension (PCO2) versus volume curve, including the Bohr dead space (VD,Bohr), the Fowler dead space (VD,Fowler) and pre-interface expirate

The Influence of Serial Carbohydrate Mouth Rinsing on Power Output during a Cycle Sprint.

Science.gov (United States)

Phillips, Shaun M; Findlay, Scott; Kavaliauskas, Mykolas; Grant, Marie Clare

2014-05-01

The objective of the study was to investigate the influence of serial administration of a carbohydrate (CHO) mouth rinse on performance, metabolic and perceptual responses during a cycle sprint. Twelve physically active males (mean (± SD) age: 23.1 (3.0) years, height: 1.83 (0.07) m, body mass (BM): 86.3 (13.5) kg) completed the following mouth rinse trials in a randomized, counterbalanced, double-blind fashion; 1. 8 x 5 second rinses with a 25 ml CHO (6% w/v maltodextrin) solution, 2. 8 x 5 second rinses with a 25 ml placebo (PLA) solution. Following mouth rinse administration, participants completed a 30 second sprint on a cycle ergometer against a 0.075 g·kg(-1) BM resistance. Eight participants achieved a greater peak power output (PPO) in the CHO trial, resulting in a significantly greater PPO compared with PLA (13.51 ± 2.19 vs. 13.20 ± 2.14 W·kg(-1), p 0.05). No significant between-trials difference was reported for fatigue index, perceived exertion, arousal and nausea levels, or blood lactate and glucose concentrations. Serial administration of a CHO mouth rinse may significantly improve PPO during a cycle sprint. This improvement appears confined to the first 5 seconds of the sprint, and may come at a greater relative cost for the remainder of the sprint. Key pointsThe paper demonstrates that repeated administration of a carbohydrate mouth rinse can significantly improve peak power output during a single 30 second cycle sprint.The ergogenic effect of the carbohydrate mouth rinse may relate to the duration of exposure of the oral cavity to the mouth rinse, and associated greater stimulation of oral carbohydrate receptors.The significant increase in peak power output with the carbohydrate mouth rinse may come at a relative cost for the remainder of the sprint, evidenced by non-significantly lower mean power output and a greater fatigue index in the carbohydrate vs. placebo trial.Serial administration of a carbohydrate mouth rinse may be beneficial for

Effect of pilates method on inspiratory and expiratory muscle strength in the elderly

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Beatriz Mendes Tozim

2018-03-01

Full Text Available With aging, the respiratory muscle strength decreases and the pilates method is a technique that uses respiration as one of its principles. The present study has the aim of analyzing the influence of the pilates method on respiratory muscle strength in older women. For the evaluation of respiratory muscle strength (inspiratory and expiratory, manovacuometer was used. Thirty-one older women were divided into two groups: 14 participated in the pilates group and 17 in the control group. Participants of the pilates group performed 16 sessions of pilates method with an hour of training, twice week for eight weeks. The control group participated in four educational lectures for eight weeks. For statistical analysis, Shapiro-Wilk, ANOVA for repeated measures (p <0.05 and Cohen’s D index were performed. The results showed significant difference and the mean effect for the Cohen’s D index expiratory muscle strength of the pilates group when comparing before (69.71 ± 25.48 and after (85.23 ± 22.21 training (p<0.05 with an increase of 23%. The results of inspiratory muscle strength were not significant but presented an average effect for the Cohen’s D index for the pilates group before (69.71 ± 35.46 and after (88.00 ± 34.87 training, with an increase of 27%. The control group did not present significant differences for the variables evaluated. It could be concluded that the pilates method is effective in improving expiratory muscle strength and provides positive effects on the increase in inspiratory muscle strength.

The eyeball killer: serial killings with postmortem globe enucleation.

Science.gov (United States)

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

2015-05-01

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

Diagnostic approach in cases with suspected work-related asthma

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background Work-related asthma (WRA) is a major cause of respiratory disease in modern societies. The diagnosis and consequently an opportunity for prevention are often missed in practice. Methods Based on recent studies and systematic reviews of the literature methods for detection of WRA and identification of specific causes of allergic WRA are discussed. Results and Conclusions All workers should be asked whether symptoms improve on days away from work or on holidays. Positive answers should lead to further investigation. Spirometry and non-specific bronchial responsiveness should be measured, but carefully performed and validly analysed serial peak expiratory flow or forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) measurements are more specific and confirm occupational asthma in about 82% of those still exposed to the causative agent. Skin prick testing or specific immunoglobulin E assays are useful to document allergy to high molecular weight allergens. Specific inhalational challenge tests come closest to a gold standard test, but lack standardisation, availability and sensitivity. Supervised workplace challenges can be used when specific challenges are unavailable or the results non-diagnostic, but methodology lacks standardisation. Finally, if the diagnosis remains unclear a follow-up with serial measurements of FEV1 and non-specific bronchial hyperresponsiveness should detect those likely to develop permanent impairment from their occupational exposures. PMID:23768266

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joseph T Wu

2011-10-01

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

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

OpenAIRE

Smyth, David A.

2015-01-01

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

Prophetic Visions, Quality Serials: Twin Peaks’ new mode of storytelling

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Mikhail L. Skoptsov

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Following the April 1990 debut of Twin Peaks on ABC, the vision - a sequence of images that relates information of the narrative future or past – has become a staple of numerous network, basic cable and premium cable serials, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer (WB, Battlestar Galactica (SyFy and Game of Thrones (HBO. This paper argues that Peaks in effect had introduced a mode of storytelling called “visio-narrative,” which draws on ancient epic poetry by focusing on main characters that receive knowledge from enigmatic, god-like figures that control his world. Their visions disrupt linear storytelling, allowing a series to embrace the formal aspects of the medium and create the impression that its disparate episodes constitute a singular whole. This helps them qualify as ‘quality TV’, while disguising instances of authorial manipulation evident within the texts as products of divine internal causality.As a result, all narrative events, no matter how coincidental or inconsequential, become part of a grand design. Close examination of Twin Peaks and Carnivàle will demonstrate how the mode operates, why it is popular among modern storytellers and how it can elevate a show’s cultural status.

Effects of positive end-expiratory pressure and recruitment maneuvers in a ventilator-induced injury mouse model.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura A Cagle

Full Text Available Positive-pressure mechanical ventilation is an essential therapeutic intervention, yet it causes the clinical syndrome known as ventilator-induced lung injury. Various lung protective mechanical ventilation strategies have attempted to reduce or prevent ventilator-induced lung injury but few modalities have proven effective. A model that isolates the contribution of mechanical ventilation on the development of acute lung injury is needed to better understand biologic mechanisms that lead to ventilator-induced lung injury.To evaluate the effects of positive end-expiratory pressure and recruitment maneuvers in reducing lung injury in a ventilator-induced lung injury murine model in short- and longer-term ventilation.5-12 week-old female BALB/c mice (n = 85 were anesthetized, placed on mechanical ventilation for either 2 hrs or 4 hrs with either low tidal volume (8 ml/kg or high tidal volume (15 ml/kg with or without positive end-expiratory pressure and recruitment maneuvers.Alteration of the alveolar-capillary barrier was noted at 2 hrs of high tidal volume ventilation. Standardized histology scores, influx of bronchoalveolar lavage albumin, proinflammatory cytokines, and absolute neutrophils were significantly higher in the high-tidal volume ventilation group at 4 hours of ventilation. Application of positive end-expiratory pressure resulted in significantly decreased standardized histology scores and bronchoalveolar absolute neutrophil counts at low- and high-tidal volume ventilation, respectively. Recruitment maneuvers were essential to maintain pulmonary compliance at both 2 and 4 hrs of ventilation.Signs of ventilator-induced lung injury are evident soon after high tidal volume ventilation (as early as 2 hours and lung injury worsens with longer-term ventilation (4 hrs. Application of positive end-expiratory pressure and recruitment maneuvers are protective against worsening VILI across all time points. Dynamic compliance can be used guide

Effects of positive end-expiratory pressure and recruitment maneuvers in a ventilator-induced injury mouse model

Science.gov (United States)

Franzi, Lisa M.; Linderholm, Angela L.; Last, Jerold A.; Adams, Jason Y.; Harper, Richart W.

2017-01-01

Background Positive-pressure mechanical ventilation is an essential therapeutic intervention, yet it causes the clinical syndrome known as ventilator-induced lung injury. Various lung protective mechanical ventilation strategies have attempted to reduce or prevent ventilator-induced lung injury but few modalities have proven effective. A model that isolates the contribution of mechanical ventilation on the development of acute lung injury is needed to better understand biologic mechanisms that lead to ventilator-induced lung injury. Objectives To evaluate the effects of positive end-expiratory pressure and recruitment maneuvers in reducing lung injury in a ventilator-induced lung injury murine model in short- and longer-term ventilation. Methods 5–12 week-old female BALB/c mice (n = 85) were anesthetized, placed on mechanical ventilation for either 2 hrs or 4 hrs with either low tidal volume (8 ml/kg) or high tidal volume (15 ml/kg) with or without positive end-expiratory pressure and recruitment maneuvers. Results Alteration of the alveolar-capillary barrier was noted at 2 hrs of high tidal volume ventilation. Standardized histology scores, influx of bronchoalveolar lavage albumin, proinflammatory cytokines, and absolute neutrophils were significantly higher in the high-tidal volume ventilation group at 4 hours of ventilation. Application of positive end-expiratory pressure resulted in significantly decreased standardized histology scores and bronchoalveolar absolute neutrophil counts at low- and high-tidal volume ventilation, respectively. Recruitment maneuvers were essential to maintain pulmonary compliance at both 2 and 4 hrs of ventilation. Conclusions Signs of ventilator-induced lung injury are evident soon after high tidal volume ventilation (as early as 2 hours) and lung injury worsens with longer-term ventilation (4 hrs). Application of positive end-expiratory pressure and recruitment maneuvers are protective against worsening VILI across all time points

Effects of positive end-expiratory pressure and recruitment maneuvers in a ventilator-induced injury mouse model.

Science.gov (United States)

Cagle, Laura A; Franzi, Lisa M; Linderholm, Angela L; Last, Jerold A; Adams, Jason Y; Harper, Richart W; Kenyon, Nicholas J

2017-01-01

Positive-pressure mechanical ventilation is an essential therapeutic intervention, yet it causes the clinical syndrome known as ventilator-induced lung injury. Various lung protective mechanical ventilation strategies have attempted to reduce or prevent ventilator-induced lung injury but few modalities have proven effective. A model that isolates the contribution of mechanical ventilation on the development of acute lung injury is needed to better understand biologic mechanisms that lead to ventilator-induced lung injury. To evaluate the effects of positive end-expiratory pressure and recruitment maneuvers in reducing lung injury in a ventilator-induced lung injury murine model in short- and longer-term ventilation. 5-12 week-old female BALB/c mice (n = 85) were anesthetized, placed on mechanical ventilation for either 2 hrs or 4 hrs with either low tidal volume (8 ml/kg) or high tidal volume (15 ml/kg) with or without positive end-expiratory pressure and recruitment maneuvers. Alteration of the alveolar-capillary barrier was noted at 2 hrs of high tidal volume ventilation. Standardized histology scores, influx of bronchoalveolar lavage albumin, proinflammatory cytokines, and absolute neutrophils were significantly higher in the high-tidal volume ventilation group at 4 hours of ventilation. Application of positive end-expiratory pressure resulted in significantly decreased standardized histology scores and bronchoalveolar absolute neutrophil counts at low- and high-tidal volume ventilation, respectively. Recruitment maneuvers were essential to maintain pulmonary compliance at both 2 and 4 hrs of ventilation. Signs of ventilator-induced lung injury are evident soon after high tidal volume ventilation (as early as 2 hours) and lung injury worsens with longer-term ventilation (4 hrs). Application of positive end-expiratory pressure and recruitment maneuvers are protective against worsening VILI across all time points. Dynamic compliance can be used guide the frequency

Serial interprocessor communications system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

1980-01-01

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

A Survey of Electronic Serials Managers Reveals Diversity in Practice

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Laura Costello

2014-09-01

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

Criminal psychological profiling of serial arson crimes.

Science.gov (United States)

Kocsis, Richard N; Cooksey, Ray W

2002-12-01

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

CMOS serial link for fully duplexed data communication

Science.gov (United States)

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

1995-04-01

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

The Productivity Advantage of Serial Entrepreneurs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shaw, Kathryn L.; Sørensen, Anders

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

The American Serialization of Lord Jim

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Stephen Donovan

2017-12-01

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

Broad ion beam serial section tomography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

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

2017-01-15

Here we examine the potential of serial Broad Ion Beam (BIB) Ar{sup +} ion polishing as an advanced serial section tomography (SST) technique for destructive 3D material characterisation for collecting data from volumes with lateral dimensions significantly greater than 100 µm and potentially over millimetre sized areas. Further, the associated low level of damage introduced makes BIB milling very well suited to 3D EBSD acquisition with very high indexing rates. Block face serial sectioning data registration schemes usually assume that the data comprises a series of parallel, planar slices. We quantify the variations in slice thickness and parallelity which can arise when using BIB systems comparing Gatan PECS and Ilion BIB systems for large volume serial sectioning and 3D-EBSD data acquisition. As a test case we obtain 3D morphologies and grain orientations for both phases of a WC-11%wt. Co hardmetal. In our case we have carried out the data acquisition through the manual transfer of the sample between SEM and BIB which is a very slow process (1–2 slice per day), however forthcoming automated procedures will markedly speed up the process. We show that irrespective of the sectioning method raw large area 2D-EBSD maps are affected by distortions and artefacts which affect 3D-EBSD such that quantitative analyses and visualisation can give misleading and erroneous results. Addressing and correcting these issues will offer real benefits when large area (millimetre sized) automated serial section BIBS is developed. - Highlights: • In this work we examine how microstructures can be reconstructed in three-dimensions (3D) by serial argon broad ion beam (BIB) milling, enabling much larger volumes (>250×250×100µm{sup 3}) to be acquired than by serial section focused ion beam-scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM). • The associated low level of damage introduced makes BIB milling very well suited to 3D-EBSD acquisition with very high indexing rates. • We explore

Peak flow meter with a questionnaire and mini-spirometer to help detect asthma and COPD in real-life clinical practice: a cross-sectional study.

Science.gov (United States)

Thorat, Yogesh T; Salvi, Sundeep S; Kodgule, Rahul R

2017-05-09

Peak flow meter with questionnaire and mini-spirometer are considered as alternative tools to spirometry for screening of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. However, the accuracy of these tools together, in clinical settings for disease diagnosis, has not been studied. Two hundred consecutive patients with respiratory complaints answered a short symptom questionnaire and performed peak expiratory flow measurements, standard spirometry with Koko spirometer and mini-spirometry (COPD-6). Spirometry was repeated after bronchodilation. Physician made a final diagnosis of asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and others. One eighty nine patients (78 females) with age 51 ± 17 years with asthma (115), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (33) and others (41) completed the study. "Breathlessness > 6months" and "cough > 6months" were important symptoms to detect obstructive airways disease. "Asymptomatic period > 2 weeks" had the best sensitivity (Sn) and specificity (Sp) to differentiate asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. A peak expiratory flow of meter with few symptom questions can be effectively used in clinical practice for objective detection of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, in the absence of good quality spirometry. Mini-spirometers are useful in detection of obstructive airways diseases but FEV 1 measured is inaccurate. DIFFERENTIATING CONDITIONS IN POORLY-EQUIPPED SETTINGS: A simple questionnaire and peak flow meter measurements can help doctors differentiate between asthma and chronic lung disease. In clinical settings where access to specialist equipment and knowledge is limited, it can be challenging for doctors to tell the difference between asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). To determine a viable alternative method for differentiating between these diseases, Rahul Kodgule and colleagues at the Chest Research Foundation in Pune, India, trialed a simplified version

Influence of Positive End-Expiratory Pressure on Myocardial Strain Assessed by Speckle Tracking Echocardiography in Mechanically Ventilated Patients

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Federico Franchi

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose. The effects of mechanical ventilation (MV on speckle tracking echocardiography- (STE-derived variables are not elucidated. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects of positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP ventilation on 4-chamber longitudinal strain (LS analysis by STE. Methods. We studied 20 patients admitted to a mixed intensive care unit who required intubation for MV and PEEP titration due to hypoxia. STE was performed at three times: (T1 PEEP = 5 cmH2O; (T2 PEEP = 10 cmH2O; and (T3 PEEP = 15 cmH2O. STE analysis was performed offline using a dedicated software (XStrain MyLab 70 Xvision, Esaote. Results. Left peak atrial-longitudinal strain (LS was significantly reduced from T1 to T2 and from T2 to T3 (. Right peak atrial-LS and right ventricular-LS showed a significant reduction only at T3 (. Left ventricular-LS did not change significantly during titration of PEEP. Cardiac chambers’ volumes showed a significant reduction at higher levels of PEEP (. Conclusions. We demonstrated for the first time that incremental PEEP affects myocardial strain values obtained with STE in intubated critically ill patients. Whenever performing STE in mechanically ventilated patients, care must be taken when PEEP is higher than 10 cmH2O to avoid misinterpreting data and making erroneous decisions.

Serial Position Functions in General Knowledge

Science.gov (United States)

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

2015-01-01

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

Effects of positive end-expiratory pressure on arthroscopic shoulder surgery under general anesthesia.

Science.gov (United States)

Ersoy, Ayşın; Çakırgöz, Mensure; Ervatan, Zekeriya; Kıran, Özlem; Türkmen, Aygen; Esenyel, Cem Zeki

2016-01-01

Our study is a prospective, randomized study on patients undergoing arthroscopic shoulder surgery in the beach-chair position to evaluate the effects of positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) on hemodynamic stability, providing a bloodless surgical field and surgical satisfaction. Fifty patients were divided into two groups. Group I (n=25) had zero end-expiratory pressure (ZEEP) administered under general anesthesia, and group II (n=25) had +5 PEEP administered. During surgery, intraarticular hemorrhage and surgical satisfaction were evaluated on a scale of 0-10. During surgery, at the 5th, 30th, 60th, and 90th minutes and at the end of surgery, heart rate, mean arterial pressure (MAP), and positive inspiratory pressure were recorded. At the end of the surgery, the amount of bleeding and duration of the operation were recorded. In group I, the duration of operation and amount of bleeding were found to be significantly greater than those in group II (pshoulder surgery in the beach-chair position reduces the amount of hemorrhage in the surgical field and thus increases surgical satisfaction without requiring the creation of controlled hypotension.

An expiratory assist during spontaneous breathing can compensate for endotracheal tube resistance.

Science.gov (United States)

Uchiyama, Akinori; Chang, Cheng; Suzuki, Shinya; Mashimo, Takashi; Fujino, Yuji

2009-08-01

Although inspiratory assist of spontaneous breathing in intubated patients is common, expiratory assist functions have rarely been reported. Effective expiratory support (ES) could be used to compensate for endotracheal tube (ETT) resistance during spontaneous breathing. In this study, we examined the performance of a new system designed to provide both inspiratory support (IS) and ES during spontaneous breathing with the goal of reducing the effective resistance of the ETT. The ES system consisted of a ventilator demand valve and a computer-controlled piston cylinder, which aspirated gas from the respiratory circuit during the expiratory phase. The movement of the piston was synchronized with spontaneous breathing. We compared the pressures at the tip of the ETT and in the breathing circuit during spontaneous breathing through an ETT of internal diameter (ID) 5 mm with that of an ETT with ID 8 mm in nine healthy adult male volunteers. The ventilatory mode was set to maintain a continuous airway pressure of 0 cm H(2)O. Three ventilator settings (no support, IS only, and IS plus ES) were compared using ID 5 mm ETT. We monitored pressure in the breathing circuit (P(aw)), ETT tip pressure (P(tip)), and respiratory flow. The P(tip) of the ID 5 mm ETT showed a large negative deflection during inspiration and a positive deflection during expiration without support. IS alone did not improve the respiratory pattern through the small ETT. However, IS plus ES resulted in negative P(aw) during expiration in addition to positive deflection of P(aw) during inspiration, making the pressure characteristics of P(tip) similar to those of ID 8 mm ETT. Moreover, IS plus ES produced a respiratory pattern through the ID 5 mm ETT that was similar to that through the ID 8 mm ETT. In this study of healthy volunteers, IS plus ES compensated for the airway resistance imposed by a ID 5.0 mm ETT to create pressure changes at the tip of the ETT similar to those of an ID 8.0 mm ETT.

Serial Entrepreneurship, Learning by Doing and Self-selection

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rocha, Vera; Carneiro, Anabela; Varum, Celeste

2015-01-01

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

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

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

1991-05-01

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

Incidence of tracheobronchomalacia associated with pulmonary emphysema. Detection with paired inspiratory-expiratory multidetector computed tomography using a low-dose technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Inoue, Masanori; Hasegawa, Ichiro; Nakano, Keiko; Yamaguchi, Kazuhiro; Kuribayashi, Sachio

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the frequency of tracheobronchomalacia (TBM) associated with pulmonary emphysema with paired inspiratory-expiratory multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) using a low-dose technique. This study included 56 consecutive patients (55 men, 1 woman; mean age 68.9 years) with pulmonary emphysema who had undergone paired inspiratory-expiratory CT scanning with a low-dose technique (40 mA). All images were retrospectively examined by two thoracic radiologists in a blinded fashion. The diagnosis of TBM was based on the standard criterion of >50% reduction in the cross-sectional area of the tracheobronchial lumen at the end-expiratory phase. A mild TBM criterion of >30% reduction was also reviewed. All patients underwent pulmonary function tests. The relation between the forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV 1.0% ) and TBM was statistically analyzed. Four (7.1%) and eight (14.3%) patients were diagnosed as TBM based on the standard and mild criteria, respectively. In four patients, the percentages of luminal narrowing were 63.4% and 51.2%, respectively for tracheomalacia and 59.2% and 62.0%, respectively, for bronchomalacia. The FEV 1.0% values between patients with and without TBM showed no statistical difference. The incidence of TBM associated with pulmonary emphysema was 7.1% with the standard criterion. It is possible that TBM has been underdiagnosed in a number of patients with pulmonary emphysema. (author)

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

Science.gov (United States)

Doxley, Charles A.

2016-01-01

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

SERIAL TELEVISI DEXTER SEBAGAI ANAKRONISME DALAM SASTRA POPULER

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Ida Rochani Adi

2014-06-01

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

Unidirectional Expiratory Valve Method to Assess Maximal Inspiratory Pressure in Individuals without Artificial Airway.

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Samantha Torres Grams

Full Text Available Maximal Inspiratory Pressure (MIP is considered an effective method to estimate strength of inspiratory muscles, but still leads to false positive diagnosis. Although MIP assessment with unidirectional expiratory valve method has been used in patients undergoing mechanical ventilation, no previous studies investigated the application of this method in subjects without artificial airway.This study aimed to compare the MIP values assessed by standard method (MIPsta and by unidirectional expiratory valve method (MIPuni in subjects with spontaneous breathing without artificial airway. MIPuni reproducibility was also evaluated.This was a crossover design study, and 31 subjects performed MIPsta and MIPuni in a random order. MIPsta measured MIP maintaining negative pressure for at least one second after forceful expiration. MIPuni evaluated MIP using a unidirectional expiratory valve attached to a face mask and was conducted by two evaluators (A and B at two moments (Tests 1 and 2 to determine interobserver and intraobserver reproducibility of MIP values. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC[2,1] was used to determine intraobserver and interobserver reproducibility.The mean values for MIPuni were 14.3% higher (-117.3 ± 24.8 cmH2O than the mean values for MIPsta (-102.5 ± 23.9 cmH2O (p<0.001. Interobserver reproducibility assessment showed very high correlation for Test 1 (ICC[2,1] = 0.91, and high correlation for Test 2 (ICC[2,1] = 0.88. The assessment of the intraobserver reproducibility showed high correlation for evaluator A (ICC[2,1] = 0.86 and evaluator B (ICC[2,1] = 0.77.MIPuni presented higher values when compared with MIPsta and proved to be reproducible in subjects with spontaneous breathing without artificial airway.

Some infant ventilators do not limit peak inspiratory pressure reliably during active expiration.

Science.gov (United States)

Kirpalani, H; Santos-Lyn, R; Roberts, R

1988-09-01

In order to minimize barotrauma in newborn infants with respiratory failure, peak inspiratory pressures should not exceed those required for adequate gas exchange. We examined whether four commonly used pressure-limited, constant flow ventilators limit pressure reliably during simulated active expiration against the inspiratory stroke of the ventilator. Three machines of each type were tested at 13 different expiratory flow rates (2 to 14 L/min). Flow-dependent pressure overshoot above a dialed pressure limit of 20 cm H2O was observed in all machines. However, the magnitude differed significantly between ventilators from different manufacturers (p = .0009). Pressure overshoot above 20 cm H2O was consistently lowest in the Healthdyne (0.8 cm H2O at 2 L/min, 3.6 cm H2O at 14 L/min) and highest in the Bourns BP200 (3.0 cm H2O at 2 L/min, 15.4 cm H2O at 14 L/min). We conclude that peak inspiratory pressure overshoots on pressure-limited ventilators occur during asynchronous expiration. This shortcoming may contribute to barotrauma in newborn infants who "fight" positive-pressure ventilation.

Effect of simultaneous application of postural techniques and expiratory muscle strength training on the enhancement of the swallowing function of patients with dysphagia caused by parkinson?s disease

OpenAIRE

Byeon, Haewon

2016-01-01

[Purpose] This study aimed to investigate the effect of simultaneous application of postural techniques and expiratory muscle strength training on the enhancement of the swallowing function of patients with dysphagia caused by Parkinson?s disease. [Subjects and Methods] The subjects of this study were 18 patients who received simultaneous application of postural techniques and expiratory muscle strength training and 15 patients who received expiratory muscle strength training only. Postural t...

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

Science.gov (United States)

Drummond, A; Rodrigo, A G

2000-12-01

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

Delaware's first serial killer.

Science.gov (United States)

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

2000-11-01

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

The respiratory drive to thoracic motoneurones in the cat and its relation to the connections from expiratory bulbospinal neurones

Science.gov (United States)

Saywell, S A; Anissimova, N P; Ford, T W; Meehan, C F; Kirkwood, P A

2007-01-01

The descending control of respiratory-related motoneurones in the thoracic spinal cord remains the subject of some debate. In this study, direct connections from expiratory bulbospinal neurones to identified motoneurones were investigated using spike-triggered averaging and the strengths of connection revealed were related to the presence and size of central respiratory drive potentials in the same motoneurones. Intracellular recordings were made from motoneurones in segments T5–T9 of the spinal cord of anaesthetized cats. Spike-triggered averaging from expiratory bulbospinal neurones in the caudal medulla revealed monosynaptic EPSPs in all groups of motoneurones, with the strongest connections to expiratory motoneurones with axons in the internal intercostal nerve. In the latter, connection strength was similar irrespective of the target muscle (e.g. external abdominal oblique or internal intercostal) and the EPSP amplitude was positively correlated with the amplitude of the central respiratory drive potential of the motoneurone. For this group, EPSPs were found in 45/83 bulbospinal neurone/motoneurone pairs, with a mean amplitude of 40.5 μV. The overall strength of the connection supports previous measurements made by cross-correlation, but is about 10 times stronger than that reported in the only previous similar survey to use spike-triggered averaging. Calculations are presented to suggest that this input alone is sufficient to account for all the expiratory depolarization seen in the recorded motoneurones. However, extra sources of input, or amplification of this one, are likely to be necessary to produce a useful motoneurone output. PMID:17204500

Classifying serial killers.

Science.gov (United States)

Promish, D I; Lester, D

1999-11-08

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

16 reference population equations using peak expiratory flow meters

African Journals Online (AJOL)

DR. AMINU

Many formulae for predicting lung function values for Nigerians have been produced by a lot of investigators. The same principle ... equations in current use are based on linear statistical models which are subject to change and they did not express the .... that present lower limits of normal or present information from which ...

16 reference population equations using peak expiratory flow meters

African Journals Online (AJOL)

DR. AMINU

equations in current use are based on linear statistical models which are subject to change and they did not ... assess risks of surgery and to assist in evaluations performed ... identify and quantify pulmonary involvement incases of asthma.

CAMAC serial highway interface for the LSI-11

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lau, N.H.

1980-01-01

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

Peak flow as predictor of overall mortality in asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Ejvind Frausing; Vestbo, Jørgen; Phanareth, K

2001-01-01

Lung function is a strong predictor of overall mortality in asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). FEV1 is considered to be the "gold standard," whereas peak expiratory flow (PEF) is mostly used in absence of FEV1 measurements. We compared the predictive power of PEF and FEV1......, measured after maximal bronchodilation, which included a short course of oral corticosteroids. The study population comprised 491 asthmatics and 1,095 subjects with COPD. Pulmonary function tests were performed between 1983 and 1988, and survival data were obtained by September 1997, when 127 asthmatics...... reflecting different components of COPD, i.e., chronic bronchitis, small airways disease, and emphysema. Furthermore, extrapulmonary components such as muscle mass and general "vigour" probably affect PEF to a greater extent than they affect FEV1....

Notorious Cases of Serial Killers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Iosub Elena-Cătălina

2014-05-01

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

Modus operandi of female serial killers.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, W; Hilton, T

1998-04-01

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

Segmentation of expiratory and inspiratory sounds in baby cry audio recordings using hidden Markov models.

Science.gov (United States)

Aucouturier, Jean-Julien; Nonaka, Yulri; Katahira, Kentaro; Okanoya, Kazuo

2011-11-01

The paper describes an application of machine learning techniques to identify expiratory and inspiration phases from the audio recording of human baby cries. Crying episodes were recorded from 14 infants, spanning four vocalization contexts in their first 12 months of age; recordings from three individuals were annotated manually to identify expiratory and inspiratory sounds and used as training examples to segment automatically the recordings of the other 11 individuals. The proposed algorithm uses a hidden Markov model architecture, in which state likelihoods are estimated either with Gaussian mixture models or by converting the classification decisions of a support vector machine. The algorithm yields up to 95% classification precision (86% average), and its ability generalizes over different babies, different ages, and vocalization contexts. The technique offers an opportunity to quantify expiration duration, count the crying rate, and other time-related characteristics of baby crying for screening, diagnosis, and research purposes over large populations of infants.

Control of positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP for small animal ventilators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leão Nunes Marcelo V

2010-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP for the mechanical ventilation of small animals is frequently obtained with water seals or by using ventilators developed for human use. An alternative mechanism is the use of an on-off expiratory valve closing at the moment when the alveolar pressure is equal to the target PEEP. In this paper, a novel PEEP controller (PEEP-new and the PEEP system of a commercial small-animal ventilator, both based on switching an on-off valve, are evaluated. Methods The proposed PEEP controller is a discrete integrator monitoring the error between the target PEEP and the airways opening pressure prior to the onset of an inspiratory cycle. In vitro as well as in vivo experiments with rats were carried out and the PEEP accuracy, settling time and under/overshoot were considered as a measure of performance. Results The commercial PEEP controller did not pass the tests since it ignores the airways resistive pressure drop, resulting in a PEEP 5 cmH2O greater than the target in most conditions. The PEEP-new presented steady-state errors smaller than 0.5 cmH2O, with settling times below 10 s and under/overshoot smaller than 2 cmH2O. Conclusion The PEEP-new presented acceptable performance, considering accuracy and temporal response. This novel PEEP generator may prove useful in many applications for small animal ventilators.

SERIAL TELEVISI DEXTER SEBAGAI ANAKRONISME DALAM SASTRA POPULER

OpenAIRE

Ida Rochani Adi

2014-01-01

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

The Serial Murderer's Motivations: An Interdisciplinary Review.

Science.gov (United States)

DeHart, Dana D.; Mahoney, John M.

1994-01-01

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

Evaluation of Esophageal Anastomotic Integrity With Serial Pleural Amylase Levels.

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Daniel L; Helms, Gerald A; Mayfield, William R

2018-01-01

An anastomotic leak is the most devastating and potentially fatal complication after esophagectomy. Current detection methods can be inaccurate and place patients at risk of other complications. Analysis of pleural fluid for amylase may be more accurate and place patients at less of a risk for evaluating the integrity of an esophageal anastomosis. We retrospectively reviewed prospective data of 45 consecutive patients who underwent an Ivor Lewis esophagectomy over an 18-month period and evaluated their anastomotic integrity with serial pleural amylase levels (PAL). There were 40 men (89%), and median age was 63 years (range, 35 to 79). Indication for esophagectomy was cancer in 38 patients (84%); 27 (71%) underwent neoadjuvant chemoradiation. A barium swallow was performed in the first 25 patients at median postoperative day (POD) 5 (range, 5 to 10); the swallow was negative in 23 patients (93%). Serial PALs were obtained starting on POD 3 and stopped 1 day after toleration of clear liquids. The PALs in the no-leak patients were highest on POD 3 (median 42 IU/L; range, 20 to 102 IU/L) and decreased (median 15 IU/L; range, 8 to 34 IU/L) to the lowest levels 1 day after clear liquid toleration (p = 0.04). Two patients had a leak and had peak PALs of 227 IU/L and 630 IU/L, respectively; both leaks occurred on POD 4, 1 day before their scheduled swallow test. The last 20 patients underwent serial PALs only, without a planned swallow test or computed tomography scan for anastomotic integrity evaluation. One of these patients had a leak on POD 5 with a low PAL of 55 IU/L the day before the spike of more than 4,000 IU/L. Two of the leaks were treated with esophageal stent placement and intravenous antibiotics, and the remaining patient's leak resolved with intravenous antibiotics, no oral intake, and observation only. None of the leak patients required transthoracic esophageal repair or drainage of an empyema. There was 1 postoperative death (2%) secondary to aspiration

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

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, Jeremy; Hensley, Christopher

2003-02-01

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

Comparison of five portable peak flow meters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Glaucia Nency Takara

2010-01-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: To compare the measurements of spirometric peak expiratory flow (PEF from five different PEF meters and to determine if their values are in agreement. Inaccurate equipment may result in incorrect diagnoses of asthma and inappropriate treatments. METHODS: Sixty-eight healthy, sedentary and insufficiently active subjects, aged from 19 to 40 years, performed PEF measurements using Air Zone®, Assess®, Galemed®, Personal Best® and Vitalograph® peak flow meters. The highest value recorded for each subject for each device was compared to the corresponding spirometric values using Friedman's test with Dunn's post-hoc (p<0.05, Spearman's correlation test and Bland-Altman's agreement test. RESULTS: The median and interquartile ranges for the spirometric values and the Air Zone®, Assess®, Galemed®, Personal Best® and Vitalograph® meters were 428 (263-688 L/min, 450 (350-800 L/min, 420 (310-720 L/min, 380 (300-735 L/min, 400 (310-685 L/min and 415 (335-610 L/min, respectively. Significant differences were found when the spirometric values were compared to those recorded by the Air Zone® (p<0.001 and Galemed ® (p<0.01 meters. There was no agreement between the spirometric values and the five PEF meters. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that the values recorded from Galemed® meters may underestimate the actual value, which could lead to unnecessary interventions, and that Air Zone® meters overestimate spirometric values, which could obfuscate the need for intervention. These findings must be taken into account when interpreting both devices' results in younger people. These differences should also be considered when directly comparing values from different types of PEF meters.

Serial Austen. Mashingups with Zombies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eleonora Federici

2017-01-01

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

Sensing the Opaque : Seriality and the Aesthetics of Televisual Form

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dasgupta, S.; Kelleter, F.

2017-01-01

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

Serial private infrastructures

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van den Berg, V.A.C.

2013-01-01

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

Serial murder: An unusual stereotype.

Science.gov (United States)

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

2017-12-01

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

Child serial murder-psychodynamics: closely watched shadows.

Science.gov (United States)

Turco, R

2001-01-01

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

IMPLEMENTATION OF SERIAL AND PARALLEL BUBBLE SORT ON FPGA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dwi Marhaendro Jati Purnomo

2016-06-01

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

A high speed serializer ASIC for ATLAS Liquid Argon calorimeter upgrade

CERN Document Server

Liu, T; The ATLAS collaboration

2011-01-01

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

Dead space and slope indices from the expiratory carbon dioxide tension-volume curve

OpenAIRE

Kars, Alice; Bogaard, Jan; Stijnen, Theo; Vries, J.; Verbraak, Anton; Hilvering, C.

1997-01-01

textabstractThe slope of phase 3 and three noninvasively determined dead space estimates derived from the expiratory carbon dioxide tension (PCO2) versus volume curve, including the Bohr dead space (VD,Bohr), the Fowler dead space (VD,Fowler) and pre-interface expirate (PIE), were investigated in 28 healthy control subjects, 12 asthma and 29 emphysema patients (20 severely obstructed and nine moderately obstructed) with the aim to establish diagnostic value. Because breath volume and frequenc...

[The serial murder: a few theoretical perspectives].

Science.gov (United States)

Leistedt, S; Linkowski, P

2011-01-01

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

Development of serial magnification angiography and its clinical significance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

1979-01-01

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

Exercise-induced asthma in a group of South African schoolchildren ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

They were tested with a peak flow meter for peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) and with a flow-volume curve for forced expiratory flow in 1 second (FEV1) before and 10 minutes after a self-paced free running test during physical education classes. Testing was undertaken by teachers using the peak flow meter and by a ...

How Do We Write about Performance in Serial Television?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elliott Logan

2015-05-01

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

TU-CD-BRA-11: Application of Bone Suppression Technique to Inspiratory/expiratory Chest Radiography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tanaka, R; Sanada, S [Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Ishikawa (Japan); Sakuta, K; Kawashima, H [Kanazawa University Hospital, Kanazawa, Ishikawa (Japan); Kishitani, Y [TOYO Corporation, Chuoh-ku, Tokyo (Japan)

2015-06-15

Purpose: The bone suppression technique based on advanced image processing can suppress the conspicuity of bones on chest radiographs, creating soft tissue images normally obtained by the dual-energy subtraction technique. This study was performed to investigate the usefulness of bone suppression technique in quantitative analysis of pulmonary function in inspiratory/expiratory chest radiography. Methods: Commercial bone suppression image processing software (ClearRead; Riverain Technologies) was applied to paired inspiratory/expiratory chest radiographs of 107 patients (normal, 33; abnormal, 74) to create corresponding bone suppression images. The abnormal subjects had been diagnosed with pulmonary diseases, such as pneumothorax, pneumonia, emphysema, asthma, and lung cancer. After recognition of the lung area, the vectors of respiratory displacement were measured in all local lung areas using a cross-correlation technique. The measured displacement in each area was visualized as displacement color maps. The distribution pattern of respiratory displacement was assessed by comparison with the findings of lung scintigraphy. Results: Respiratory displacement of pulmonary markings (soft tissues) was able to be quantified separately from the rib movements on bone suppression images. The resulting displacement map showed a left-right symmetric distribution increasing from the lung apex to the bottom region of the lung in many cases. However, patients with ventilatory impairments showed a nonuniform distribution caused by decreased displacement of pulmonary markings, which were confirmed to correspond to area with ventilatory impairments found on the lung scintigrams. Conclusion: The bone suppression technique was useful for quantitative analysis of respiratory displacement of pulmonary markings without any interruption of the rib shadows. Abnormal areas could be detected as decreased displacement of pulmonary markings. Inspiratory/expiratory chest radiography combined

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Davydov A.B.

2017-04-01

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

Playing at Serial Acquisitions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

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

2010-01-01

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

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

- Sangidun

2017-01-01

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

Stochastic modeling of a serial killer.

Science.gov (United States)

Simkin, M V; Roychowdhury, V P

2014-08-21

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

Kesler, Elizabeth Gates; Teborek, Gay

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

Deep breathing exercises with positive expiratory pressure in patients with multiple sclerosis - a randomized controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Westerdahl, Elisabeth; Wittrin, Anna; Kånåhols, Margareta; Gunnarsson, Martin; Nilsagård, Ylva

2016-11-01

Breathing exercises with positive expiratory pressure are often recommended to patients with advanced neurological deficits, but the potential benefit in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with mild and moderate symptoms has not yet been investigated in randomized controlled trials. To study the effects of 2 months of home-based breathing exercises for patients with mild to moderate MS on respiratory muscle strength, lung function, and subjective breathing and health status outcomes. Forty-eight patients with MS according to the revised McDonald criteria were enrolled in a randomized controlled trial. Patients performing breathing exercises (n = 23) were compared with a control group (n = 25) performing no breathing exercises. The breathing exercises were performed with a positive expiratory pressure device (10-15 cmH 2 O) and consisted of 30 slow deep breaths performed twice a day for 2 months. Respiratory muscle strength (maximal inspiratory and expiratory pressure at the mouth), spirometry, oxygenation, thoracic excursion, subjective perceptions of breathing and self-reported health status were evaluated before and after the intervention period. Following the intervention, there was a significant difference between the breathing group and the control group regarding the relative change in lung function, favoring the breathing group (vital capacity: P < 0.043; forced vital capacity: P < 0.025). There were no other significant differences between the groups. Breathing exercises may be beneficial in patients with mild to moderate stages of MS. However, the clinical significance needs to be clarified, and it remains to be seen whether a sustainable effect in delaying the development of respiratory dysfunction in MS can be obtained. © 2015 The Authors. The Clinical Respiratory Journal published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Serials cataloging at the turn of the century

CERN Document Server

Williams, James W

2014-01-01

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

Experimental Study of Dispersion and Deposition of Expiratory Aerosols in Aircraft Cabins and Impact on Infectious Disease Transmission

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

To, G.N.S.; Wan, M.P.; Chao, C.Y.H.

2009-01-01

The dispersion and deposition characteristics of polydispersed expiratory aerosols were investigated in an aircraft cabin mockup to study the transmission of infectious diseases. The airflow was characterized by particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements. Aerosol dispersionwas measured...

Fast Grasp Contact Computation for a Serial Robot

Science.gov (United States)

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

2015-01-01

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

Representation of the serial killer on the Italian Internet.

Science.gov (United States)

Villano, P; Bastianoni, P; Melotti, G

2001-10-01

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

Effects of Serial Rehearsal Training on Memory Search

Science.gov (United States)

McCauley, Charley; And Others

1976-01-01

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

Changes in Cross-Sectional Area and Transverse Diameter of the Heart on Inspiratory and Expiratory Chest CT: Correlation with Changes in Lung Size and Influence on Cardiothoracic Ratio Measurement.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hayato Tomita

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to investigate physiological changes in cardiac area and diameters between inspiratory and expiratory chest computed tomography (CT, and to assess their correlation with lung size change and influence on cardiothoracic ratio (CTR measurements.The institutional review board of our institution approved this study, and informed consent was waived. Forty-three subjects underwent inspiratory and expiratory chest CT as part of routine clinical care. On both inspiratory and expiratory scans, lung volumes and maximum lung diameters (transverse and vertical directions were measured. The maximum cardiac cross-sectional area (CSA and the maximum transverse cardiac diameter were measured on both scans, and the CT-based CTR was calculated. Changes in the lung and cardiac measurements were expressed as the expiratory/inspiratory (E/I ratios. Comparisons between inspiratory and expiratory measurements were made by the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Correlations between the E/I ratios of lung and heart measurements were evaluated by Spearman's rank correlation analysis.Cardiac CSA and transverse cardiac diameter was significantly larger on expiratory than on inspiratory CT (p < 0.0001. Significant negative correlations were found between the E/I ratios of these cardiac measurements and the E/I ratios of lung volume and vertical lung diameter (p < 0.01. CT-based CTR was significantly larger on expiration than on inspiration (p < 0.0001.Heart size on chest CT depends on the phase of ventilation, and is correlated with changes in lung volume and craniocaudal lung diameter. The CTR is also significantly influenced by ventilation.

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

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kandler, M.; Hoffmann, Ch.

2002-01-01

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

Bhatarah, Parveen; Ward, Geoff; Tan, Lydia

2008-01-01

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

Nebulized hypertonic saline via positive expiratory pressure versus via jet nebulizer in patients with severe cystic fibrosis.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

O'Connell, Oisin J

2011-06-01

Nebulized hypertonic saline is a highly effective therapy for patients with cystic fibrosis (CF), yet 10% of patients are intolerant of hypertonic saline administered via jet nebulizer. Positive expiratory pressure (PEP) nebulizers splint open the airways and offers a more controlled rate of nebulization.

Positive expiratory pressure in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease--a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Fagevik Olsén, Monika; Westerdahl, Elisabeth

2009-01-01

Breathing exercises against a resistance during expiration are often used as treatment for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Controversy still exists regarding the clinical application and efficacy. The aim of this systematic review was to determine the effects of chest physiotherapy techniques with positive expiratory pressure (PEP) for the prevention and treatment of pulmonary impairment in adults with COPD. The review was conducted on randomised, controlled clinical trials in which breathing exercises with positive expiratory pressure were compared with other chest physical therapy techniques or with no treatment, in adult patients with COPD. A computer-assisted literature search of available databases from 1970 to January 2008 was performed. Two reviewers extracted data independently and assessed the trials systematically with an instrument for measuring methodological quality. In total, 11 trials met the inclusion criteria, of which 5 reached an adequate level of internal validity. Several kinds of PEP techniques with a diversity of intensities and durations of treatment have been evaluated with different outcome measures and follow-up periods. Benefits of PEP were found in isolated outcome measures in separate studies with a follow-up period <1 month. Concerning long-term effects, the results are contradictory. Prior to widespread prescription of long-term PEP treatment, more research is required to establish the benefit of the technique in patients with COPD. (c) 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Multistage parallel-serial time averaging filters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Theodosiou, G.E.

1980-01-01

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

Converting serial networks to Ethernet communications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

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

2008-07-01

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

Implementation of Serial and Parallel Bubble Sort on Fpga

OpenAIRE

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

2016-01-01

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

Serial forced displacement in American cities, 1916-2010.

Science.gov (United States)

Fullilove, Mindy Thompson; Wallace, Rodrick

2011-06-01

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

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

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

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

2016-11-15

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

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

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

2016-01-01

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

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

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1978-01-01

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

Airborne spread of expiratory droplet nuclei between the occupants of indoor environments: A review.

Science.gov (United States)

Ai, Z T; Melikov, A K

2018-07-01

This article reviews past studies of airborne transmission between occupants in indoor environments, focusing on the spread of expiratory droplet nuclei from mouth/nose to mouth/nose for non-specific diseases. Special attention is paid to summarizing what is known about the influential factors, the inappropriate simplifications of the thermofluid boundary conditions of thermal manikins, the challenges facing the available experimental techniques, and the limitations of available evaluation methods. Secondary issues are highlighted, and some new ways to improve our understanding of airborne transmission indoors are provided. The characteristics of airborne spread of expiratory droplet nuclei between occupants, which are influenced correlatively by both environmental and personal factors, were widely revealed under steady-state conditions. Owing to the different boundary conditions used, some inconsistent findings on specific influential factors have been published. The available instrumentation was too slow to provide accurate concentration profiles for time-dependent evaluations of events with obvious time characteristics, while computational fluid dynamics (CFD) studies were mainly performed in the framework of inherently steady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes modeling. Future research needs in 3 areas are identified: the importance of the direction of indoor airflow patterns, the dynamics of airborne transmission, and the application of CFD simulations. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2012-01-01

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

1993-01-01

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

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hilda C P Morana

2006-10-01

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

Selection and Serial Entrepreneurs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chen, Jing

2011-01-01

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

Suicide in serial killers.

Science.gov (United States)

Lester, David; White, John

2010-02-01

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

The serial message-passing schedule for LDPC decoding algorithms

Science.gov (United States)

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

2015-12-01

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

Tevatron serial data repeater system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ducar, R.J.

1981-01-01

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

Nanoflow electrospinning serial femtosecond crystallography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

2012-01-01

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

Nanoflow electrospinning serial femtosecond crystallography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

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

2012-11-01

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

Volumetric capnography for the evaluation of pulmonary disease in adult patients with cystic fibrosis and noncystic fibrosis bronchiectasis.

Science.gov (United States)

Veronez, L; Moreira, M M; Soares, S T P; Pereira, M C; Ribeiro, M A G O; Ribeiro, J D; Terzi, R G G; Martins, L C; Paschoal, I A

2010-06-01

This study was designed to use volumetric capnography to evaluate the breathing pattern and ventilation inhomogeneities in patients with chronic sputum production and bronchiectasis and to correlate the phase 3 slope of the capnographic curve to spirometric measurements. Twenty-four patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) and 21 patients with noncystic fibrosis idiopathic bronchiectasis (BC) were serially enrolled. The diagnosis of cystic fibrosis was based on the finding of at least two abnormal sweat chloride concentrations (iontophoresis sweat test). The diagnosis of bronchiectasis was made when the patient had a complaint of chronic sputum production and compatible findings at high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) scan of the thorax. Spirometric tests and volumetric capnography were performed. The 114 subjects of the control group for capnographic variables were nonsmoker volunteers, who had no respiratory symptoms whatsoever and no past or present history of lung disease. Compared with controls, patients in CF group had lower SpO(2) (P volumes normalized for weight (V(E)/kg) (P volume (P3Slp/V(E)) (P capacities and both groups had very similar abnormalities. The capnographic variables in the patient group suggest a restrictive respiratory pattern (greater respiratory rates, smaller expiratory times and expiratory volumes, normal peak expiratory flows). Both groups of patients showed increased phase III slopes compared with controls, which probably indicates the presence of diffuse disease of small airways in both conditions leading to inhomogeneities of ventilation.

Effects of recruitment maneuver and positive end-expiratory pressure on respiratory mechanics and transpulmonary pressure during laparoscopic surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Cinnella, Gilda; Grasso, Salvatore; Spadaro, Savino; Rauseo, Michela; Mirabella, Lucia; Salatto, Potito; De Capraris, Antonella; Nappi, Luigi; Greco, Pantaleo; Dambrosio, Michele

2013-01-01

The authors tested the hypothesis that during laparoscopic surgery, Trendelenburg position and pneumoperitoneum may worsen chest wall elastance, concomitantly decreasing transpulmonary pressure, and that a protective ventilator strategy applied after pneumoperitoneum induction, by increasing transpulmonary pressure, would result in alveolar recruitment and improvement in respiratory mechanics and gas exchange. In 29 consecutive patients, a recruiting maneuver followed by positive end-expiratory pressure 5 cm H(2)O maintained until the end of surgery was applied after pneumoperitoneum induction. Respiratory mechanics, gas exchange, blood pressure, and cardiac index were measured before (T(BSL)) and after pneumoperitoneum with zero positive end-expiratory pressure (T(preOLS)), after recruitment with positive end-expiratory pressure (T(postOLS)), and after peritoneum desufflation with positive end-expiratory pressure (T(end)). Esophageal pressure was used for partitioning respiratory mechanics between lung and chest wall (data are mean ± SD): on T(preOLS), chest wall elastance (E(cw)) and elastance of the lung (E(L)) increased (8.2 ± 0.9 vs. 6.2 ± 1.2 cm H(2)O/L, respectively, on T(BSL); P = 0.00016; and 11.69 ± 1.68 vs. 9.61 ± 1.52 cm H(2)O/L on T(BSL); P = 0.0007). On T(postOLS), both chest wall elastance and E(L) decreased (5.2 ± 1.2 and 8.62 ± 1.03 cm H(2)O/L, respectively; P = 0.00015 vs. T(preOLS)), and Pao(2)/inspiratory oxygen fraction improved (491 ± 107 vs. 425 ± 97 on T(preOLS); P = 0.008) remaining stable thereafter. Recruited volume (the difference in lung volume for the same static airway pressure) was 194 ± 80 ml. Pplat(RS) remained stable while inspiratory transpulmonary pressure increased (11.65 + 1.37 cm H(2)O vs. 9.21 + 2.03 on T(preOLS); P = 0.007). All respiratory mechanics parameters remained stable after abdominal desufflation. Hemodynamic parameters remained stable throughout the study. In patients submitted to laparoscopic surgery in

Serial ammonia measurement in patients poisoned with glufosinate ammonium herbicide.

Science.gov (United States)

Moon, J M; Chun, B J

2016-05-01

This study investigated whether ammonia concentrations can predict delayed neurotoxicity development and neurotoxicity latency in glufosinate ammonium (GLA) herbicide-poisoned patients presenting with an alert mental state and stable hemodynamics. This retrospective observational case study included 26 patients divided into 2 groups: neurotoxicity during hospitalization (complicated group) and without neurotoxicity (noncomplicated group). Thirteen patients (50.0%) experienced neurotoxicity at 16 h post-ingestion. Although ammonia concentrations at presentation did not differ significantly between the two groups, the ammonia level in the complicated group increased significantly at the next measurement and remained significantly higher than that in the noncomplicated group until 48 h after ingestion. The peak ammonia concentration before neurotoxicity development was an independent predictor of neurotoxicity (odds ratio: 1.047, 95% confidence interval: 1.010-1.087, p value = 0.014), and the optimal cutoff value of peak ammonia concentration for predicting neurotoxicity was 101.5 μg/dL. The rate of ammonia increase was not associated with the time latency from ingestion to neurotoxicity development. This study showed that serial ammonia measurements in GLA-poisoned patients may identify those who are at high risk of developing neurotoxicity. However, as this study enrolled few patients, further qualified trials are required to confirm our results and to reveal the etiology of hyperammonemia and its causality in neurotoxicity. © The Author(s) 2015.

Three more semantic serial position functions and a SIMPLE explanation.

Science.gov (United States)

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

2013-05-01

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, B R; Becker, J V

1997-01-01

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2018-01-01

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

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

OpenAIRE

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

2004-01-01

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

Effects of brief smoking cessation education with expiratory carbon monoxide measurement on level of motivation to quit smoking.

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Won-Young; Kim, Cheol-Hwan; Lee, Ok-Gyu

2013-05-01

Smoking rates among Korean adult males is still high despite multifaceted efforts to reduce it. In Korea, there have been several studies on the effectiveness of smoking cessation education for inpatients, health check-ups, and smoking cessation clinics. However, there haven't been any studies on the effectiveness of smoking cessation education conducted outside the hospital. This study investigated effectiveness of brief education on smoking cessation with an expiratory carbon monoxide (CO) measurement outside the hospital among adult male office-workers in Korea. From April 1st to May 10th, 2012, we conducted a controlled trial among 95 adult male office workers over the age of 19 who smoke outside, in a public place in Seoul by cluster sampling. For the education group, we provided smoking cessation education for about 5 to 10 minutes, measured the expiratory CO level, and made the subjects complete questionnaires, while only self-help materials on quitting smoking were given to the control group. After 4 weeks, we evaluated the change in the level of motivation or success to quit smoking in both groups via e-mail or mobile phone. In the education group, the level of motivation to quit smoking was improved significantly. A multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the odds ratio of improved motivation to quit smoking in the education group was 28.10 times higher than that of the control group. Brief education on smoking cessation with expiratory CO measurement conducted outside the hospital could enhance the level of motivation to quit smoking.

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

Science.gov (United States)

Purser, Harry; Jarrold, Christopher

2010-04-01

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

The respiratory drive to thoracic motoneurones in the cat and its relation to the connections from expiratory bulbospinal neurones

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Saywell, S A; Anissimova, N P; Ford, T W

2007-01-01

of connection revealed were related to the presence and size of central respiratory drive potentials in the same motoneurones. Intracellular recordings were made from motoneurones in segments T5-T9 of the spinal cord of anaesthetized cats. Spike-triggered averaging from expiratory bulbospinal neurones...... in the caudal medulla revealed monosynaptic EPSPs in all groups of motoneurones, with the strongest connections to expiratory motoneurones with axons in the internal intercostal nerve. In the latter, connection strength was similar irrespective of the target muscle (e.g. external abdominal oblique or internal...... intercostal) and the EPSP amplitude was positively correlated with the amplitude of the central respiratory drive potential of the motoneurone. For this group, EPSPs were found in 45/83 bulbospinal neurone/motoneurone pairs, with a mean amplitude of 40.5 microV. The overall strength of the connection supports...

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

African Journals Online (AJOL)

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

Relationship of end-expiratory pressure, lung volume, and /sup 99m/Tc-DTPA clearance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cooper, J.A.; van der Zee, H.; Line, B.R.; Malik, A.B.

1987-01-01

We investigated the dose-response effect of positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) and increased lung volume on the pulmonary clearance rate of aerosolized technetium-99m-labeled diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (99mTc-DTPA). Clearance of lung radioactivity was expressed as percent decrease per minute. Base-line clearance was measured while anesthetized sheep (n = 20) were ventilated with 0 cmH 2 O end-expiratory pressure. Clearance was remeasured during ventilation at 2.5, 5, 10, 15, or 20 cmH 2 O PEEP. Further studies showed stepwise increases in functional residual capacity (FRC) (P less than 0.05) measured at 0, 2.5, 5, 10, 15, and 20 cmH 2 O PEEP. At 2.5 cmH 2 O PEEP, the clearance rate was not different from that at base line (P less than 0.05), although FRC was increased from base line. Clearance rate increased progressively with increasing PEEP at 5, 10, and 15 cmH 2 O (P less than 0.05). Between 15 and 20 cmH 2 O PEEP, clearance rate was again unchanged, despite an increase in FRC. The pulmonary clearance of aerosolized /sup 99m/Tc-DTPA shows a sigmoidal response to increasing FRC and PEEP, having both threshold and maximal effects. This relationship is most consistent with the hypothesis that alveolar epithelial permeability is increased by lung inflation

IT-based Value Creation in Serial Acquisitions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Henningsson, Stefan; Yetton, Philip

2013-01-01

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

Effects of Ramadan fasting on spirometric values and clinical symptoms in asthmatic patients

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdolreza Norouzy

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Ramadan is the 9th  Islamic lunar month during which Muslims avoid eating and drinking from sunrise to sunset.  The effect of Ramadan intermittent fasting on asthma control is controversial.  The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of Ramadan fasting on the spirometric variables and clinical symptoms on well-controlled asthmatic patients during Ramadan. Material and Methods: a cohort study was conducted in Mashhad, Khorasan Razavi, Iran. Twenty-nine (19 females and 10 males well-controlled asthmatic patients aged 47 (12 years completed the study.  The average duration of fasting was 26.5 days. Assessment of spirometric variables (daily peak expiratory flow, peak expiratory flow variability, peak expiratory flow home monitoring as well as asthma clinical symptoms including dyspnea, cough, wheezing, and chest tightness were carried out. Results: No significant changes in clinical symptoms were reported in asthmatic patients at the end of Ramadan fasting.  Among spirometric variables, only peak expiratory flow improved after Ramadan (p

Opportunity recognition: delineating the process and motivators for serial entrepreneurs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Boris Urban

2011-04-01

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

Effect of the radiofrequency volumetric tissue reduction of inferior turbinate on expiratory nasal sound frequency.

Science.gov (United States)

Seren, Erdal

2009-01-01

We sought to evaluate the short-term efficacy of radiofrequency volumetric tissue reduction (RFVTR) in treatment of inferior turbinate hypertrophy (TH) as measured by expiratory nasal sound spectra. In our study, we aimed to investigate the Odiosoft-rhino (OR) as a new diagnostic method to evaluate the nasal airflow of patients before and after RFVTR. In this study, we have analyzed and recorded the expiratory nasal sound in patients with inferior TH before and after RFVTR. This analysis includes the time expanded waveform, the spectral analysis with time averaged fast Fourier transform (FFT), and the waveform analysis of nasal sound. We found an increase in sound intensity at high frequency (Hf) in the sound analyses of the patients before RFVTR and a decrease in sound intensity at Hf was found in patients after RFVTR. This study indicates that RFVTR is an effective procedure to improve nasal airflow in the patients with nasal obstruction with inferior TH. We found significant decreases in the sound intensity level at Hf in the sound spectra after RFVTR. The OR results from the 2000- to 4000-Hz frequency (Hf) interval may be more useful in assessing patients with nasal obstruction than other frequency intervals. OR may be used as a noninvasive diagnostic tool to evaluate the nasal airflow.

A novel peak detection approach with chemical noise removal using short-time FFT for prOTOF MS data.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Shuqin; Wang, Honghui; Zhou, Xiaobo; Hoehn, Gerard T; DeGraba, Thomas J; Gonzales, Denise A; Suffredini, Anthony F; Ching, Wai-Ki; Ng, Michael K; Wong, Stephen T C

2009-08-01

Peak detection is a pivotal first step in biomarker discovery from MS data and can significantly influence the results of downstream data analysis steps. We developed a novel automatic peak detection method for prOTOF MS data, which does not require a priori knowledge of protein masses. Random noise is removed by an undecimated wavelet transform and chemical noise is attenuated by an adaptive short-time discrete Fourier transform. Isotopic peaks corresponding to a single protein are combined by extracting an envelope over them. Depending on the S/N, the desired peaks in each individual spectrum are detected and those with the highest intensity among their peak clusters are recorded. The common peaks among all the spectra are identified by choosing an appropriate cut-off threshold in the complete linkage hierarchical clustering. To remove the 1 Da shifting of the peaks, the peak corresponding to the same protein is determined as the detected peak with the largest number among its neighborhood. We validated this method using a data set of serial peptide and protein calibration standards. Compared with MoverZ program, our new method detects more peaks and significantly enhances S/N of the peak after the chemical noise removal. We then successfully applied this method to a data set from prOTOF MS spectra of albumin and albumin-bound proteins from serum samples of 59 patients with carotid artery disease compared to vascular disease-free patients to detect peaks with S/N> or =2. Our method is easily implemented and is highly effective to define peaks that will be used for disease classification or to highlight potential biomarkers.

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

Science.gov (United States)

Gurian, Elizabeth A

2011-02-01

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

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

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gaunt, R.

1997-05-01

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

Indexing Serialized Fiction: May the Force Be with You.

Science.gov (United States)

Barr, Melissa M.

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

Stress in Harmonic Serialism

Science.gov (United States)

Pruitt, Kathryn Ringler

2012-01-01

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

Neopuff T-piece resuscitator mask ventilation: Does mask leak vary with different peak inspiratory pressures in a manikin model?

Science.gov (United States)

Maheshwari, Rajesh; Tracy, Mark; Hinder, Murray; Wright, Audrey

2017-08-01

The aim of this study was to compare mask leak with three different peak inspiratory pressure (PIP) settings during T-piece resuscitator (TPR; Neopuff) mask ventilation on a neonatal manikin model. Participants were neonatal unit staff members. They were instructed to provide mask ventilation with a TPR with three PIP settings (20, 30, 40 cm H 2 O) chosen in a random order. Each episode was for 2 min with 2-min rest period. Flow rate and positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) were kept constant. Airway pressure, inspiratory and expiratory tidal volumes, mask leak, respiratory rate and inspiratory time were recorded. Repeated measures analysis of variance was used for statistical analysis. A total of 12 749 inflations delivered by 40 participants were analysed. There were no statistically significant differences (P > 0.05) in the mask leak with the three PIP settings. No statistically significant differences were seen in respiratory rate and inspiratory time with the three PIP settings. There was a significant rise in PEEP as the PIP increased. Failure to achieve the desired PIP was observed especially at the higher settings. In a neonatal manikin model, the mask leak does not vary as a function of the PIP when the flow rate is constant. With a fixed rate and inspiratory time, there seems to be a rise in PEEP with increasing PIP. © 2017 Paediatrics and Child Health Division (The Royal Australasian College of Physicians).

The relationship between serial sexual murder and autoerotic asphyxiation.

Science.gov (United States)

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

2008-04-07

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

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Badi H. Baltagi

2016-11-01

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

Whole-lung volume and density in spirometrically-gated inspiratory and expiratory CT in systemic sclerosis: correlation with static volumes at pulmonary function tests.

Science.gov (United States)

Camiciottoli, G; Diciotti, S; Bartolucci, M; Orlandi, I; Bigazzi, F; Matucci-Cerinic, M; Pistolesi, M; Mascalchi, M

2013-03-01

Spiral low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) permits to measure whole-lung volume and density in a single breath-hold. To evaluate the agreement between static lung volumes measured with LDCT and pulmonary function test (PFT) and the correlation between the LDCT volumes and lung density in restrictive lung disease. Patients with Systemic Sclerosis (SSc) with (n = 24) and without (n = 16) pulmonary involvement on sequential thin-section CT and patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)(n = 29) underwent spirometrically-gated LDCT at 90% and 10% of vital capacity to measure inspiratory and expiratory lung volumes and mean lung attenuation (MLA). Total lung capacity and residual volume were measured the same day of CT. Inspiratory [95% limits of agreement (95% LoA)--43.8% and 39.2%] and expiratory (95% LoA -45.8% and 37.1%) lung volumes measured on LDCT and PFT showed poor agreement in SSc patients with pulmonary involvement, whereas they were in substantial agreement (inspiratory 95% LoA -14.1% and 16.1%; expiratory 95% LoA -13.5% and 23%) in SSc patients without pulmonary involvement and in inspiratory scans only (95% LoA -23.1% and 20.9%) of COPD patients. Inspiratory and expiratory LDCT volumes, MLA and their deltas differentiated both SSc patients with or without pulmonary involvement from COPD patients. LDCT lung volumes and density were not correlated in SSc patients with pulmonary involvement, whereas they did correlate in SSc without pulmonary involvement and in COPD patients. In restrictive lung disease due to SSc there is poor agreement between static lung volumes measured using LDCT and PFT and the relationship between volume and density values on CT is altered.

Positive end-expiratory pressure improves survival in a rodent model of cardiopulmonary resuscitation using high-dose epinephrine.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

McCaul, Conán

2009-10-01

Multiple interventions have been tested in models of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to optimize drug use, chest compressions, and ventilation. None has studied the effects of positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) on outcome. We hypothesized that because PEEP can reverse pulmonary atelectasis, lower pulmonary vascular resistance, and potentially improve cardiac output, its use during CPR would increase survival.

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

Science.gov (United States)

Leclercq, Anne-Lise; Majerus, Steve

2010-03-01

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

Geberth, V J; Turco, R N

1997-01-01

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

Hemispatial neglect and serial order in verbal working memory.

Science.gov (United States)

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

2018-01-09

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

Attractive Serial Dependence in the Absence of an Explicit Task.

Science.gov (United States)

Fornaciai, Michele; Park, Joonkoo

2018-03-01

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2018-03-01

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

Serial murder by healthcare professionals.

Science.gov (United States)

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

2008-01-01

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

The Influence of Serial Carbohydrate Mouth Rinsing on Power Output during a Cycle Sprint

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shaun M. Phillips, Scott Findlay, Mykolas Kavaliauskas, Marie Clare Grant

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The objective of the study was to investigate the influence of serial administration of a carbohydrate (CHO mouth rinse on performance, metabolic and perceptual responses during a cycle sprint. Twelve physically active males (mean (± SD age: 23.1 (3.0 years, height: 1.83 (0.07 m, body mass (BM: 86.3 (13.5 kg completed the following mouth rinse trials in a randomized, counterbalanced, double-blind fashion; 1. 8 x 5 second rinses with a 25 ml CHO (6% w/v maltodextrin solution, 2. 8 x 5 second rinses with a 25 ml placebo (PLA solution. Following mouth rinse administration, participants completed a 30 second sprint on a cycle ergometer against a 0.075 g·kg-1 BM resistance. Eight participants achieved a greater peak power output (PPO in the CHO trial, resulting in a significantly greater PPO compared with PLA (13.51 ± 2.19 vs. 13.20 ± 2.14 W·kg-1, p 0.05. No significant between-trials difference was reported for fatigue index, perceived exertion, arousal and nausea levels, or blood lactate and glucose concentrations. Serial administration of a CHO mouth rinse may significantly improve PPO during a cycle sprint. This improvement appears confined to the first 5 seconds of the sprint, and may come at a greater relative cost for the remainder of the sprint.

Selection and Serial Entrepreneurs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chen, Jing

2013-01-01

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

Serial position effects in mild cognitive impairment.

Science.gov (United States)

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

2011-03-01

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

A combination strategy for tracking the serial criminal

Science.gov (United States)

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

2010-08-01

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2013-09-01

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

Serial CSTR digester configuration for improving biogas production from manure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Boe, Kanokwan; Angelidaki, Irini

2009-01-01

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

Affinity-based screening of combinatorial libraries using automated, serial-column chromatography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Evans, D.M.; Williams, K.P.; McGuinness, B. [PerSeptive Biosystems, Framingham, MA (United States)] [and others

1996-04-01

The authors have developed an automated serial chromatographic technique for screening a library of compounds based upon their relative affinity for a target molecule. A {open_quotes}target{close_quotes} column containing the immobilized target molecule is set in tandem with a reversed-phase column. A combinatorial peptide library is injected onto the target column. The target-bound peptides are eluted from the first column and transferred automatically to the reversed-phase column. The target-specific peptide peaks from the reversed-phase column are identified and sequenced. Using a monoclonal antibody (3E-7) against {beta}-endorphin as a target, we selected a single peptide with sequence YGGFL from approximately 5800 peptides present in a combinatorial library. We demonstrated the applicability of the technology towards selection of peptides with predetermined affinity for bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS, endotoxin). We expect that this technology will have broad applications for high throughput screening of chemical libraries or natural product extracts. 21 refs., 4 figs.

Whole-pattern fitting technique in serial femtosecond nanocrystallography

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ruben A. Dilanian

2016-03-01

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

Serial killer: il database mondiale

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gaetano parente

2016-07-01

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

Casting for infantile scoliosis: the pitfall of increased peak inspiratory pressure.

Science.gov (United States)

Dhawale, Arjun A; Shah, Suken A; Reichard, Samantha; Holmes, Laurens; Brislin, Robert; Rogers, Kenneth; Mackenzie, William G

2013-01-01

Serial cast correction is a popular treatment option for progressive infantile scoliosis. Body casting can lead to chest and abdominal expansion restriction and result in decreased chest wall compliance. There are no studies evaluating the effects of casting on ventilation in infantile scoliosis. This study examines changes in peak inspiratory pressure (PIP) during serial casting for infantile scoliosis. We retrospectively reviewed data obtained from 37 serial Cotrel elongation, derotation, and flexion cast corrections in patients with infantile scoliosis. Patient demographics, radiographic measurements, and anesthesia data were recorded. Anesthesia technique was standardized: children were intubated with rigid endotracheal tubes (ETTs); tidal volume was held constant at 8 to 10 cm(3)/kg using volume control ventilation; and PIP was recorded at baseline, after cast application before window cutout, and after window cutout before extubation. Any complications were documented. We assessed the PIP changes with a repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). The mean age at first casting was 21.8 months (range, 12 to 42 mo) and mean follow-up since first casting was 22.4 months (range, 13 to 40 mo) with mean major Cobb angle of 53±15 degrees. The mean PIP was 15.5±4.9 cm H(2)O before casting, 31.9±7.9 cm H(2)O after cast application, and 20.4±5.6 cm H2O after making windows. There was a 106% increase after casting and 32% increase after window cutout from the baseline PIP levels. There was a significant difference in PIP on repeated measures ANOVA (Pcasting and another had delayed difficulty in breathing. Casting resulted in an increased PIP due to transient restrictive pulmonary process; after windows were cut out, the PIP reduced but not to baseline. In patients with underlying pulmonary disease, the casting process may induce respiratory complications, and a proper period of observation after casting is necessary. Case series, level 4.

Numerical discrepancy between serial and MPI parallel computations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sang Bong Lee

2016-09-01

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

Gorin, Simon; Mengal, Pierre; Majerus, Steve

2018-04-01

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

S3-1: The Serial Dependence of Visual Perception

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Whitney

2012-10-01

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

Some Considerations on Seriality and Synchronicity

OpenAIRE

Elena Nechita

2010-01-01

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

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

CERN Document Server

Gong, D; The ATLAS collaboration

2010-01-01

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

Giurintano, S. L.

1973-01-01

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

Effects of Inhaled Fenoterol and Positive End-Expiratory Pressure on the Respiratory Mechanics of Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Claude Guerin

2005-01-01

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: During acute ventilatory failure in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD, applying external positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEPe will reopen small airways and, thus, may enhance peripheral deposition as well as the physiological effects of inhaled beta-2 agonists.

The Effect of Concurrent Semantic Categorization on Delayed Serial Recall

Science.gov (United States)

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

2011-01-01

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

1999-01-01

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

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jie-jie Shao

2015-01-01

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

1999-03-12

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

Reaction kinetics in open reactors and serial transfers between closed reactors

Science.gov (United States)

Blokhuis, Alex; Lacoste, David; Gaspard, Pierre

2018-04-01

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2018-06-06

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

Some Considerations on Seriality and Synchronicity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena Nechita

2010-01-01

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

Peak Expiratory Flow as a Surrogate for Health Related Quality of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Spirometry was done using American Thoracic Society's standards and reference equations from African American norms of the US population. Quality of life was measured with the St George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) Results: Out of 50 patients recruited for the study, 48 provided complete data with acceptable ...

Evaluation of Peak Expiratory Flow rates (PEFR) of Workers in a ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background: Occupational lung diseases (OLD) remain one of the most common workplace health challenges since the industrial revolution. One of the risks for OLD is the exposure to cement dust which is associated with varying degrees of respiratory symptoms and reduction in lung function. This study aimed to measure ...

Changes in Peak Airflow Measurement During Maximal Cough After Vocal Fold Augmentation in Patients With Glottic Insufficiency.

Science.gov (United States)

Dion, Gregory R; Achlatis, Efstratios; Teng, Stephanie; Fang, Yixin; Persky, Michael; Branski, Ryan C; Amin, Milan R

2017-11-01

Compromised cough effectiveness is correlated with dysphagia and aspiration. Glottic insufficiency likely yields decreased cough strength and effectiveness. Although vocal fold augmentation favorably affects voice and likely improves cough strength, few data exist to support this hypothesis. To assess whether vocal fold augmentation improves peak airflow measurements during maximal-effort cough following augmentation. This case series study was conducted in a tertiary, academic laryngology clinic. Participants included 14 consecutive individuals with glottic insufficiency due to vocal fold paralysis, which was diagnosed via videostrobolaryngoscopy as a component of routine clinical examination. All participants who chose to proceed with augmentation were considered for the study whether office-based or operative augmentation was planned. Postaugmentation data were collected only at the first follow-up visit, which was targeted for 14 days after augmentation but varied on the basis of participant availability. Data were collected from June 5, 2014, to October 1, 2015. Data analysis took place between October 2, 2015, and March 3, 2017. Peak airflow during maximal volitional cough was quantified before and after vocal fold augmentation. Participants performed maximal coughs, and peak expiratory flow during the maximal cough was captured according to American Thoracic Society guidelines. Among the 14 participants (7 men and 7 women), the mean (SD) age was 62 (18) years. Three types of injectable material were used for vocal fold augmentation: carboxymethylcellulose in 5 patients, hyaluronic acid in 5, and calcium hydroxylapatite in 4. Following augmentation, cough strength increased in 11 participants and decreased cough strength was observed in 3. Peak airflow measurements during maximal cough varied from a decrease of 40 L/min to an increase of 150 L/min following augmentation. When preaugmentation and postaugmentation peak airflow measurements were compared, the

A prospective population study of resting heart rate and peak oxygen uptake (the HUNT Study, Norway.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Javaid Nauman

Full Text Available OBJECTIVES: We assessed the prospective association of resting heart rate (RHR at baseline with peak oxygen uptake (VO(2peak 23 years later, and evaluated whether physical activity (PA could modify this association. BACKGROUND: Both RHR and VO(2peak are strong and independent predictors of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. However, the association of RHR with VO(2peak and modifying effect of PA have not been prospectively assessed in population studies. METHODS: In 807 men and 810 women free from cardiovascular disease both at baseline (1984-86 and follow-up 23 years later, RHR was recorded at both occasions, and VO(2peak was measured by ergospirometry at follow-up. We used Generalized Linear Models to assess the association of baseline RHR with VO(2peak, and to study combined effects of RHR and self-reported PA on later VO(2peak. RESULTS: There was an inverse association of RHR at baseline with VO(2peak (p<0.01. Men and women with baseline RHR greater than 80 bpm had 4.6 mL.kg(-1.min(-1 (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.8 to 6.3 and 1.4 mL.kg(-1.min(-1 (95% CI, -0.4 to 3.1 lower VO(2peak at follow-up compared with men and women with RHR below 60 bpm at baseline. We found a linear association of change in RHR with VO(2peak (p=0.03, suggesting that a decrease in RHR over time is likely to be beneficial for cardiovascular fitness. Participants with low RHR and high PA at baseline had higher VO(2peak than inactive people with relatively high RHR. However, among participants with relatively high RHR and high PA at baseline, VO(2peak was similar to inactive people with relatively low RHR. CONCLUSION: RHR is an important predictor of VO(2peak, and serial assessments of RHR may provide useful and inexpensive information on cardiovascular fitness. The results suggest that high levels of PA may compensate for the lower VO(2peak associated with a high RHR.

Diagnosis of acute ischemic stroke based on time-to-peak and diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Maruyama, Keisuke; Eguchi, Tsuneyoshi; Sora, Shigeo; Izumi, Masafumi; Hiyama, Hirofumi [Kameda General Hospital, Kamogawa, Chiba (Japan); Ueki, Keisuke [Tokyo Univ. (Japan). Hospital

2002-07-01

Rapid and accurate diagnosis of the hemodynamics of the brain is essential for the treatment of acute ischemic stroke. This study investigated whether time-to-peak and diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) imaging are useful for predicting the course of stroke. Fourteen patients with non-lacunar acute ischemic stroke underwent emergent MR imaging within 24 hours from the onset followed by cerebral angiography and xenon-enhanced computed tomography (CT). Serial CT was obtained to monitor changes in the size and nature of the infarct. Volumes of the abnormal lesions demonstrated on time-to-peak (V{sub T}) or diffusion-weighted (V{sub D}) images were measured, and the ratio of V{sub T} to V{sub D} was calculated. Based on this ratio, patients were classified into three groups: Group 1 (V{sub T}/V{sub D} 0.5-1.5, n=9), Group 2 (V{sub T}/V{sub D}>1.5, n=3), and Group 3 (V{sub T}/V{sub D}<0.5, n=2). The size of the infarct detected as a low-density area on serial CT scans did not change significantly throughout the course in Group 1 patients, but showed enlargement in all three patients in Group 2. Two patients in Group 3 had major trunk occlusion followed by spontaneous reperfusion, and both developed hemorrhagic transformation. Our study showed that classification of ischemic stroke based on the V{sub T}/V{sub D} ratio was predictive of the time course of the infarct, and may be useful in selecting the initial therapeutic procedure immediately after the onset of stroke. (author)

[Personality disorders, psychopathy and serial killers].

Science.gov (United States)

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

2006-10-01

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

How Do We Write about Performance in Serial Television?

OpenAIRE

Elliott Logan

2015-01-01

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

Lung recruitability is better estimated according to the Berlin definition of acute respiratory distress syndrome at standard 5 cm H2O rather than higher positive end-expiratory pressure: a retrospective cohort study.

Science.gov (United States)

Caironi, Pietro; Carlesso, Eleonora; Cressoni, Massimo; Chiumello, Davide; Moerer, Onner; Chiurazzi, Chiara; Brioni, Matteo; Bottino, Nicola; Lazzerini, Marco; Bugedo, Guillermo; Quintel, Michael; Ranieri, V Marco; Gattinoni, Luciano

2015-04-01

The Berlin definition of acute respiratory distress syndrome has introduced three classes of severity according to PaO2/FIO2 thresholds. The level of positive end-expiratory pressure applied may greatly affect PaO2/FIO2, thereby masking acute respiratory distress syndrome severity, which should reflect the underlying lung injury (lung edema and recruitability). We hypothesized that the assessment of acute respiratory distress syndrome severity at standardized low positive end-expiratory pressure may improve the association between the underlying lung injury, as detected by CT, and PaO2/FIO2-derived severity. Retrospective analysis. Four university hospitals (Italy, Germany, and Chile). One hundred forty-eight patients with acute lung injury or acute respiratory distress syndrome according to the American-European Consensus Conference criteria. Patients underwent a three-step ventilator protocol (at clinical, 5 cm H2O, or 15 cm H2O positive end-expiratory pressure). Whole-lung CT scans were obtained at 5 and 45 cm H2O airway pressure. Nine patients did not fulfill acute respiratory distress syndrome criteria of the novel Berlin definition. Patients were then classified according to PaO2/FIO2 assessed at clinical, 5 cm H2O, or 15 cm H2O positive end-expiratory pressure. At clinical positive end-expiratory pressure (11±3 cm H2O), patients with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome had a greater lung tissue weight and recruitability than patients with mild or moderate acute respiratory distress syndrome (pBerlin definition of acute respiratory distress syndrome assessed at 5 cm H2O allows a better evaluation of lung recruitability and edema than at higher positive end-expiratory pressure clinically set.

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

NARCIS (Netherlands)

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

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

Wolf, Barbara C; Lavezzi, Wendy A

2007-01-01

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

Kubota, Yoshiyuki

2015-02-01

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2006-06-01

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

SMALL SERIAL AND SERIAL PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT IN UNSTABLE DEMAND ENVIROUMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tsomaeva I. V.

2014-03-01

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

DDCMP protocol on a DMA serial-line board

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

1982-01-01

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

A network-based Macintosh serial host interface program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wight, J.

1991-03-01

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2015-05-01

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2011-06-15

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

Lundrigan, S; Canter, D

2001-01-01

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2018-01-01

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

The effect of habitual waterpipe tobacco smoking on pulmonary function and exercise capacity in young healthy males: A pilot study.

Science.gov (United States)

Hawari, F I; Obeidat, N A; Ghonimat, I M; Ayub, H S; Dawahreh, S S

2017-01-01

Evidence regarding the health effects of habitual waterpipe smoking is limited, particularly in young smokers. Respiratory health and cardiopulmonary exercise tests were compared in young male habitual waterpipe smokers (WPS) versus non-smokers. 69 WPS (≥3 times/week for three years) and 69 non-smokers were studied. Respiratory health was assessed through the American Thoracic Society and the Division of Lung Diseases (ATS-DLD-78) adult questionnaire. Pulmonary function and cardiopulmonary exercise tests were performed. Self-reported respiratory symptoms, forced expiratory volume in first second (FEV 1 ), forced vital capacity (FVC), FEV 1 /FVC ratio, forced expiratory flow between 25 and 75% of FVC (FEF 25-75% ), peak expiratory flow (PEF), exercise time, peak end-tidal CO 2 tension (PetCO 2 ), subject-reported leg fatigue and dyspnea; peak O 2 uptake (VO 2 max), and end-expiratory lung volume (EELV) change from baseline (at peak exercise) were measured. WPS were more likely than non-smokers to report respiratory symptoms. WPS also demonstrated: shorter exercise time; lower peak VO 2 ; higher perceived dyspnea at mid-exercise; lower values of the following: FEV 1 , FVC, PEF, and EELV change. Habitual waterpipe tobacco smoking in young seemingly healthy individuals is associated with a greater burden of respiratory symptoms and impaired exercise capacity. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

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

2014-10-15

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

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

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

2014-01-01

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

[Characteristics of tidal breathing pulmonary function in children with tracheobronchomalacia].

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Lan; Chen, Qaing; Zhang, Fan; Zhu, Shuang-Gui; Hu, Ci-Lang; Wu, Ai-Min

2017-12-01

To investigate the characteristics of tidal breathing pulmonary function in children with tracheobronchomalacia (TBM). In this study, 30 children who were diagnosed with TBM using electronic bronchoscopy were enrolled in the observation group; 30 healthy children were recruited in the normal control group. For individuals in each group, the assessment of tidal breath pulmonary function was performed at diagnosis and 3, 6, 9, and 12 months after diagnosis. There were no significant differences in tidal volume, inspiratory time, expiratory time, and inspiratory to expiratory ratio between the two groups (P>0.05). Compared with the control group, the observation group had a significantly higher respiratory rate and significantly lower ratio of time to peak tidal expiratory flow to total expiratory time (TPTEF/TE) and ratio of volume to peak tidal expiratory flow to total expiratory volume (VPTEF/VE). There was a time-dependent increase in TPTEF/TE and VPTEF/VE for TBM children from the time of initial diagnosis to 12 months after diagnosis. Tidal breathing pulmonary function has characteristic changes in children with TBM. Tidal breathing pulmonary function tends to be recovered with increased age in children with TBM.

[A peak recognition algorithm designed for chromatographic peaks of transformer oil].

Science.gov (United States)

Ou, Linjun; Cao, Jian

2014-09-01

In the field of the chromatographic peak identification of the transformer oil, the traditional first-order derivative requires slope threshold to achieve peak identification. In terms of its shortcomings of low automation and easy distortion, the first-order derivative method was improved by applying the moving average iterative method and the normalized analysis techniques to identify the peaks. Accurate identification of the chromatographic peaks was realized through using multiple iterations of the moving average of signal curves and square wave curves to determine the optimal value of the normalized peak identification parameters, combined with the absolute peak retention times and peak window. The experimental results show that this algorithm can accurately identify the peaks and is not sensitive to the noise, the chromatographic peak width or the peak shape changes. It has strong adaptability to meet the on-site requirements of online monitoring devices of dissolved gases in transformer oil.

Serial Millisecond Crystallography of Membrane Proteins.

Science.gov (United States)

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

2016-01-01

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

Yoo, Jeewon; Kaushanskaya, Margarita

2016-01-01

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

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

African Journals Online (AJOL)

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

Lung-protective ventilation in intensive care unit and operation room : Tidal volume size, level of positive end-expiratory pressure and driving pressure

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Serpa Neto, A.

2017-01-01

Several investigations have shown independent associations between three ventilator settings – tidal volume size, positive end–expiratory pressure (PEEP) and driving pressure – and outcomes in patients with the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). There is an increasing notion that similar

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2005-01-01

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

Tydgat, Ilse; Grainger, Jonathan

2009-01-01

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

Efficient multitasking: parallel versus serial processing of multiple tasks.

Science.gov (United States)

Fischer, Rico; Plessow, Franziska

2015-01-01

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

The neural signature of emotional memories in serial crimes.

Science.gov (United States)

Chassy, Philippe

2017-10-01

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

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Veronica Innocenti

2015-04-01

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

[Study of personal best value of peak expiratory flow in patients with asthma--comparison of the highest value of daily PEF under good control and the highest value of daily PEF obtained after using repeated inhaled beta2-agonist during high-dose inhaled steroid treatment].

Science.gov (United States)

Watanabe, Naoto; Makino, Sohei; Kihara, Norio; Fukuda, Takeshi

2008-12-01

In the guideline for asthma management, it is important to find the personal best value of peak expiratory flow (best PEF). Recently, we have substituted the highest value of PEF in daily life under good control (daily highest PEF) for the best PEF. In the present study, we considered whether the daily highest PEF could be used as the best PEF or not. Subjects were 30 asthmatics who were well controlled but whose baseline PEF values were less than 80 percent of predicted values. We compared the daily highest PEF and the highest of PEF obtained after repeated inhaled beta2-agonist (salbutamol MDI every 20 minutes three times). All subjects then received 1600 microg/day of beclomethasone dipropionate (BDP) for 4 to 8 weeks. We studied the effect of high-dose inhaled steroid treatment on each PEF value and compared the daily highest PEF and the highest PEF obtained after using repeated salbutamol MDI during high dose inhaled steroid therapy on the examination day again. The baseline PEF, daily highest PEF and the highest PEF obtained after salbutamol MDI were significantly less than the each values obtained after high-dose BDP. The best PEF value of them was the value obtained after repeated salbutamol MDI during high dose BDP. We suggest that the daily highest PEF under good control is not a substitute for best PEF because it changes according to the degree of improvement of airway inflammation. We recommend that a course of high dose inhaled steroid is effective in finding the best value of PEF for each individual with moderate asthma.

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

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, J

1995-08-01

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

Synchronic Seriality: The Dissolving of Diegetic Borders Through Metalepsis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paige M. Piper

2015-12-01

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

Spatial serial order processing in schizophrenia.

Science.gov (United States)

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

2004-10-01

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

Prediction equations for spirometry in four- to six-year-old children.

Science.gov (United States)

França, Danielle Corrêa; Camargos, Paulo Augusto Moreira; Jones, Marcus Herbert; Martins, Jocimar Avelar; Vieira, Bruna da Silva Pinto Pinheiro; Colosimo, Enrico Antônio; de Mendonça, Karla Morganna Pereira Pinto; Borja, Raíssa de Oliveira; Britto, Raquel Rodrigues; Parreira, Verônica Franco

2016-01-01

To generate prediction equations for spirometry in 4- to 6-year-old children. Forced vital capacity, forced expiratory volume in 0.5s, forced expiratory volume in one second, peak expiratory flow, and forced expiratory flow at 25-75% of the forced vital capacity were assessed in 195 healthy children residing in the town of Sete Lagoas, state of Minas Gerais, Southeastern Brazil. The least mean squares method was used to derive the prediction equations. The level of significance was established as p<0.05. Overall, 85% of the children succeeded in performing the spirometric maneuvers. In the prediction equation, height was the single predictor of the spirometric variables as follows: forced vital capacity=exponential [(-2.255)+(0.022×height)], forced expiratory volume in 0.5s=exponential [(-2.288)+(0.019×height)], forced expiratory volume in one second=exponential [(-2.767)+(0.026×height)], peak expiratory flow=exponential [(-2.908)+(0.019×height)], and forced expiratory flow at 25-75% of the forced vital capacity=exponential [(-1.404)+(0.016×height)]. Neither age nor weight influenced the regression equations. No significant differences in the predicted values for boys and girls were observed. The predicted values obtained in the present study are comparable to those reported for preschoolers from both Brazil and other countries. Copyright © 2016 Sociedade Brasileira de Pediatria. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

Breath-by-breath analysis of expiratory gas concentration in chickens.

Science.gov (United States)

Itabisashi, T

1981-01-01

Expiratory oxygen and carbon-dioxide concentration were analysed breath by breath in order to examine their wave forms in adult awake hens restrained in various postural positions, including supine, prone and sitting positions. Expired gas was collected at the nostril in almost all the hens. In the sitting position free from vocalization, feeding, drinking, panting, and restlessness, hens showed various forms of stable pattern of oxygen-gas curves. These forms were classified into three types, or the ascending, flat and descending types, with respect to the plateau inclination. The waves of carbon-dioxide were not always a mirror image of those of oxygen. The rate of occurrence of each type varied with the hen's postural position. The wave form was altered with the experimental body-rotation of the hen. When placed between the deflections of stable pattern, the episodes of wave deformation resembling that seen at the time of uneven pulmonary ventilation in mammals could frequently be observed in any hen's posture examined. Cardiogenic oscillation appeared on the plateau of expired-gas curves.

Measuring propagation delay over a coded serial communication channel using FPGAs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

2011-01-01

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

Serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Ruissen, Fred; Baas, Frank

2007-01-01

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

Auditory distraction and serial memory: The avoidable and the ineluctable

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dylan M Jones

2010-01-01

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

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

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

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

2015-10-15

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

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

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

2015-01-01

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

Piezoelectric micromotor based on the structure of serial bending arms.

Science.gov (United States)

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

2003-09-01

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

Serial position learning in honeybees.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Randolf Menzel

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

Advances in Serials Management. Volume 6.

Science.gov (United States)

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

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2017-01-01

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

Modeling the Fate of Expiratory Aerosols and the Associated Infection Risk in an Aircraft Cabin Environment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wan, M.P.; To, G.N.S.; Chao, C.Y.H.

2009-01-01

to estimate the risk of infection by contact. The environmental control system (ECS) in a cabin creates air circulation mainly in the lateral direction, making lateral dispersions of aerosols much faster than longitudinal dispersions. Aerosols with initial sizes under 28 m in diameter can stay airborne......The transport and deposition of polydispersed expiratory aerosols in an aircraft cabin were simulated using a Lagrangian-based model validated by experiments conducted in an aircraft cabin mockup. Infection risk by inhalation was estimated using the aerosol dispersion data and a model was developed...

Setting individualized positive end-expiratory pressure level with a positive end-expiratory pressure decrement trial after a recruitment maneuver improves oxygenation and lung mechanics during one-lung ventilation.

Science.gov (United States)

Ferrando, Carlos; Mugarra, Ana; Gutierrez, Andrea; Carbonell, Jose Antonio; García, Marisa; Soro, Marina; Tusman, Gerardo; Belda, Francisco Javier

2014-03-01

We investigated whether individualized positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) improves oxygenation, ventilation, and lung mechanics during one-lung ventilation compared with standardized PEEP. Thirty patients undergoing thoracic surgery were randomly allocated to the study or control group. Both groups received an alveolar recruitment maneuver at the beginning and end of one-lung ventilation. After the alveolar recruitment maneuver, the control group had their lungs ventilated with a 5 cm·H2O PEEP, while the study group had their lungs ventilated with an individualized PEEP level determined by a PEEP decrement trial. Arterial blood samples, lung mechanics, and volumetric capnography were recorded at multiple timepoints throughout the procedure. The individualized PEEP values in study group were higher than the standardized PEEP values (10 ± 2 vs 5 cm·H2O; P decrement trial than with a standardized 5 cm·H2O of PEEP.

Fungal myositis in children: serial ultrasonographic findings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

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

2003-08-01

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

Fungal myositis in children: serial ultrasonographic findings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

2003-01-01

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

Gouws, A.

2010-01-01

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

Peripheral chemoreceptors tune inspiratory drive via tonic expiratory neuron hubs in the medullary ventral respiratory column network.

Science.gov (United States)

Segers, L S; Nuding, S C; Ott, M M; Dean, J B; Bolser, D C; O'Connor, R; Morris, K F; Lindsey, B G

2015-01-01

Models of brain stem ventral respiratory column (VRC) circuits typically emphasize populations of neurons, each active during a particular phase of the respiratory cycle. We have proposed that "tonic" pericolumnar expiratory (t-E) neurons tune breathing during baroreceptor-evoked reductions and central chemoreceptor-evoked enhancements of inspiratory (I) drive. The aims of this study were to further characterize the coordinated activity of t-E neurons and test the hypothesis that peripheral chemoreceptors also modulate drive via inhibition of t-E neurons and disinhibition of their inspiratory neuron targets. Spike trains of 828 VRC neurons were acquired by multielectrode arrays along with phrenic nerve signals from 22 decerebrate, vagotomized, neuromuscularly blocked, artificially ventilated adult cats. Forty-eight of 191 t-E neurons fired synchronously with another t-E neuron as indicated by cross-correlogram central peaks; 32 of the 39 synchronous pairs were elements of groups with mutual pairwise correlations. Gravitational clustering identified fluctuations in t-E neuron synchrony. A network model supported the prediction that inhibitory populations with spike synchrony reduce target neuron firing probabilities, resulting in offset or central correlogram troughs. In five animals, stimulation of carotid chemoreceptors evoked changes in the firing rates of 179 of 240 neurons. Thirty-two neuron pairs had correlogram troughs consistent with convergent and divergent t-E inhibition of I cells and disinhibitory enhancement of drive. Four of 10 t-E neurons that responded to sequential stimulation of peripheral and central chemoreceptors triggered 25 cross-correlograms with offset features. The results support the hypothesis that multiple afferent systems dynamically tune inspiratory drive in part via coordinated t-E neurons. Copyright © 2015 the American Physiological Society.

A high speed serializer ASIC for ATLAS Liquid Argon calorimeter upgrade

CERN Document Server

Liu, T; The ATLAS collaboration

2014-01-01

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

Facial rejuvenation: Serial fat graft transfer

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Saad Mohamed Saad Ibrahiem

2016-02-01

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

Influence of Changing the Diameter of the Bubble Generator Bottle and Expiratory Limb on Bubble CPAP: An in vitro Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chun-Shan Wu

2012-12-01

Conclusion: The size and submergence depth of an expiratory limb of a CPAP circuit, the diameter of the bubble generator bottle, and the compliance of the model lung all influence the magnitude and frequency of the transmitted pressure waveform. Therefore, these factors may affect lung volume recruitment and breathing efficiency in bubble CPAP.

Effect of a mixture of pyridostigmine and atropine on forced expiratory volume (FEV1), and serum cholinesterase activity in normal subjects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Feldt-Rasmussen, B F; Gefke, Kaj; Mosbech, H

1985-01-01

injection with a decrease to 27 +/- 5% (mean +/- SEM) of the original activity. Forced expiratory volume in the first 1s (FEV1) was measured at fixed time intervals for 90 min. No decrease in FEV1 was observed; on the contrary, there was a small increase. We conclude that atropine effectively antagonizes...

Normal expiratory flow rate and lung volumes in patients with combined emphysema and interstitial lung disease: a case series and literature review.

Science.gov (United States)

Heathcote, Karen L; Cockcroft, Donald W; Fladeland, Derek A; Fenton, Mark E

2011-01-01

Pulmonary function tests in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis characteristically show a restrictive pattern including small lung volumes and increased expiratory flow rates resulting from a reduction in pulmonary compliance due to diffuse fibrosis. Conversely, an obstructive pattern with hyperinflation results in emphysema by loss of elastic recoil, expiratory collapse of the peripheral airways and air trapping. When the diseases coexist, pulmonary volumes are compensated, and a smaller than expected reduction or even normal lung volumes can be found. The present report describes 10 patients with progressive breathlessness, three of whom experienced severe limitation in their quality of life. All patients showed lung interstitial involvement and emphysema on computed tomography scan of the chest. The 10 patients showed normal spirometry and lung volumes with severe compromise of gas exchange. Normal lung volumes do not exclude diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in patients with concomitant emphysema. The relatively preserved lung volumes may underestimate the severity of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and attenuate its effects on lung function parameters.

Serial Sampling of Serum Protein Biomarkers for Monitoring Human Traumatic Brain Injury Dynamics: A Systematic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Thelin, Eric Peter; Zeiler, Frederick Adam; Ercole, Ari; Mondello, Stefania; Büki, András; Bellander, Bo-Michael; Helmy, Adel; Menon, David K; Nelson, David W

2017-01-01

The proteins S100B, neuron-specific enolase (NSE), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), ubiquitin carboxy-terminal hydrolase L1 (UCH-L1), and neurofilament light (NF-L) have been serially sampled in serum of patients suffering from traumatic brain injury (TBI) in order to assess injury severity and tissue fate. We review the current literature of serum level dynamics of these proteins following TBI and used the term "effective half-life" ( t 1/2 ) in order to describe the "fall" rate in serum. Through searches on EMBASE, Medline, and Scopus, we looked for articles where these proteins had been serially sampled in serum in human TBI. We excluded animal studies, studies with only one presented sample and studies without neuroradiological examinations. Following screening (10,389 papers), n  = 122 papers were included. The proteins S100B ( n  = 66) and NSE ( n  = 27) were the two most frequent biomarkers that were serially sampled. For S100B in severe TBI, a majority of studies indicate a t 1/2 of about 24 h, even if very early sampling in these patients reveals rapid decreases (1-2 h) though possibly of non-cerebral origin. In contrast, the t 1/2 for NSE is comparably longer, ranging from 48 to 72 h in severe TBI cases. The protein GFAP ( n  = 18) appears to have t 1/2 of about 24-48 h in severe TBI. The protein UCH-L1 ( n  = 9) presents a t 1/2 around 7 h in mild TBI and about 10 h in severe. Frequent sampling of these proteins revealed different trajectories with persisting high serum levels, or secondary peaks, in patients with unfavorable outcome or in patients developing secondary detrimental events. Finally, NF-L ( n  = 2) only increased in the few studies available, suggesting a serum availability of >10 days. To date, automated assays are available for S100B and NSE making them faster and more practical to use. Serial sampling of brain-specific proteins in serum reveals different temporal trajectories that should be

Serial Sampling of Serum Protein Biomarkers for Monitoring Human Traumatic Brain Injury Dynamics: A Systematic Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eric Peter Thelin

2017-07-01

Full Text Available BackgroundThe proteins S100B, neuron-specific enolase (NSE, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP, ubiquitin carboxy-terminal hydrolase L1 (UCH-L1, and neurofilament light (NF-L have been serially sampled in serum of patients suffering from traumatic brain injury (TBI in order to assess injury severity and tissue fate. We review the current literature of serum level dynamics of these proteins following TBI and used the term “effective half-life” (t1/2 in order to describe the “fall” rate in serum.Materials and methodsThrough searches on EMBASE, Medline, and Scopus, we looked for articles where these proteins had been serially sampled in serum in human TBI. We excluded animal studies, studies with only one presented sample and studies without neuroradiological examinations.ResultsFollowing screening (10,389 papers, n = 122 papers were included. The proteins S100B (n = 66 and NSE (n = 27 were the two most frequent biomarkers that were serially sampled. For S100B in severe TBI, a majority of studies indicate a t1/2 of about 24 h, even if very early sampling in these patients reveals rapid decreases (1–2 h though possibly of non-cerebral origin. In contrast, the t1/2 for NSE is comparably longer, ranging from 48 to 72 h in severe TBI cases. The protein GFAP (n = 18 appears to have t1/2 of about 24–48 h in severe TBI. The protein UCH-L1 (n = 9 presents a t1/2 around 7 h in mild TBI and about 10 h in severe. Frequent sampling of these proteins revealed different trajectories with persisting high serum levels, or secondary peaks, in patients with unfavorable outcome or in patients developing secondary detrimental events. Finally, NF-L (n = 2 only increased in the few studies available, suggesting a serum availability of >10 days. To date, automated assays are available for S100B and NSE making them faster and more practical to use.ConclusionSerial sampling of brain-specific proteins in serum reveals

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

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

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

2017-01-01

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

Analysis of aging in lager brewing yeast during serial repitching.

Science.gov (United States)

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

2014-10-10

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

Native sulfur/chlorine SAD phasing for serial femtosecond crystallography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

2015-01-01

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

Logan, Samuel W; Fischman, Mark G

2015-12-01

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

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xing Cai

2005-01-01

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2017-01-01

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

Peak-interviewet

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Raalskov, Jesper; Warming-Rasmussen, Bent

Peak-interviewet er en særlig effektiv metode til at gøre ubevidste menneskelige ressourcer bevidste. Fokuspersonen (den interviewede) interviewes om en selvvalgt, personlig succesoplevelse. Terapeuten/coachen (intervieweren) spørger ind til processen, som ledte hen til denne succes. Herved afdæk...... fokuspersonen ønsker at tage op (nye mål eller nye processer). Nærværende workingpaper beskriver, hvad der menes med et peak-interview, peakinterviwets teoretiske fundament samt metodikken til at foretage et tillidsfuldt og effektiv peak-interview....

Textural Poaching Twin Peaks: The Audrey Horne Sweater Girl GIFs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jennifer Gillan

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This article aims to widen the lens of analysis of participatory culture inspired by long-arc serials like Twin Peaks. It considers GIF creation as a form of textural poaching, a new reception practice involving skimming off and repurposing top-of-the-mind content: the most arresting elements of costuming, set design, and dialogue. This behavior has become more popular as more series rely on textural storytelling and are filled with moments of excess that feel separate from the story. After an introduction to GIFs and GIF creation, it contrasts the impression of the character and series conveyed by Audrey Horne GIFs and the actual dynamics in the “Audrey’s Dance” scene. It establishes that Audrey’s look is most visually aligned with the Sweater Girl type, but as an allusive characterization it creates excess and calls attention to itself. Part of the “cool pop” reputation of the series may stem from the wider circulation of iconic moments of excess especially given that the GIFs detach the images from the series’ uneven storytelling and its challenging surrealist sensibility.

'Peak oil' or 'peak demand'?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chevallier, Bruno; Moncomble, Jean-Eudes; Sigonney, Pierre; Vially, Rolland; Bosseboeuf, Didier; Chateau, Bertrand

2012-01-01

This article reports a workshop which addressed several energy issues like the objectives and constraints of energy mix scenarios, the differences between the approaches in different countries, the cost of new technologies implemented for this purposes, how these technologies will be developed and marketed, which will be the environmental and societal acceptability of these technical choices. Different aspects and issues have been more precisely presented and discussed: the peak oil, development of shale gases and their cost (will non conventional hydrocarbons modify the peak oil and be socially accepted?), energy efficiency (its benefits, its reality in France and other countries, its position in front of the challenge of energy transition), and strategies in the transport sector (challenges for mobility, evolution towards a model of sustainable mobility)

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

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dimopoulos, Emmanouil; Munk-Nielsen, Stig

2013-01-01

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

Automated Peak Picking and Peak Integration in Macromolecular NMR Spectra Using AUTOPSY

Science.gov (United States)

Koradi, Reto; Billeter, Martin; Engeli, Max; Güntert, Peter; Wüthrich, Kurt

1998-12-01

A new approach for automated peak picking of multidimensional protein NMR spectra with strong overlap is introduced, which makes use of the program AUTOPSY (automatedpeak picking for NMRspectroscopy). The main elements of this program are a novel function for local noise level calculation, the use of symmetry considerations, and the use of lineshapes extracted from well-separated peaks for resolving groups of strongly overlapping peaks. The algorithm generates peak lists with precise chemical shift and integral intensities, and a reliability measure for the recognition of each peak. The results of automated peak picking of NOESY spectra with AUTOPSY were tested in combination with the combined automated NOESY cross peak assignment and structure calculation routine NOAH implemented in the program DYANA. The quality of the resulting structures was found to be comparable with those from corresponding data obtained with manual peak picking.

Recalling visual serial order for verbal sequences

NARCIS (Netherlands)

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

2016-01-01

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2015-04-01

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Taosheng; Becker, Mark W

2013-06-01

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

[Some criminological and psychopathologic reflexions about serial crimes].

Science.gov (United States)

Romi, Juan Carlos

2011-01-01

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

Serial SPECT in children with partial epilepsy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hosoya, Machiko; Ushiku, Hideo

1995-01-01

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

Positive end-expiratory pressure increases pulmonary clearance of inhaled 99mTc-DTPA in nonsmokers but not in healthy smokers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nolop, K.B.; Braude, S.; Royston, D.; Maxwell, D.L.; Hughes, J.M.B.

1987-01-01

Positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) is widely used in the treatment of severe pulmonary oedema, although its effects on the clearance of water and small solutes from alveolus to blood are not well characterized. We studied the effect of the application of 10 cmH 2 O of PEEP on the flux of inhaled 99 mTc-diethylene-triamine-penta-acetic acid (DTPA) from lung to blood in six healthy smoking and six nonsmoking subjects. The rate of flux was corrected for possible changes in pulmonary blood volume during PEEP by use of an intravenous injection of 99m Tc-DTPA. The baseline clearance rate (K,%.min -1 ) for nonsmokers was 1.48±0.12 (mean±SE) and increased to 2.40±0.29 during PEEP (p<0.05). In contrast, the mean clearance rate for smokers was 3.26±0.82 at baseline and 3.03±0.82 during PEEP (p=NS). The application of positive end-expiratory pressure appears to increase alveolar solute flux in nonsmokers but not in smokers, suggesting that the pathway for solute clearance in smokers is governed by different rate-limiting steps to those of nonsmokers

Numerical and experimental study of expiratory flow in the case of major upper airway obstructions with fluid structure interaction

Science.gov (United States)

Chouly, F.; van Hirtum, A.; Lagrée, P.-Y.; Pelorson, X.; Payan, Y.

2008-02-01

This study deals with the numerical prediction and experimental description of the flow-induced deformation in a rapidly convergent divergent geometry which stands for a simplified tongue, in interaction with an expiratory airflow. An original in vitro experimental model is proposed, which allows measurement of the deformation of the artificial tongue, in condition of major initial airway obstruction. The experimental model accounts for asymmetries in geometry and tissue properties which are two major physiological upper airway characteristics. The numerical method for prediction of the fluid structure interaction is described. The theory of linear elasticity in small deformations has been chosen to compute the mechanical behaviour of the tongue. The main features of the flow are taken into account using a boundary layer theory. The overall numerical method entails finite element solving of the solid problem and finite differences solving of the fluid problem. First, the numerical method predicts the deformation of the tongue with an overall error of the order of 20%, which can be seen as a preliminary successful validation of the theory and simulations. Moreover, expiratory flow limitation is predicted in this configuration. As a result, both the physical and numerical models could be useful to understand this phenomenon reported in heavy snorers and apneic patients during sleep.

Woody Allen, serial schlemiel ?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Frédérique Brisset

2011-04-01

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

1985-01-01

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

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

African Journals Online (AJOL)

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

Hughes, Robert W.; Marsh, John E.

2017-01-01

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2008-07-01

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

Sensitivity and specificity of hypopnoea detection using nasal pressure in the presence of a nasal expiratory resistive device (Provent®)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Milne, Stephen; Amis, Terence C; Wheatley, John R; Kairaitis, Kristina

2014-01-01

Nasal expiratory resistive valves (Provent ® ) have been proposed as novel therapy for obstructive sleep apnea. We compared pressure measurements from a standard nasal pressure catheter used to assess nasal airflow during sleep with those from nasal expiratory resistive device with attached proprietary nasal pressure cannula. Nasal pressure cannula or Provent ® + proprietary nasal pressure cannula were attached to a bench model of human anterior nares and nasal passages, and pressure measured (P). Respiratory airflows generated by a subject breathing were applied to rear of model and airflow ( V-dot ) measured via pneumotachograph. Airflow amplitude (Δ V-dot ) was plotted against pressure amplitude (ΔP). Hypopnoea detection (<50% Δ V-dot ) sensitivity and specificity was tested by expressing ΔP in terms of two reference breaths: reference breath 1, Δ V-dot 0.55 L s −1  = 100%; and reference breath 2, Δ V-dot 0.45 L s −1  = 100%. ΔP/Δ V-dot relationships were linear for Δ V-dot  ≤ 0.55 L s −1 ; ΔP = 0.37ΔV + 0.16 (nasal pressure cannula), ΔP = 2.7ΔV + 0.12 (Provent ® + proprietary nasal pressure cannula); both R 2  > 0.65, p < 0.0001; p < 0.0001 for between slope difference). For nasal pressure cannula, specificity of hypopnoea detection differed between reference breaths one and two (80.2% and 40.0%, respectively), and Provent ® + proprietary nasal pressure cannula (30.3% and 74.2%, respectively). Quantification of airflow obstruction in the presence of Provent ® + proprietary nasal pressure cannula is greatly influenced by the reference breath chosen to determine a reduction in nasal airflow. Reported variability in therapeutic response to nasal expiratory resistive devices may relate to differences in measurement technique specificity used to quantify the severity of sleep disordered breathing. (paper)

Neurodevelopmental and psychosocial risk factors in serial killers and mass murderers

OpenAIRE

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

2014-01-01

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

Respiratory impairment and the aging lung: a novel paradigm for assessing pulmonary function.

Science.gov (United States)

Vaz Fragoso, Carlos A; Gill, Thomas M

2012-03-01

Older persons have an increased risk of developing respiratory impairment because the aging lung is likely to have experienced exposures to environmental toxins as well as reductions in physiological capacity. Systematic review of risk factors and measures of pulmonary function that are most often considered when defining respiratory impairment in aging populations. Across the adult life span, there are frequent exposures to environmental toxins, including tobacco smoke, respiratory infections, air pollution, and occupational dusts. Concurrently, there are reductions in physiological capacity that may adversely affect ventilatory control, respiratory muscle strength, respiratory mechanics, and gas exchange. Recent work has provided a strong rationale for defining respiratory impairment as an age-adjusted reduction in spirometric measures of pulmonary function that are independently associated with adverse health outcomes. Specifically, establishing respiratory impairment based on spirometric Z-scores has been shown to be strongly associated with respiratory symptoms, frailty, and mortality. Alternatively, respiratory impairment may be defined by the peak expiratory flow, as measured by a peak flow meter. The peak expiratory flow, when expressed as a Z-score, has been shown to be strongly associated with disability and mortality. However, because it has a reduced diagnostic accuracy, peak expiratory flow should only define respiratory impairment when spirometry is not readily available or an older person cannot adequately perform spirometry. Aging is associated with an increased risk of developing respiratory impairment, which is best defined by spirometric Z-scores. Alternatively, in selected cases, respiratory impairment may be defined by peak expiratory flow, also expressed as a Z-score.

Malingering, coaching, and the serial position effect.

Science.gov (United States)

Suhr, Julie A

2002-01-01

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

BRAIN Journal - Some Considerations on Seriality and Synchronicity

OpenAIRE

Elena Nechita

2017-01-01

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

Fault tolerance based on serial communication of FPGA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

2012-01-01

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

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

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

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

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

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

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

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

2000-01-01

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

Normal Expiratory Flow Rate and Lung Volumes in Patients with Combined Emphysema and Interstitial Lung Disease: A Case Series and Literature Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karen L Heathcote

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Pulmonary function tests in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis characteristically show a restrictive pattern including small lung volumes and increased expiratory flow rates resulting from a reduction in pulmonary compliance due to diffuse fibrosis. Conversely, an obstructive pattern with hyperinflation results in emphysema by loss of elastic recoil, expiratory collapse of the peripheral airways and air trapping. When the diseases coexist, pulmonary volumes are compensated, and a smaller than expected reduction or even normal lung volumes can be found. The present report describes 10 patients with progressive breathlessness, three of whom experienced severe limitation in their quality of life. All patients showed lung interstitial involvement and emphysema on computed tomography scan of the chest. The 10 patients showed normal spirometry and lung volumes with severe compromise of gas exchange. Normal lung volumes do not exclude diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in patients with concomitant emphysema. The relatively preserved lung volumes may underestimate the severity of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and attenuate its effects on lung function parameters.

A serial founder effect model for human settlement out of Africa

OpenAIRE

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

2008-01-01

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

Ultrasonic Transducer Peak-to-Peak Optical Measurement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pavel Skarvada

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Possible optical setups for measurement of the peak-to-peak value of an ultrasonic transducer are described in this work. The Michelson interferometer with the calibrated nanopositioner in reference path and laser Doppler vibrometer were used for the basic measurement of vibration displacement. Langevin type of ultrasonic transducer is used for the purposes of Electro-Ultrasonic Nonlinear Spectroscopy (EUNS. Parameters of produced mechanical vibration have to been well known for EUNS. Moreover, a monitoring of mechanical vibration frequency shift with a mass load and sample-transducer coupling is important for EUNS measurement.

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2018-02-01

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

Serial network simplifies the design of multiple microcomputer systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Folkes, D.

1981-01-01

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

Serial murder in America: case studies of seven offenders.

Science.gov (United States)

Beasley, James O

2004-01-01

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

CHANGES IN LUNG FUNCTION IN THE TREATMENT OF PATIENTS WITH EXOGENOUS ALLERGIC ALVEOLITIS

OpenAIRE

V. B. Nefedov; L. A. Popova; E. A. Shergina; N. N. Makaryants

2014-01-01

Total lung capacity (TLC), lung capacity (LC), forced LC (FLC), intrathoracic volume (ITV), pulmonary residual volume (PRV), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1 ), (FEV1 )/LC%, peak expiratory flow (PEF), maximum expiratory flow rate (MEFR)25, MEFR50, MEFR75, Raw, Rin, Rex, DLCO-SB, DLCO-SB/VА, РаО2 , and РаСО2 were determined in 43 patients with exogenous allergic alveolitis (EAA) before, during, and after treatment with glucocorticosteroids, hemapheresis, ambroxol, and fluimucil. L...

Måling af lungefunktion hos patienter indlagt med akut forvaerring af kronisk obstruktiv lungesygdom eller astma

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lange, Peter; Rasmussen, Lisbeth Kappelgaard; Said, Nihaya Mahmoud

2005-01-01

Acute exacerbation of COPD or asthma leads to many acute hospital admissions every year. Even though the pathogenesis of these diseases differs, in both cases the cardinal manifestation is increased airway obstruction, which can be measured using peak expiratory flow measurement (PEF......) or measurement of forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1)....

Cognitive, emotional and social markers of serial murdering.

Science.gov (United States)

Angrilli, Alessandro; Sartori, Giuseppe; Donzella, Giovanna

2013-01-01

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

Evidence for spontaneous serial refreshing in verbal working memory?

Science.gov (United States)

Vergauwe, Evie; Langerock, Naomi; Cowan, Nelson

2018-04-01

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

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

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Morey, Candice C.; Mall, Jonathan T.

2012-01-01

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

Infant BMI peak as a predictor of overweight and obesity at age 2 years in a Chinese community-based cohort

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Jie; Nwaru, Bright I; Hua, Jing; Li, Xiaohong; Wu, Zhuochun

2017-01-01

Objectives Infant body mass index (BMI) peak has proven to be a useful indicator for predicting childhood obesity risk in American and European populations. However, it has not been assessed in China. We characterised infant BMI trajectories in a Chinese longitudinal cohort and evaluated whether BMI peak can predict overweight and obesity at age 2 years. Methods Serial measurements (n=6–12) of weight and length were taken from healthy term infants (n=2073) in a birth cohort established in urban Shanghai. Measurements were used to estimate BMI growth curves from birth to 13.5 months using a polynomial regression model. BMI peak characteristics, including age (in months) and magnitude (BMI, in kg/m2) at peak and prepeak velocities (in kg/m2/month), were estimated. The relationship between infant BMI peak and childhood BMI at age 2 years was examined using binary logistic analysis. Results Mean age at peak BMI was 7.61 months, with a magnitude of 18.33 kg/m2. Boys (n=1022) had a higher average peak BMI (18.60 vs 18.07 kg/m2, pBMI and 1 month increase in peak time, the risk of overweight at age 2 years increased by 2.11 times (OR 3.11; 95% CI 2.64 to 3.66) and 35% (OR 1.35; 95% CI 1.21 to 1.50), respectively. Similarly, higher BMI magnitude (OR 2.69; 95% CI 2.00 to 3.61) and later timing of infant BMI peak (OR 1.35; 95% CI 1.08 to 1.68) were associated with an increased risk of childhood obesity at age 2 years. Conclusions We have shown that infant BMI peak is valuable for predicting early childhood overweight and obesity in urban Shanghai. Because this is the first Chinese community-based cohort study of this nature, future research is required to examine infant populations in other areas of China. PMID:28988164

Nanoflow electrospinning serial femtosecond crystallography

Science.gov (United States)

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

2012-01-01

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

Diastolic left ventricular function in preterm infants with a patent ductus arteriosus: a serial Doppler echocardiography study.

Science.gov (United States)

Schmitz, Lothar; Stiller, Brigitte; Koch, Heike; Koehne, Petra; Lange, Peter

2004-02-01

In very low birth weight neonates, a left-to-right shunt via persistent ductus arteriosus (PDA) may interact with diastolic left ventricular function, but specific changes of Doppler parameters have yet to be reported. In a serial transmitral Doppler study, we investigated the impact of a PDA on diastolic function parameters. Twenty-two patients with and without PDA were examined on day 3.8+/-1 and day 14+/-2 after birth. By the first examination, 13 out of 22 patients had a PDA; by the second examination, the number was still 8 out of 22. Peak early and atrial flow velocities (44.8+/-15 and 50.1+/-13 cm/s, respectively) were higher (pclosure of the PDA. When premature infants with a PDA experience a preload challenge, early and atrial peak velocities increase and IVRT shortens significantly. This coincidence of elevated transvalvular pressure differences and decreased IVRT in neonates with immature diastolic function can best be explained as a result of left atrial pressure elevation. Consequently, pulmonary venous pressure must be elevated, with its inherent effect on pulmonary capillary physiology. Thus, the monitoring of left ventricular diastolic function adds significant information to the care of preterm infants with a PDA.

Improved oxygenation during standing performance of deep breathing exercises with positive expiratory pressure after cardiac surgery: A randomized controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Pettersson, Henrik; Faager, Gun; Westerdahl, Elisabeth

2015-09-01

Breathing exercises after cardiac surgery are often performed in a sitting position. It is unknown whether oxygenation would be better in the standing position. The aim of this study was to evaluate oxygenation and subjective breathing ability during sitting vs standing performance of deep breathing exercises on the second day after cardiac surgery. Patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (n = 189) were randomized to sitting (controls) or standing. Both groups performed 3 × 10 deep breaths with a positive expiratory pressure device. Peripheral oxygen saturation was measured before, directly after, and 15 min after the intervention. Subjective breathing ability, blood pressure, heart rate, and pain were assessed. Oxygenation improved significantly in the standing group compared with controls directly after the breathing exercises (p < 0.001) and after 15 min rest (p = 0.027). The standing group reported better deep breathing ability compared with controls (p = 0.004). A slightly increased heart rate was found in the standing group (p = 0.047). After cardiac surgery, breathing exercises with positive expiratory pressure, performed in a standing position, significantly improved oxygenation and subjective breathing ability compared with sitting performance. Performance of breathing exercises in the standing position is feasible and could be a valuable treatment for patients with postoperative hypoxaemia.

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

Science.gov (United States)

Blessing, Melissa M; Lin, Peter T

2018-05-01

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2016-09-02

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

Serial High-Sensitivity Troponin T in Post-Primary Angioplasty Exercise Test

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Humberto Andres Vaz

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background: The kinetics of high-sensitivity troponin T (hscTnT release should be studied in different situations, including functional tests with transient ischemic abnormalities. Objective: To evaluate the release of hscTnT by serial measurements after exercise testing (ET, and to correlate hscTnT elevations with abnormalities suggestive of ischemia. Methods: Patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI undergoing primary angioplasty were referred for ET 3 months after infarction. Blood samples were collected to measure basal hscTnT immediately before (TnT0h, 2 (TnT2h, 5 (TnT5h, and 8 hours (TnT8h after ET. The outcomes were peak hscTnT, TnT5h/TnT0h ratio, and the area under the blood concentration-time curve (AUC for hscTnT levels. Log-transformation was performed on hscTnT values, and comparisons were assessed with the geometric mean ratio, along with their 95% confidence intervals. Statistical significance was assessed by analysis of covariance with no adjustment, and then, adjusted for TnT0h, age and sex, followed by additional variables (metabolic equivalents, maximum heart rate achieved, anterior wall STEMI, and creatinine clearance. Results: This study included 95 patients. The highest geometric means were observed at 5 hours (TnT5h. After adjustments, peak hscTnT, TnT5h/TnT0h and AUC were 59% (p = 0.002, 59% (p = 0.003 and 45% (p = 0.003 higher, respectively, in patients with an abnormal ET as compared to those with normal tests. Conclusion: Higher elevations of hscTnT may occur after an abnormal ET as compared to a normal ET in patients with STEMI.

Serial High-Sensitivity Troponin T in Post-Primary Angioplasty Exercise Test

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vaz, Humberto Andres, E-mail: humbertovaz@cardiol.br; Vanz, Ana Paula; Castro, Iran [Instituto de Cardiologia - Fundação Universitária de Cardiologia, Porto Alegre, RS (Brazil)

2016-04-15

The kinetics of high-sensitivity troponin T (hscTnT) release should be studied in different situations, including functional tests with transient ischemic abnormalities. To evaluate the release of hscTnT by serial measurements after exercise testing (ET), and to correlate hscTnT elevations with abnormalities suggestive of ischemia. Patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing primary angioplasty were referred for ET 3 months after infarction. Blood samples were collected to measure basal hscTnT immediately before (TnT{sub 0h}), 2 (TnT{sub 2h}), 5 (TnT{sub 5h}), and 8 hours (TnT{sub 8h}) after ET. The outcomes were peak hscTnT, TnT{sub 5h}/TnT{sub 0h} ratio, and the area under the blood concentration-time curve (AUC) for hscTnT levels. Log-transformation was performed on hscTnT values, and comparisons were assessed with the geometric mean ratio, along with their 95% confidence intervals. Statistical significance was assessed by analysis of covariance with no adjustment, and then, adjusted for TnT{sub 0h}, age and sex, followed by additional variables (metabolic equivalents, maximum heart rate achieved, anterior wall STEMI, and creatinine clearance). This study included 95 patients. The highest geometric means were observed at 5 hours (TnT{sub 5h}). After adjustments, peak hscTnT, TnT{sub 5h}/TnT{sub 0h} and AUC were 59% (p = 0.002), 59% (p = 0.003) and 45% (p = 0.003) higher, respectively, in patients with an abnormal ET as compared to those with normal tests. Higher elevations of hscTnT may occur after an abnormal ET as compared to a normal ET in patients with STEMI.

Rapid-Sequence Serial Sexual Homicides.

Science.gov (United States)

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

2017-03-01

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

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

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

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

2017-01-01

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2003-01-01

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2006-07-01

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

Kattner, Florian; Ellermeier, Wolfgang

2018-04-09

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

Pulmonary function studies in healthy Filipino adults residing in the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, F L; Kelso, J M

1999-08-01

Differences in lung volumes among various ethnic groups are known to occur; however, this has not been studied in Filipinos. We sought to assess pulmonary function in healthy, nonsmoking Filipinos residing in the United States compared with standards for white subjects. Healthy adult Filipinos, age 18 years or greater, were recruited. All subjects were screened with health questionnaires to exclude those with cardiopulmonary disease. Pulmonary function tests were performed by using forced expiratory maneuvers. Values for FEV(1 ), forced vital capacity (FVC), FEV(1 )/FVC, forced expiratory flow from 25% to 75% of FVC, and peak expiratory flow rate were compared with predicted values for white subjects (ie, without a racial adjustment). Two hundred twenty-four healthy subjects (121 men and 103 women) completed the study. The group means (as a percentage of the predicted standard for white subjects) were as follows: FEV(1 ), 86%; FVC, 84%; FEV(1 )/FVC, 103%; forced expiratory flow from 25% to 75% of FVC, 96%; and peak expiratory flow rate, 107%. These findings are very similar to those for African Americans and other Asians. We conclude that it is appropriate to use an 85% racial adjustment for FEV(1 ) and FVC when interpreting pulmonary function test results in Filipinos.

The Effect of Concurrent Semantic Categorization on Delayed Serial Recall

Science.gov (United States)

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

2010-01-01

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2004-10-01

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

Serial position curves in free recall.

Science.gov (United States)

Laming, Donald

2010-01-01

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

Electricity Portfolio Management: Optimal Peak / Off-Peak Allocations

OpenAIRE

Huisman, Ronald; Mahieu, Ronald; Schlichter, Felix

2007-01-01

textabstractElectricity purchasers manage a portfolio of contracts in order to purchase the expected future electricity consumption profile of a company or a pool of clients. This paper proposes a mean-variance framework to address the concept of structuring the portfolio and focuses on how to allocate optimal positions in peak and off-peak forward contracts. It is shown that the optimal allocations are based on the difference in risk premiums per unit of day-ahead risk as a measure of relati...

Serial MRI studies using gadolinium DTPA in active multiple sclerosis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

1988-01-01

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

Development of parallel/serial program analyzing tool

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

1999-03-01

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

Peak regulation right

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gao, Z. |; Ren, Z.; Li, Z.; Zhu, R.

2005-01-01

A peak regulation right concept and corresponding transaction mechanism for an electricity market was presented. The market was based on a power pool and independent system operator (ISO) model. Peak regulation right (PRR) was defined as a downward regulation capacity purchase option which allowed PRR owners to buy certain quantities of peak regulation capacity (PRC) at a specific price during a specified period from suppliers. The PRR owner also had the right to decide whether or not they would buy PRC from suppliers. It was the power pool's responsibility to provide competitive and fair peak regulation trading markets to participants. The introduction of PRR allowed for unit capacity regulation. The PRR and PRC were rated by the supplier, and transactions proceeded through a bidding process. PRR suppliers obtained profits by selling PRR and PRC, and obtained downward regulation fees regardless of whether purchases are made. It was concluded that the peak regulation mechanism reduced the total cost of the generating system and increased the social surplus. 6 refs., 1 tab., 3 figs

Serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE in bovine trypanotolerance: preliminary results

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Berthier

2003-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract In Africa, trypanosomosis is a tsetse-transmitted disease which represents the most important constraint to livestock production. Several indigenous West African taurine (Bos taurus breeds, such as the Longhorn (N'Dama cattle are well known to control trypanosome infections. This genetic ability named "trypanotolerance" results from various biological mechanisms under multigenic control. The methodologies used so far have not succeeded in identifying the complete pool of genes involved in trypanotolerance. New post genomic biotechnologies such as transcriptome analyses are efficient in characterising the pool of genes involved in the expression of specific biological functions. We used the serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE technique to construct, from Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells of an N'Dama cow, 2 total mRNA transcript libraries, at day 0 of a Trypanosoma congolense experimental infection and at day 10 post-infection, corresponding to the peak of parasitaemia. Bioinformatic comparisons in the bovine genomic databases allowed the identification of 187 up- and down- regulated genes, EST and unknown functional genes. Identification of the genes involved in trypanotolerance will allow to set up specific microarray sets for further metabolic and pharmacological studies and to design field marker-assisted selection by introgression programmes.

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

Science.gov (United States)

Leung, Joan; Stroud, Katarina

2018-01-01

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

Serial Killers: Academic Libraries Respond to Soaring Costs.

Science.gov (United States)

McCarthy, Paul

1994-01-01

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

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

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vukic, V.; Osmokrovic, P.

2007-01-01

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

Inspiratory and expiratory HRCT findings in Behcet's disease and correlation with pulmonary function tests

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oezer, Caner [Department of Radiology, Mersin University, Faculty of Medicine, Mersin (Turkey)]. E-mail: cozer@mersin.edu.tr; Duce, Meltem Nass [Department of Radiology, Mersin University, Faculty of Medicine, Mersin (Turkey); Ulubas, Bahar [Department of Respiratory Disease, Mersin University, Faculty of Medicine, Mersin (Turkey); Bicer, Ali [Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Mersin University, Faculty of Medicine, Mersin (Turkey); Tuersen, Uemit [Department of Dermatology, Mersin University, Faculty of Medicine, Mersin (Turkey); Apaydin, F. Demir [Department of Radiology, Mersin University, Faculty of Medicine, Mersin (Turkey); Yildiz, Altan [Department of Radiology, Mersin University, Faculty of Medicine, Mersin (Turkey); Camdeviren, Handan [Department of Biostatistics, Mersin University, Faculty of Medicine, Mersin (Turkey)

2005-10-01

Purpose: The purpose of our study was to describe the pulmonary parenchymal changes of Behcet's disease using high-resolution computed tomography and to correlate them with pulmonary function tests. Materials and methods: Thirty-four patients with Behcet's disease (18 men, 16 women), 3 of whom were symptomatic, were included as the study group. Four of 34 patients were smokers. Twenty asymptomatic volunteers (12 men, 8 women), 4 of whom were smokers, constituted the control group. The pulmonary function tests and high-resolution computed tomography were performed for both groups. Results: Inspiratory high-resolution computed tomography findings were abnormal in nine patients (26.5%) of the study group. In eight patients, there were multiple abnormalities, whereas one patient had only one abnormality. Pleural thickening and irregularities, major fissure thickening, emphysematous changes, bronchiectasis, parenchymal bands, and irregular densities, and parenchymal nodules were the encountered abnormalities. Inspiratory high-resolution computed tomography scans were normal in the control group. On expiratory scans, there was statistically significant difference between study group and control group when air trapping, especially grades 3 and 4, was compared (P < 0.01). Pulmonary function tests of both the study and the control groups were in normal ranges, and there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups according to pulmonary function tests (P > 0.05). Discussion and conclusion: High-resolution computed tomography is sensitive in the demonstration of pulmonary changes in patients with Behcet's disease. End-expiratory high-resolution computed tomography examination is very useful and necessary to show the presence of air trapping, thus the presence of small airway disease, even if the patient is asymptomatic or has normal pulmonary function tests.

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2014-03-01

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

Associations between positive end-expiratory pressure and outcome of patients without ARDS at onset of ventilation: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Serpa Neto, Ary; Filho, Roberto Rabello; Cherpanath, Thomas; Determann, Rogier; Dongelmans, Dave A.; Paulus, Frederique; Tuinman, Pieter Roel; Pelosi, Paolo; de Abreu, Marcelo Gama; Schultz, Marcus J.

2016-01-01

The aim of this investigation was to compare ventilation at different levels of positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) with regard to clinical important outcomes of intensive care unit (ICU) patients without acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) at onset of ventilation. Meta-analysis of

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

CERN Document Server

Cole, Jim

2014-01-01

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

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

African Journals Online (AJOL)

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

Working memory capacity and controlled serial memory search.

Science.gov (United States)

Mızrak, Eda; Öztekin, Ilke

2016-08-01

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

Is increased positive end-expiratory pressure the culprit? Autoresuscitation in a 44-year-old man after prolonged cardiopulmonary resuscitation: a case report

OpenAIRE

Hagmann, Henning; Oelmann, Katrin; Stangl, Robert; Michels, Guido

2016-01-01

Background The phenomenon of autoresuscitation is rare, yet it is known to most emergency physicians. However, the pathophysiology of the delayed return of spontaneous circulation remains enigmatic. Among other causes hyperinflation of the lungs and excessively high positive end-expiratory pressure have been suggested, but reports including cardiopulmonary monitoring during cardiopulmonary resuscitation are scarce to support this hypothesis. Case presentation We report a case of autoresuscita...

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

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

2001-01-01

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

Limitation of peak fitting and peak shape methods for determination of activation energy of thermoluminescence glow peaks

CERN Document Server

Sunta, C M; Piters, T M; Watanabe, S

1999-01-01

This paper shows the limitation of general order peak fitting and peak shape methods for determining the activation energy of the thermoluminescence glow peaks in the cases in which retrapping probability is much higher than the recombination probability and the traps are filled up to near saturation level. Right values can be obtained when the trap occupancy is reduced by using small doses or by post-irradiation partial bleaching. This limitation in the application of these methods has not been indicated earlier. In view of the unknown nature of kinetics in the experimental samples, it is recommended that these methods of activation energy determination should be applied only at doses well below the saturation dose.

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2017-08-01

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

Karl Ove Knausgård’s My Struggle and the Serial Self

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Inge van de Ven

2016-06-01

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

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

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Palushani, Evarist

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

Make peak flow a habit

Science.gov (United States)

Asthma - make peak flow a habit; Reactive airway disease - peak flow; Bronchial asthma - peak flow ... 2014:chap 55. National Asthma Education and Prevention Program website. How to use a peak flow meter. ...

Quantitative assessment of cross-sectional area of small pulmonary vessels in patients with COPD using inspiratory and expiratory MDCT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsuura, Yukiko; Kawata, Naoko; Yanagawa, Noriyuki; Sugiura, Toshihiko; Sakurai, Yoriko; Sato, Misuzu; Iesato, Ken; Terada, Jiro; Sakao, Seiichiro; Tada, Yuji; Tanabe, Nobuhiro; Suzuki, Yoichi; Tatsumi, Koichiro

2013-01-01

Objectives: Structural and functional changes in pulmonary vessels are prevalent at the initial stages of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). These vascular alterations can be assessed using cross-sectional area (CSA) of small pulmonary vessels. However, neither in non-COPD smokers nor in COPD patients it has been defined whether the structural changes of pulmonary vessels detected by paired inspiratory and expiratory CT scans are associated with emphysematous changes. We quantified the CSA and low attenuation area (LAA) and evaluated the changes in these parameters in the inspiratory and expiratory phases. Materials and methods: Fifty consecutive non-COPD smokers and COPD patients were subjected to multi detector-row CT and the percentage of vessels with a CSA less than 5 mm 2 as well as the percentage LAA for total lung area (%CSA < 5, %LAA, respectively) were calculated. Results: The %CSA < 5 correlated negatively with %LAA. The %CSA < 5 was lower in COPD patients with emphysema as compared with non-COPD smokers and COPD patients with or without mild emphysema. In addition, the %CSA < 5 was lower in the no/mild emphysema subgroup as compared with non-COPD smokers. The respiratory phase change of %CSA < 5 in COPD patients was greater than that in non-COPD smokers. Conclusion: The percentage of small pulmonary vessels decreased as emphysematous changes increase, and this decrease was observed even in patients with no/mild emphysema. Furthermore, respiratory phase changes in CSA were higher in COPD patients than in non-COPD smokers

Identification of serial number on bank card using recurrent neural network

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Li; Huang, Linlin; Xue, Jian

2018-04-01

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

Taking serial correlation into account in tests of the mean

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

1993-01-01

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

Simple measuring rod method for the coaxiality of serial holes

Science.gov (United States)

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

2017-11-01

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

Transport of expiratory droplets in an aircraft cabin.

Science.gov (United States)

Gupta, Jitendra K; Lin, Chao-Hsin; Chen, Qingyan

2011-02-01

The droplets exhaled by an index patient with infectious disease such as influenza or tuberculosis may be the carriers of contagious agents. Indoor environments such as the airliner cabins may be susceptible to infection from such airborne contagious agents. The present investigation computed the transport of the droplets exhaled by the index patient seated in the middle of a seven-row, twin-aisle, fully occupied cabin using the CFD simulations. The droplets exhaled were from a single cough, a single breath, and a 15-s talk of the index patient. The expiratory droplets were tracked by using Lagrangian method, and their evaporation was modeled. It was found that the bulk airflow pattern in the cabin played the most important role on the droplet transport. The droplets were contained in the row before, at, and after the index patient within 30 s and dispersed uniformly to all the seven rows in 4 minutes. The total airborne droplet fraction reduced to 48, 32, 20, and 12% after they entered the cabin for 1, 2, 3, and 4 min, respectively, because of the ventilation from the environmental control system. It is critical to predict the risk of airborne infection to take appropriate measures to control and mitigate the risk. Most of the studies in past either assume a homogenous distribution of contaminants or use steady-state conditions. The present study instead provides information on the transient movement of the droplets exhaled by an index passenger in an aircraft cabin. These droplets may contain active contagious agents and can be potent enough to cause infection. The findings can be used by medical professionals to estimate the spatial and temporal distribution of risk of infection to various passengers in the cabin. © 2010 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

Effects of nonlinear error correction of measurements obtained by peak flowmeter using the Wright scale to assess asthma attack severity in children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stamatović Dragana

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Monitoring of peak expiratory flow (PEF is recommended in numerous guidelines for management of asthma. Improvements in calibration methods have demonstrated the inaccuracy of original Wright scale of peak flowmeter. A new standard, EN 13826 that was applied to peak flowmeter was adopted on 1st September 2004 by some European countries. Correction of PEF readings obtained with old type devices for measurement is possible by Dr M. Miller’s original predictive equation. Objective. Assessment of PEF correction effect on the interpretation of measurement results and management decisions. Method. In children with intermittent (35 or stable persistent asthma (75 aged 6-16 years, there were performed 8393 measurements of PEF by Vitalograph normal-range peak flowmeter with traditional Wright scale. Readings were expressed as percentage of individual best values (PB before and after correction. The effect of correction was analyzed based on The British Thoracic Society guidelines for asthma attack treatment. Results. In general, correction reduced the values of PEF (p<0.01. The highest mean percentage error (20.70% in the measured values was found in the subgroup in which PB ranged between 250 and 350 l/min. Nevertheless, the interpretation of PEF after the correction in this subgroup changed in only 2.41% of measurements. The lowest mean percentage error (15.72%, and, at the same time, the highest effect of correction on measurement results interpretation (in 22.65% readings were in children with PB above 450 l/min. In 73 (66.37% subjects, the correction changed the clinical interpretation of some values of PEF after correction. In 13 (11.8% patients, some corrected values indicated the absence or a milder degree of airflow obstruction. In 27 (24.54% children, more than 10%, and in 12 (10.93%, more than 20% of the corrected readings indicated a severe degree of asthma exacerbation that needed more aggressive treatment. Conclusion

Galileo - The Serial-Production AIT Challenge

Science.gov (United States)

Ragnit, Ulrike; Brunner, Otto

2008-01-01

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

Peak tree: a new tool for multiscale hierarchical representation and peak detection of mass spectrometry data.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Peng; Li, Houqiang; Wang, Honghui; Wong, Stephen T C; Zhou, Xiaobo

2011-01-01

Peak detection is one of the most important steps in mass spectrometry (MS) analysis. However, the detection result is greatly affected by severe spectrum variations. Unfortunately, most current peak detection methods are neither flexible enough to revise false detection results nor robust enough to resist spectrum variations. To improve flexibility, we introduce peak tree to represent the peak information in MS spectra. Each tree node is a peak judgment on a range of scales, and each tree decomposition, as a set of nodes, is a candidate peak detection result. To improve robustness, we combine peak detection and common peak alignment into a closed-loop framework, which finds the optimal decomposition via both peak intensity and common peak information. The common peak information is derived and loopily refined from the density clustering of the latest peak detection result. Finally, we present an improved ant colony optimization biomarker selection method to build a whole MS analysis system. Experiment shows that our peak detection method can better resist spectrum variations and provide higher sensitivity and lower false detection rates than conventional methods. The benefits from our peak-tree-based system for MS disease analysis are also proved on real SELDI data.

Lipidic cubic phase serial millisecond crystallography using synchrotron radiation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Przemyslaw Nogly

2015-03-01

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

Serials Management by Microcomputer: The Potential of DBMS.

Science.gov (United States)

Vogel, J. Thomas; Burns, Lynn W.

1984-01-01

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

Exertional muscle injury: evaluation of concentric versus eccentric actions with serial MR imaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Shellock, F G; Fukunaga, T; Mink, J H; Edgerton, V R

1991-06-01

Eccentric muscular actions involve the forced lengthening or stretching of muscles and tend to produce exertional injuries. This study used magnetic resonance (MR) imaging to serially evaluate muscles in five healthy, untrained subjects who performed exhaustive biceps exercise by doing isolated eccentric and concentric actions with a dumbbell. Symptoms were assessed, and T2-weighted images of the arms were obtained before exercise and 1, 3, 5, 10, 25, 40, 50, 60, and 80 days after exercise. Statistically significant increases in T2 relaxation times indicative of muscle injury occurred on each day of MR imaging evaluation in muscles performing eccentric actions, peaking on day 3 in two subjects; day 5, two subjects; and day 10, one subject. The pattern and extent of the abnormalities on MR images were variable. Pain, soreness, and joint stiffness were present on days 1, 3, and 5 in muscles that performed eccentric actions. MR imaging showed subclinical abnormalities that lasted as long as 75 days after the disappearance of symptoms (two subjects). Muscles that performed concentric actions had no changes in T2 relaxation times and were asymptomatic throughout the study.

Serials collection management in recessionary times

CERN Document Server

Lawson, Karen G

2015-01-01

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2016-12-01

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

Serial binary interval ratios improve rhythm reproduction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiang eWu

2013-08-01

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

Serial binary interval ratios improve rhythm reproduction.

Science.gov (United States)

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

2013-01-01

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

Inadequate peak expiratory flow meter characteristics detected by a computerised explosive decompression device

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Miller, M.R.; Atkins, P.R.; Pedersen, O.F.

2003-01-01

Methods: The dynamic response of mini-Wright (MW), Vitalograph (V), TruZone (TZ), MultiSpiro (MS) and pneumotachograph (PT) flow meters was tested by delivering two differently shaped flow-time profiles from a computer controlled explosive decompression device fitted with a fast response solenoid.......1) and 257 (39.2), respectively, and at ≈200 l/min they were 51 (23.9) and 1 (0.5). All the meters met ATS accuracy requirements when tested with their waveforms. Conclusions: An improved method for testing the dynamic response of flow meters detects marked overshoot (underdamping) of TZ and MS responses...

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

Science.gov (United States)

Nath, Rahul K; Somasundaram, Chandra

2016-01-01

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

Peak Experience Project

Science.gov (United States)

Scott, Daniel G.; Evans, Jessica

2010-01-01

This paper emerges from the continued analysis of data collected in a series of international studies concerning Childhood Peak Experiences (CPEs) based on developments in understanding peak experiences in Maslow's hierarchy of needs initiated by Dr Edward Hoffman. Bridging from the series of studies, Canadian researchers explore collected…

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Samuel Occhi

2015-09-01

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

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sam Horrell

2016-07-01

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

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ardiyan Ardiyan

2011-04-01

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

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

CERN Document Server

Liu, T; The ATLAS collaboration

2010-01-01

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

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

CERN Document Server

Liu, T; The ATLAS collaboration

2011-01-01

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

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

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sweafford, Trevor; Yoon, Hwan Sik

2013-01-01

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2008-01-01

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

Inverse Kinematics of a Serial Robot

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amici Cinzia

2016-01-01

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

CAR-T cells are serial killers.

Science.gov (United States)

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

2015-12-01

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

Intraoperative and postoperative evaluation of low tidal volume combined with low-level positive end-expiratory pressure ventilation in laparoscopic surgery in elderly patients

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ye-Qiu Li

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Objective: To evaluate intraoperative and postoperative condition of low tidal volume combined with low-level positive end-expiratory pressure ventilation in laparoscopic surgery in elderly patients. Methods: A total of 176 cases of elderly patients (more than 60 years old receiving laparoscopic surgery in our hospital from July 2013 to July 2015 were selected as research subjects and randomly divided into observation group and control group, each group included 88 cases, control group received conventional ventilation strategy, observation group received low tidal volume combined with low-level positive end-expiratory pressure ventilation strategy, and then levels of hemodynamic indexes, respiratory mechanical indexes, serology indexes and cerebral vessel related indexes, etc of two groups were compared. Results: Intraoperative and postoperative heart rate and mean arterial pressure levels of observation group were lower than those of control group, arterial partial pressure of oxygen and oxygenation index levels were higher than those of control group and differences had statistical significance (P<0.05; intraoperative APIP and Pplat values of observation group were lower than those of control group, Cs value was higher than that of control group and differences had statistical significance (P<0.05; intraoperative and postoperative serum IL-8 and TNF-α levels of observation group were lower than those of control group, IL-10 level was higher than that of control group and differences had statistical significance (P<0.05; intraoperative and postoperative PjvO2, SjvO2 and CjvO2 levels of observation group were higher than those of control group, Da-jvO2 level was lower than that of control group and differences had statistical significance (P<0.05. Conclusions: When elderly patients receive laparoscopic surgery, the use of low tidal volume combined with low-level positive end-expiratory pressure ventilation strategy can stabilize hemodynamic

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2017-07-01

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

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jose M. Martin-Garcia

2017-07-01

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

Evaluation of image quality and patient safety: paired inspiratory and expiratory MDCT assessment of tracheobronchomalacia in paediatric patients under general anaesthesia with breath-hold technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Edward Y.; Bastos, Maria d' Almeida; Stark, Cynthia; Carrier, Maureen; Zurakowski, David; Mason, Keira P.

2012-01-01

The purpose of our investigation was to evaluate image quality and patient safety in infants and young children who required general anaesthesia with breath-hold technique for paired inspiratory and expiratory multidetector CT (MDCT) assessment of tracheobronchomalacia (TBM). Our hospital's institutional review board approved the review of radiological and clinical data of a consecutive series of 20 paediatric patients who underwent MDCT under general anaesthesia with breath-hold technique for evaluation of TBM from May 2006 to December 2008. For each MDCT study, two fellowship-trained paediatric radiologists reviewed the inspiratory and expiratory MDCT images in an independent, randomised and blinded fashion for the presence of motion artefact at three anatomic levels (upper, middle and lower central airways). The clinical history and anaesthesia outcome, including the occurrence of any adverse events during or following the MDCT examinations until discharge, were also reviewed and recorded. The study population consisted of 20 infants and young children (13 boys/seven girls, mean age 1.7 ± 1.4 years, age range 11 days to 4 years). The imaging quality of all 20 MDCT studies was diagnostic with no motion artefact in 16 studies (80%) and minimal motion artefact in the remaining four studies (20%). Minor adverse events occurred in three patients (15%) that included one patient (5%) with a brief (<60 s) oxygen desaturation during MDCT study, which resolved with oxygen, and two patients (5%) with either a brief (<60 s) oxygen desaturation (n = 1, 5%) or cough (n = 1, 5%) during recovery period, which were completely resolved with oxygen and dexamethasone, respectively. Diagnostic quality paired inspiratory and expiratory MDCT imaging with breath-hold technique can be safely performed in infants and young children under general anaesthesia for evaluation of TBM.

Effects of nasal positive expiratory pressure on dynamic hyperinflation and 6-minute walk test in patients with COPD.

Science.gov (United States)

Wibmer, Thomas; Rüdiger, Stefan; Heitner, Claudia; Kropf-Sanchen, Cornelia; Blanta, Ioanna; Stoiber, Kathrin M; Rottbauer, Wolfgang; Schumann, Christian

2014-05-01

Dynamic hyperinflation is an important target in the treatment of COPD. There is increasing evidence that positive expiratory pressure (PEP) could reduce dynamic hyperinflation during exercise. PEP application through a nasal mask and a flow resistance device might have the potential to be used during daily physical activities as an auxiliary strategy of ventilatory assistance. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of nasal PEP on lung volumes during physical exercise in patients with COPD. Twenty subjects (mean ± SD age 69.4 ± 6.4 years) with stable mild-to-severe COPD were randomized to undergo physical exercise with nasal PEP breathing, followed by physical exercise with habitual breathing, or vice versa. Physical exercise was induced by a standard 6-min walk test (6 MWT) protocol. PEP was applied by means of a silicone nasal mask loaded with a fixed-orifice flow resistor. Body plethysmography was performed immediately pre-exercise and post-exercise. Differences in mean pre- to post-exercise changes in total lung capacity (-0.63 ± 0.80 L, P = .002), functional residual capacity (-0.48 ± 0.86 L, P = .021), residual volume (-0.56 ± 0.75 L, P = .004), S(pO2) (-1.7 ± 3.4%, P = .041), and 6 MWT distance (-30.8 ± 30.0 m, P = .001) were statistically significant between the experimental and the control interventions. The use of flow-dependent expiratory pressure, applied with a nasal mask and a PEP device, might promote significant reduction of dynamic hyperinflation during walking exercise. Further studies are warranted addressing improvements in endurance performance under regular application of nasal PEP during physical activities.

Peak Oil and other threatening peaks-Chimeras without substance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Radetzki, Marian

2010-01-01

The Peak Oil movement has widely spread its message about an impending peak in global oil production, caused by an inadequate resource base. On closer scrutiny, the underlying analysis is inconsistent, void of a theoretical foundation and without support in empirical observations. Global oil resources are huge and expanding, and pose no threat to continuing output growth within an extended time horizon. In contrast, temporary or prolonged supply crunches are indeed plausible, even likely, on account of growing resource nationalism denying access to efficient exploitation of the existing resource wealth.

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2013-01-01

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

Quantitative assessment of cross-sectional area of small pulmonary vessels in patients with COPD using inspiratory and expiratory MDCT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Matsuura, Yukiko, E-mail: matsuyuki_future@yahoo.co.jp [Department of Respirology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba 260-8670 Japan (Japan); Kawata, Naoko, E-mail: chumito_03@yahoo.co.jp [Department of Respirology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba 260-8670 Japan (Japan); Yanagawa, Noriyuki, E-mail: yanagawa@ho.chiba-u.ac.jp [Department of Respirology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba 260-8670 Japan (Japan); Sugiura, Toshihiko, E-mail: sugiura@js3.so-net.ne.jp [Department of Respirology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba 260-8670 Japan (Japan); Sakurai, Yoriko, E-mail: yoliri@nifty.com [Department of Respirology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba 260-8670 Japan (Japan); Sato, Misuzu, E-mail: mis_misuzu@yahoo.co.jp [Department of Respirology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba 260-8670 Japan (Japan); Iesato, Ken, E-mail: iesato_k@yahoo.co.jp [Department of Respirology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba 260-8670 Japan (Japan); Terada, Jiro, E-mail: jirotera@chiba-u.jp [Department of Respirology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba 260-8670 Japan (Japan); Sakao, Seiichiro, E-mail: sakao@faculty.chiba-u.jp [Department of Respirology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba 260-8670 Japan (Japan); Tada, Yuji, E-mail: ytada@faculty.chiba-u.jp [Department of Respirology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba 260-8670 Japan (Japan); Tanabe, Nobuhiro, E-mail: ntanabe@faculty.chiba-u.jp [Department of Respirology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba 260-8670 Japan (Japan); Suzuki, Yoichi, E-mail: ysuzuki@faculty.chiba-u.jp [Department of public Health, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba 260-8670 Japan (Japan); Tatsumi, Koichiro, E-mail: tatsumi@faculty.chiba-u.jp [Department of Respirology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba 260-8670 Japan (Japan)

2013-10-01

Objectives: Structural and functional changes in pulmonary vessels are prevalent at the initial stages of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). These vascular alterations can be assessed using cross-sectional area (CSA) of small pulmonary vessels. However, neither in non-COPD smokers nor in COPD patients it has been defined whether the structural changes of pulmonary vessels detected by paired inspiratory and expiratory CT scans are associated with emphysematous changes. We quantified the CSA and low attenuation area (LAA) and evaluated the changes in these parameters in the inspiratory and expiratory phases. Materials and methods: Fifty consecutive non-COPD smokers and COPD patients were subjected to multi detector-row CT and the percentage of vessels with a CSA less than 5 mm{sup 2} as well as the percentage LAA for total lung area (%CSA < 5, %LAA, respectively) were calculated. Results: The %CSA < 5 correlated negatively with %LAA. The %CSA < 5 was lower in COPD patients with emphysema as compared with non-COPD smokers and COPD patients with or without mild emphysema. In addition, the %CSA < 5 was lower in the no/mild emphysema subgroup as compared with non-COPD smokers. The respiratory phase change of %CSA < 5 in COPD patients was greater than that in non-COPD smokers. Conclusion: The percentage of small pulmonary vessels decreased as emphysematous changes increase, and this decrease was observed even in patients with no/mild emphysema. Furthermore, respiratory phase changes in CSA were higher in COPD patients than in non-COPD smokers.

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

CERN Document Server

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

2014-01-01

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

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

CERN Document Server

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

2010-01-01

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2007-07-03

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2004-10-01

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2015-01-01

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

Pilot study for home monitoring of cough capacity in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: A case series.

Science.gov (United States)

Paneroni, M; Trainini, D; Winck, J C; Vitacca, M

2014-01-01

Cough capacity derangement is associated with a high risk of pulmonary complications in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients when cough assistance is not routinely performed at home. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of a long-term home based daily self-monitoring cough capacity. Eighteen subjects were enrolled in a 9-month study at home. Changes in peak cough expiratory flow, oxygen saturation, respiratory discomfort and incidence of respiratory deterioration events were evaluated. In subjects presenting respiratory deterioration events, decline in the abovementioned respiratory variables was evaluated (#NCT00613899). During an average follow-up of 125±102 days, a total of 1175 measures were performed on 12 subjects. Mean compliance to proposed evaluations was 37±32% which worsened over time. Peak cough expiratory flow decreased by 15.08±32.43L/min monthly. Five subjects reported 6 episodes of respiratory deterioration events, after a mean period of 136±108 days. They had poor respiratory function and more years of disease. There was no difference in peak cough expiratory flow and its decline whether subjects presented respiratory deterioration events or not. In 4 subjects the respiratory discomfort score significantly worsened after respiratory deterioration events from 3.0±1.41 to 4.25±1.71. Daily self-monitoring of peak cough expiratory flow, oxygen saturation and respiratory discomfort seems difficult to obtain because of poor adherence to measures; this protocol does not seem to add anything to current practice of advising on clinical derangements. Confirmatory larger studies are necessary. Copyright © 2013 Sociedade Portuguesa de Pneumologia. Published by Elsevier España. All rights reserved.

A constrained rasch model of trace redintegration in serial recall.

Science.gov (United States)

Roodenrys, Steven; Miller, Leonie M

2008-04-01

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

Plastic optical fiber serial communications link for distributed control system

Science.gov (United States)

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

2001-09-01

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2011-06-01

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

Energy Information Data Base: serial titles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1980-06-01

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

Personality disorders, psychopathy and serial killers

OpenAIRE

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

2006-01-01

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

Prediction of Spirometric Forced Expiratory Volume (FEV1) Data Using Support Vector Regression

Science.gov (United States)

Kavitha, A.; Sujatha, C. M.; Ramakrishnan, S.

2010-01-01

In this work, prediction of forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) in pulmonary function test is carried out using the spirometer and support vector regression analysis. Pulmonary function data are measured with flow volume spirometer from volunteers (N=175) using a standard data acquisition protocol. The acquired data are then used to predict FEV1. Support vector machines with polynomial kernel function with four different orders were employed to predict the values of FEV1. The performance is evaluated by computing the average prediction accuracy for normal and abnormal cases. Results show that support vector machines are capable of predicting FEV1 in both normal and abnormal cases and the average prediction accuracy for normal subjects was higher than that of abnormal subjects. Accuracy in prediction was found to be high for a regularization constant of C=10. Since FEV1 is the most significant parameter in the analysis of spirometric data, it appears that this method of assessment is useful in diagnosing the pulmonary abnormalities with incomplete data and data with poor recording.

Serial MR imaging in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

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

1991-08-01

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

Serial MR imaging in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

1991-01-01

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

The stand-alone test and decreasing serial cost sharing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hougaard, Jens Leth; Thorlund-Petersen, Lars

2000-01-01

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

Mixed-List Phonological Similarity Effects in Delayed Serial Recall

Science.gov (United States)

Farrell, Simon

2006-01-01

Recent experiments have shown that placing dissimilar items on lists of phonologically similar items enhances accuracy of ordered recall of the dissimilar items [Farrell, S., & Lewandowsky, S. (2003). Dissimilar items benefit from phonological similarity in serial recall. "Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition," 29,…

RProtoBuf: Efficient Cross-Language Data Serialization in R

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dirk Eddelbuettel

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Modern data collection and analysis pipelines often involve a sophisticated mix of applications written in general purpose and specialized programming languages. Many formats commonly used to import and export data between different programs or systems, such as CSV or JSON, are verbose, inefficient, not type-safe, or tied to a specific programming language. Protocol Buffers are a popular method of serializing structured data between applications - while remaining independent of programming languages or operating systems. They offer a unique combination of features, performance, and maturity that seems particularly well suited for data-driven applications and numerical computing. The RProtoBuf package provides a complete interface to Protocol Buffers from the R environment for statistical computing. This paper outlines the general class of data serialization requirements for statistical computing, describes the implementation of the RProtoBuf package, and illustrates its use with example applications in large-scale data collection pipelines and web services.

3D Topography of the Young Adult Anal Sphincter Complex Reconstructed from Undeformed Serial Anatomical Sections

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wu, Yi; Dabhoiwala, Noshir F.; Hagoort, Jaco; Shan, Jin-Lu; Tan, Li-Wen; Fang, Bin-Ji; Zhang, Shao-Xiang; Lamers, Wouter H.

2015-01-01

Pelvic-floor anatomy is usually studied by artifact-prone dissection or imaging, which requires prior anatomical knowledge. We used the serial-section approach to settle contentious issues and an interactive 3D-pdf to make the results widely accessible. 3D reconstructions of undeformed thin serial

Peak power ratio generator

Science.gov (United States)

Moyer, R.D.

A peak power ratio generator is described for measuring, in combination with a conventional power meter, the peak power level of extremely narrow pulses in the gigahertz radio frequency bands. The present invention in a preferred embodiment utilizes a tunnel diode and a back diode combination in a detector circuit as the only high speed elements. The high speed tunnel diode provides a bistable signal and serves as a memory device of the input pulses for the remaining, slower components. A hybrid digital and analog loop maintains the peak power level of a reference channel at a known amount. Thus, by measuring the average power levels of the reference signal and the source signal, the peak power level of the source signal can be determined.

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

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

2015-01-01

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

Energy information data base. Serial titles, February 1978--June 1979

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1979-06-01

This supplement contains changes and additions to TID-4579-R10 (the authority list for serial titles used by TIC), and is intended to be used with that publication. Supplements are cumulative until another revision is issued

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2015-10-01

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

Combined Effects of Ventilation Mode and Positive End-Expiratory Pressure on Mechanics, Gas Exchange and the Epithelium in Mice with Acute Lung Injury

Science.gov (United States)

Thammanomai, Apiradee; Hamakawa, Hiroshi; Bartolák-Suki, Erzsébet; Suki, Béla

2013-01-01

The accepted protocol to ventilate patients with acute lung injury is to use low tidal volume (VT) in combination with recruitment maneuvers or positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP). However, an important aspect of mechanical ventilation has not been considered: the combined effects of PEEP and ventilation modes on the integrity of the epithelium. Additionally, it is implicitly assumed that the best PEEP-VT combination also protects the epithelium. We aimed to investigate the effects of ventilation mode and PEEP on respiratory mechanics, peak airway pressures and gas exchange as well as on lung surfactant and epithelial cell integrity in mice with acute lung injury. HCl-injured mice were ventilated at PEEPs of 3 and 6 cmH2O with conventional ventilation (CV), CV with intermittent large breaths (CVLB) to promote recruitment, and a new mode, variable ventilation, optimized for mice (VVN). Mechanics and gas exchange were measured during ventilation and surfactant protein (SP)-B, proSP-B and E-cadherin levels were determined from lavage and lung homogenate. PEEP had a significant effect on mechanics, gas exchange and the epithelium. The higher PEEP reduced lung collapse and improved mechanics and gas exchange but it also down regulated surfactant release and production and increased epithelial cell injury. While CVLB was better than CV, VVN outperformed CVLB in recruitment, reduced epithelial injury and, via a dynamic mechanotransduction, it also triggered increased release and production of surfactant. For long-term outcome, selection of optimal PEEP and ventilation mode may be based on balancing lung physiology with epithelial injury. PMID:23326543

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

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

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

2012-01-01

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

Implementation of a multicrate CAMAC serial highway for data acquisition on the ARGUS laser

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frerking, C.E.; Greenwood, J.R.

1976-09-01

Much of the target diagnostics data from the ARGUS laser are acquired through a CAMAC interface system, including equipment on a CAMAC serial highway. A scheme has been developed which allows a very general capability for dynamically defining the experimental configuration such that the serial highway is invisible to the controlling program. High level language software compiles the existence of each experimental entity in the system. As the position and description of each module is defined, a software structure is built, with each entry containing the information to be provided to the CAMAC handlers during operation of the equipment. Provision is made to allow tight loops at the lowest software level for critical high speed data acquisition. Currently, the serial highway is operated at a one megabit rate, allowing 24 bit CAMAC words to be transferred at a 5 KHz rate

Voltage balancing strategies for serial connection of microbial fuel cells

Science.gov (United States)

Khaled, Firas; Ondel, Olivier; Allard, Bruno; Buret, François

2015-07-01

The microbial fuel cell (MFC) converts electrochemically organic matter into electricity by means of metabolisms of bacteria. The MFC power output is limited by low voltage and low current characteristics in the range of microwatts or milliwatts per litre. In order to produce a sufficient voltage level (>1.5 V) and sufficient power to supply real applications such as autonomous sensors, it is necessary to either scale-up one single unit or to connect multiple units together. Many topologies of connection are possible as the serial association to improve the output voltage, or the parallel connection to improve the output current or the series/parallel connection to step-up both voltage and current. The association of MFCs in series is a solution to increase the voltage to an acceptable value and to mutualize the unit's output power. The serial association of a large number of MFCs presents several issues. The first one is the hydraulic coupling among MFCs when they share the same substrate. The second one is the dispersion between generators that lead to a non-optimal stack efficiency because the maximum power point (MPP) operation of all MFCs is not permitted. Voltage balancing is a solution to compensate non-uniformities towards MPP. This paper presents solutions to improve the efficiency of a stack of serially connected MFCs through a voltage-balancing circuit. Contribution to the topical issue "Electrical Engineering Symposium (SGE 2014)", edited by Adel Razek

Serial-order learning impairment and hypersensitivity-to-interference in dyscalculia.

Science.gov (United States)

De Visscher, Alice; Szmalec, Arnaud; Van Der Linden, Lize; Noël, Marie-Pascale

2015-11-01

In the context of heterogeneity, the different profiles of dyscalculia are still hypothetical. This study aims to link features of mathematical difficulties to certain potential etiologies. First, we wanted to test the hypothesis of a serial-order learning deficit in adults with dyscalculia. For this purpose we used a Hebb repetition learning task. Second, we wanted to explore a recent hypothesis according to which hypersensitivity-to-interference hampers the storage of arithmetic facts and leads to a particular profile of dyscalculia. We therefore used interfering and non-interfering repeated sequences in the Hebb paradigm. A final test was used to assess the memory trace of the non-interfering sequence and the capacity to manipulate it. In line with our predictions, we observed that people with dyscalculia who show good conceptual knowledge in mathematics but impaired arithmetic fluency suffer from increased sensitivity-to-interference compared to controls. Secondly, people with dyscalculia who show a deficit in a global mathematical test suffer from a serial-order learning deficit characterized by a slow learning and a quick degradation of the memory trace of the repeated sequence. A serial-order learning impairment could be one of the explanations for a basic numerical deficit, since it is necessary for the number-word sequence acquisition. Among the different profiles of dyscalculia, this study provides new evidence and refinement for two particular profiles. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Room-temperature macromolecular serial crystallography using synchrotron radiation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francesco Stellato

2014-07-01

Full Text Available A new approach for collecting data from many hundreds of thousands of microcrystals using X-ray pulses from a free-electron laser has recently been developed. Referred to as serial crystallography, diffraction patterns are recorded at a constant rate as a suspension of protein crystals flows across the path of an X-ray beam. Events that by chance contain single-crystal diffraction patterns are retained, then indexed and merged to form a three-dimensional set of reflection intensities for structure determination. This approach relies upon several innovations: an intense X-ray beam; a fast detector system; a means to rapidly flow a suspension of crystals across the X-ray beam; and the computational infrastructure to process the large volume of data. Originally conceived for radiation-damage-free measurements with ultrafast X-ray pulses, the same methods can be employed with synchrotron radiation. As in powder diffraction, the averaging of thousands of observations per Bragg peak may improve the ratio of signal to noise of low-dose exposures. Here, it is shown that this paradigm can be implemented for room-temperature data collection using synchrotron radiation and exposure times of less than 3 ms. Using lysozyme microcrystals as a model system, over 40 000 single-crystal diffraction patterns were obtained and merged to produce a structural model that could be refined to 2.1 Å resolution. The resulting electron density is in excellent agreement with that obtained using standard X-ray data collection techniques. With further improvements the method is well suited for even shorter exposures at future and upgraded synchrotron radiation facilities that may deliver beams with 1000 times higher brightness than they currently produce.

What's Your Money Worth? Materials Budgets and the Selection and Evaluation of Book and Serial Vendors.

Science.gov (United States)

Barker, Joseph W.

1992-01-01

Discusses budgets for library materials and how to select and evaluate book and serial vendors. Trends in automation, publishing, and economics that affect both libraries and vendors are discussed; and examples from the University of California at Berkeley that include serials service charges and approval plan discounts are presented. (six…

Serial Comparison Processes and Sex Differences in Clerical Speed.

Science.gov (United States)

Majeres, Raymond L.

1988-01-01

Three experiments were conducted with 91 male and 91 female university students to assess sex differences in performance on speeded matching tests and theory on same-different judgments. Results are interpreted via the dual-process hypothesis of same-difference judgments with sex differences explained in terms of serial comparison processes rather…

Benchmarking Usage Statistics in Collection Management Decisions for Serials

Science.gov (United States)

Tucker, Cory

2009-01-01

Usage statistics are an important metric for making decisions on serials. Although the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Libraries have been collecting usage statistics, the statistics had not frequently been used to make decisions and had not been included in collection development policy. After undergoing a collection assessment, the…

The functional determinants of short-term memory: Evidence from perceptual-motor interference in verbal serial recall.

Science.gov (United States)

Hughes, Robert W; Marsh, John E

2017-04-01

A functional, perceptual-motor, account of serial short-term memory (STM) is examined by investigating the way in which an irrelevant spoken sequence interferes with verbal serial recall. Even with visual list-presentation, verbal serial recall is particularly susceptible to disruption by irrelevant spoken stimuli that have the same identity as-but that are order-incongruent with-the to-be-remembered items. We test the view that such interference is because of the obligatory perceptual organization of the spoken stimuli yielding a sequence that competes with a subvocal motor-plan assembled to support the reproduction of the to-be-remembered list. In support of this view, the interference can be eliminated without changing either the identities or objective serial order of the spoken stimuli but merely by promoting a subjective perceptual organization that strips them of their order-incongruent relation to the to-be-remembered list (Experiment 1). The interference is also eliminated if subvocal motor sequence-planning is impeded via articulatory suppression (Experiment 2). The results are in line with the view that performance-limits in verbal serial STM are because of having to exploit perceptual and motor processes for purposes for which they did not evolve, not the inherently limited capacity of structures or mechanisms dedicated to storage. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Respiratory System Mechanics During Low Versus High Positive End-Expiratory Pressure in Open Abdominal Surgery: A Substudy of PROVHILO Randomized Controlled Trial.

Science.gov (United States)

D'Antini, Davide; Huhle, Robert; Herrmann, Jacob; Sulemanji, Demet S; Oto, Jun; Raimondo, Pasquale; Mirabella, Lucia; Hemmes, Sabrine N T; Schultz, Marcus J; Pelosi, Paolo; Kaczka, David W; Vidal Melo, Marcos Francisco; Gama de Abreu, Marcelo; Cinnella, Gilda

2018-01-01

In the 2014 PROtective Ventilation using HIgh versus LOw positive end-expiratory pressure (PROVHILO) trial, intraoperative low tidal volume ventilation with high positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP = 12 cm H2O) and lung recruitment maneuvers did not decrease postoperative pulmonary complications when compared to low PEEP (0-2 cm H2O) approach without recruitment breaths. However, effects of intraoperative PEEP on lung compliance remain poorly understood. We hypothesized that higher PEEP leads to a dominance of intratidal overdistension, whereas lower PEEP results in intratidal recruitment/derecruitment (R/D). To test our hypothesis, we used the volume-dependent elastance index %E2, a respiratory parameter that allows for noninvasive and radiation-free assessment of dominant overdistension and intratidal R/D. We compared the incidence of intratidal R/D, linear expansion, and overdistension by means of %E2 in a subset of the PROVHILO cohort. In 36 patients from 2 participating centers of the PROVHILO trial, we calculated respiratory system elastance (E), resistance (R), and %E2, a surrogate parameter for intratidal overdistension (%E2 > 30%) and R/D (%E2 mechanical ventilation with protective tidal volumes in patients undergoing open abdominal surgery, lung recruitment followed by PEEP of 12 cm H2O decreased the incidence of intratidal R/D and did not worsen overdistension, when compared to PEEP ≤2 cm H2O.

Evidence for serial discontinuity in the fish community of a heavily impounded river

Science.gov (United States)

Miranda, Leandro E.; Dembkowski, D.J.

2016-01-01

In the Tennessee River, USA, we examined lengthwise patterns in fish community structure and species richness within and among nine reservoirs organized in sequence and connected through navigational locks. Within reservoirs, the riverine, transition and lacustrine zones supported distinct, although overlapping, nearshore fish assemblages; differences were also reflected in measures of species richness. Spatial patterns were most apparent for rheophilic species, which increased in species richness and representation upstream within each reservoir and downstream across the chain of reservoirs. This pattern resembled a sawtooth wave, with the amplitude of the wave peaking in the riverine zone below each dam, and progressively higher wave amplitude developing downstream in the reservoir chain. The observed sawtooth pattern supports the serial discontinuity concept in that the continuity of the riverine fish community is interrupted by the lacustrine conditions created behind each dam. Upstream within each reservoir, and downstream in the chain of reservoirs, habitat characteristics become more riverine. To promote sustainability of rheophilic fishes and maintain biodiversity in impounded rivers, conservation plans could emphasize maintenance and preservation of riverine environments of the reservoir's upper reaches, while remaining cognizant of the broader basin trends that provide opportunities for a lengthwise array of conservation and management policy. 

Serially cultured keratinocytes from human scalp hair follicles: a tool for cytogenetic studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Weterings, P J; Roelofs, H M; Jansen, B A; Vermorken, A J

1983-01-01

Keratinocytes originating from adult human hair follicles, the most convenient biopsy tissue, can be serially cultured using a combination of two techniques. Primary cultures are established using plucked scalp hair follicles and the bovine eye lens capsule as a growth substrate. Subsequently, cells from these cultures are serially cultivated in the presence of irradiated 3T3 cells as feeders. By this combination of techniques many keratinocytes can be generated from one single hair follicle. These cultures, appropriately treated with colchicine, can provide an adequate number of metaphases suitable for chromosome studies.

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

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

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

2007-10-22

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

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

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

2007-01-01

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

Kinematic Gait Changes Following Serial Casting and Bracing to Treat Toe Walking in a Child With Autism.

Science.gov (United States)

Barkocy, Marybeth; Dexter, James; Petranovich, Colleen

2017-07-01

To evaluate the effectiveness of serial casting in a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibiting a toe-walking gait pattern with equinus contractures. Although many children with ASD toe walk, little research on physical therapy interventions exists for this population. Serial casting has been validated for use in idiopathic toe walking to increase passive dorsiflexion and improve gait, but not for toe walking in children with ASD. Serial casting followed by ankle-foot orthosis use was implemented to treat a child with ASD who had an obligatory equinus gait pattern. Gait analysis supported improvements in kinematic, spatial, and temporal parameters of gait, and the child maintained a consistent heel-toe gait at 2-year follow-up. STATEMENT OF CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CLINICAL PRACTICE:: Serial casting followed by ankle-foot orthosis use is a viable treatment option for toe walking in children with ASD.

Learning and memory for sequences of pictures, words, and spatial locations: an exploration of serial position effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Bonk, William J; Healy, Alice F

2010-01-01

A serial reproduction of order with distractors task was developed to make it possible to observe successive snapshots of the learning process at each serial position. The new task was used to explore the effect of several variables on serial memory performance: stimulus content (words, blanks, and pictures), presentation condition (spatial information vs. none), semantically categorized item clustering (grouped vs. ungrouped), and number of distractors relative to targets (none, equal, double). These encoding and retrieval variables, along with learning attempt number, affected both overall performance levels and the shape of the serial position function, although a large and extensive primacy advantage and a small 1-item recency advantage were found in each case. These results were explained well by a version of the scale-independent memory, perception, and learning model that accounted for improved performance by increasing the value of only a single parameter that reflects reduced interference from distant items.

Attempted Serial Neonaticides: Case Report and a Brief Review of the Literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Barros, Alcina Juliana Soares; Rosa, Regis Goulart; Telles, Lisieux Elaine de Borba; Taborda, José Geraldo Vernet

2016-01-01

Neonaticide is an infant murder occurring on the day of birth. The case reports found in the literature are often focused on the mother as the agent in the context of pregnancy denial, dissociative symptoms, or psychosis. However, this report describes a rare case of attempted serial neonaticides, in which the acts were committed by a nurse at the nursery of a referral hospital in Brazil. The authors describe a forensic psychiatric evaluation for criminal responsibility and correlate the information from this particular case with relevant forensic themes, namely neonaticide, Munchausen by proxy syndrome, and serial healthcare killers. © 2015 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Pancreatic pseudocyst-portal vein fistula: Serial imaging and clinical follow-up from pseudocyst to fistula

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jee, Keun Nahn [Dept. of Radiology, Dankook University Hospital, Dankook University College of Medicine, Cheonan (Korea, Republic of)

2015-03-15

Pancreatic pseudocyst-portal vein fistula is an extremely rare complication of pancreatitis. Only 18 such cases have been previously reported in the medical literature. However, a serial process from pancreatic pseudocyst to fistula formation has not been described. The serial clinical and radiological findings in a 52-year-old chronic alcoholic male patient with fistula between pancreatic pseudocyst and main portal vein are presented.

Differential Effects of Intraoperative Positive End-expiratory Pressure (PEEP) on Respiratory Outcome in Major Abdominal Surgery Versus Craniotomy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

de Jong, Myrthe A C; Ladha, Karim S; Melo, Marcos F Vidal

2015-01-01

OBJECTIVES: In this study, we examined whether (1) positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) has a protective effect on the risk of major postoperative respiratory complications in a cohort of patients undergoing major abdominal surgeries and craniotomies, and (2) the effect of PEEP is differed......: Within the entire study population (major abdominal surgeries and craniotomies), we found an association between application of PEEP ≥5 cmH2O and a decreased risk of postoperative respiratory complications compared with PEEP 5 cmH2O was associated with a significant lower...... undergoing major abdominal surgery. Our data suggest that default mechanical ventilator settings should include PEEP of 5-10 cmH2O during major abdominal surgery....

Comparing the radiosensitivity of cervical and thoracic spinal cord using the relative seriality model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adamus-Gorka, M.; Lind, B.K.; Brahme, A.

2003-01-01

Spinal cord is one of the most important normal tissues that are aimed to be spared during radiation therapy of cancer. This organ has been known for its strongly serial character and its high sensitivity to radiation. In order to compare the sensitivity of different parts of spinal cord, the early data (1970's) for radiation myelopathy available in the literature could be used. In the present study the relative seriality model (Kallman et al. 1992) has been fitted to two different sets of clinical data for spinal cord irradiation: radiation myelitis of cervical spinal cord after treating 248 patients for malignant disease of head and neck (Abbatucci et al. 1978) and radiation myelitis of thoracic spinal cord after radiation treating 43 patients with lung carcinoma (Reinhold et al. 1976). The maximum likelihood method was applied for the fitting and the corresponding parameters together with their 68% confidence intervals calculated for each of the datasets respectively. The alpha-beta ratio for the thoracic survival was also obtained. On the basis of the present study the following conclusions can be drawn: 1. radiation myelopathy is a strongly serial endpoint, 2. it appears to be differences in radiosensitivity between the cervical and thoracic region of spinal cord, 3. thoracic spinal cord revealed very serial characteristic of dose response, while the cervical myelopathy seems to be a bit less serial endpoint, 4. the dose-response curve is much steeper in case of myelopathy of cervical spinal cord, due to the much higher gamma value for this region. This work compares the fitting of NTCP model to the cervical and thoracic regions of the spinal cord and shows quite different responses. In the future more data should be tested for better understanding the mechanism of spinal cord sensitivity to radiation

Influence of X and gamma radiation and bias conditions on dropout voltage of voltage regulators serial transistors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vukic, V.; Osmokrovic, P.; Stankovic, S.; Kovacevic, M.

2005-01-01

Research topic presented in this paper is degradation of characteristics of low-dropout voltage regulator's serial transistor during exposure of device to the ionizing radiation. Voltage regulators were exposed to X and γ radiation in two modes: without bias conditions, and with bias conditions and load. Tested circuits are representatives of the first and the second generation of low-dropout voltage regulators, with lateral and vertical PNP serial transistor: LM2940 and L4940. Experimental results of output voltage and serial dropout voltage change in function of total ionizing dose, during the medium-dose-rate exposure, were presented. (author) [sr

PolyaPeak: Detecting Transcription Factor Binding Sites from ChIP-seq Using Peak Shape Information

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Hao; Ji, Hongkai

2014-01-01

ChIP-seq is a powerful technology for detecting genomic regions where a protein of interest interacts with DNA. ChIP-seq data for mapping transcription factor binding sites (TFBSs) have a characteristic pattern: around each binding site, sequence reads aligned to the forward and reverse strands of the reference genome form two separate peaks shifted away from each other, and the true binding site is located in between these two peaks. While it has been shown previously that the accuracy and resolution of binding site detection can be improved by modeling the pattern, efficient methods are unavailable to fully utilize that information in TFBS detection procedure. We present PolyaPeak, a new method to improve TFBS detection by incorporating the peak shape information. PolyaPeak describes peak shapes using a flexible Pólya model. The shapes are automatically learnt from the data using Minorization-Maximization (MM) algorithm, then integrated with the read count information via a hierarchical model to distinguish true binding sites from background noises. Extensive real data analyses show that PolyaPeak is capable of robustly improving TFBS detection compared with existing methods. An R package is freely available. PMID:24608116

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2012-01-01

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2007-01-01

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

Simulating Serial-Target Antibacterial Drug Synergies Using Flux Balance Analysis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Krueger, Andrew S.; Munck, Christian; Dantas, Gautam

2016-01-01

Flux balance analysis (FBA) is an increasingly useful approach for modeling the behavior of metabolic systems. However, standard FBA modeling of genetic knockouts cannot predict drug combination synergies observed between serial metabolic targets, even though such synergies give rise to some of t...

Asymmetrical learning between a tactile and visual serial RT task

NARCIS (Netherlands)

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

2007-01-01

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

The Rise in Consumerism: The Year's Work in Serials, 1990.

Science.gov (United States)

Lonberger, Jana

1991-01-01

Examines major issues and trends in serials management represented in the literature published during 1990. Topics covered include the pricing crisis; publishing and scholarly communication; cancellation projects; technological developments and alternatives to print; claiming and replacement activities; acquisitions and collection development;…

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

CERN Document Server

Biesuz, Nicolo Vladi; The ATLAS collaboration; Luciano, Pierluigi; Magalotti, Daniel; Rossi, Enrico

2015-01-01

The Associative Memory (AM) system of the Fast Tracker (FTK) processor has been designed to perform pattern matching using the hit information of the ATLAS experiment silicon tracker. The AM is the heart of FTK and is mainly based on the use of ASICs (AM chips) designed on purpose to execute pattern matching with a high degree of parallelism. It finds track candidates at low resolution that are seeds for a full resolution track fitting. To solve the very challenging data traffic problems inside FTK, multiple board and chip designs have been performed. The currently proposed solution is named the “Serial Link Processor” and is based on an extremely powerful network of 2 Gb/s serial links. This paper reports on the design of the Serial Link Processor consisting of two types of boards, the Local Associative Memory Board (LAMB), a mezzanine where the AM chips are mounted, and the Associative Memory Board (AMB), a 9U VME board which holds and exercises four LAMBs. We report on the performance of the intermedia...

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

CERN Document Server

Andreani, A; The ATLAS collaboration; Beccherle, R; Beretta, M; Cipriani, R; Citraro, S; Citterio, M; Colombo, A; Crescioli, F; Dimas, D; Donati, S; Giannetti, P; Kordas, K; Lanza, A; Liberali, V; Luciano, P; Magalotti, D; Neroutsos, P; Nikolaidis, S; Piendibene, M; Sakellariou, A; Shojaii, S; Sotiropoulou, C-L; Stabile, A

2014-01-01

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

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

CERN Document Server

Biesuz, Nicolo Vladi; The ATLAS collaboration; Luciano, Pierluigi; Magalotti, Daniel; Rossi, Enrico

2015-01-01

The Associative Memory (AM) system of the Fast Tracker (FTK) processor has been designed to perform pattern matching using the hit information of the ATLAS experiment silicon tracker. The AM is the heart of FTK and is mainly based on the use of ASICs (AM chips) designed to execute pattern matching with a high degree of parallelism. The AM system finds track candidates at low resolution that are seeds for a full resolution track fitting. To solve the very challenging data traffic problems inside FTK, multiple board and chip designs have been performed. The currently proposed solution is named the “Serial Link Processor” and is based on an extremely powerful network of 828 2 Gbit/s serial links for a total in/out bandwidth of 56 Gb/s. This paper reports on the design of the Serial Link Processor consisting of two types of boards, the Local Associative Memory Board (LAMB), a mezzanine where the AM chips are mounted, and the Associative Memory Board (AMB), a 9U VME board which holds and exercises four LAMBs. ...