Parallel processing data network of master and slave transputers controlled by a serial control network

Science.gov (United States)

Crosetto, Dario B.

1996-01-01

The present device provides for a dynamically configurable communication network having a multi-processor parallel processing system having a serial communication network and a high speed parallel communication network. The serial communication network is used to disseminate commands from a master processor (100) to a plurality of slave processors (200) to effect communication protocol, to control transmission of high density data among nodes and to monitor each slave processor's status. The high speed parallel processing network is used to effect the transmission of high density data among nodes in the parallel processing system. Each node comprises a transputer (104), a digital signal processor (114), a parallel transfer controller (106), and two three-port memory devices. A communication switch (108) within each node (100) connects it to a fast parallel hardware channel (70) through which all high density data arrives or leaves the node.

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.

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.

The Processing of Somatosensory Information shifts from an early parallel into a serial processing mode: a combined fMRI/MEG study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carsten Michael Klingner

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The question regarding whether somatosensory inputs are processed in parallel or in series has not been clearly answered. Several studies that have applied dynamic causal modeling (DCM to fMRI data have arrived at seemingly divergent conclusions. However, these divergent results could be explained by the hypothesis that the processing route of somatosensory information changes with time. Specifically, we suggest that somatosensory stimuli are processed in parallel only during the early stage, whereas the processing is later dominated by serial processing. This hypothesis was revisited in the present study based on fMRI analyses of tactile stimuli and the application of DCM to magnetoencephalographic (MEG data collected during sustained (260 ms tactile stimulation. Bayesian model comparisons were used to infer the processing stream. We demonstrated that the favored processing stream changes over time. We found that the neural activity elicited in the first 100 ms following somatosensory stimuli is best explained by models that support a parallel processing route, whereas a serial processing route is subsequently favored. These results suggest that the secondary somatosensory area (SII receives information regarding a new stimulus in parallel with the primary somatosensory area (SI, whereas later processing in the SII is dominated by the preprocessed input from the SI.

The Processing of Somatosensory Information Shifts from an Early Parallel into a Serial Processing Mode: A Combined fMRI/MEG Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Klingner, Carsten M; Brodoehl, Stefan; Huonker, Ralph; Witte, Otto W

2016-01-01

The question regarding whether somatosensory inputs are processed in parallel or in series has not been clearly answered. Several studies that have applied dynamic causal modeling (DCM) to fMRI data have arrived at seemingly divergent conclusions. However, these divergent results could be explained by the hypothesis that the processing route of somatosensory information changes with time. Specifically, we suggest that somatosensory stimuli are processed in parallel only during the early stage, whereas the processing is later dominated by serial processing. This hypothesis was revisited in the present study based on fMRI analyses of tactile stimuli and the application of DCM to magnetoencephalographic (MEG) data collected during sustained (260 ms) tactile stimulation. Bayesian model comparisons were used to infer the processing stream. We demonstrated that the favored processing stream changes over time. We found that the neural activity elicited in the first 100 ms following somatosensory stimuli is best explained by models that support a parallel processing route, whereas a serial processing route is subsequently favored. These results suggest that the secondary somatosensory area (SII) receives information regarding a new stimulus in parallel with the primary somatosensory area (SI), whereas later processing in the SII is dominated by the preprocessed input from the SI.

Availability Evaluation of the serial processes in a Paper Production Industry-A Numerical Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Archana Sharma

2010-12-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this research is to compute availability of the process of a paper production industry consisting of four subsystems. Mathematical formulation of the problem is carried out using probability considerations and the governing differential equations are solved using Runge-Kutta method of order four. Availability of the serial process in the paper production industry have been computed for various choice of failure and repair rates of subsystems of this plant.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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Simon Gorin

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

Gorin, Simon; Kowialiewski, Benjamin; Majerus, Steve

2016-01-01

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

Serial position effects scoring in the assessment of memory in Alzheimer's disease and major depression

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bemelmans, Karel Jozef

2009-01-01

The objective of this thesis was to validate serial position effects (SPE’S) scoring in the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT). The RAVLT is a much used clinical method for assessing memory performance, but the method of scoring obfuscates that two memory processes underlie free recall. This

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

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.

Serial Austen. Mashingups with Zombies

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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.

IMPLEMENTATION OF SERIAL AND PARALLEL BUBBLE SORT ON FPGA

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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

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.

The effect of the position of atypical character-to-sound correspondences on reading kanji words aloud: Evidence for a sublexical serially operating kanji reading process.

Science.gov (United States)

Sambai, Ami; Coltheart, Max; Uno, Akira

2018-04-01

In English, the size of the regularity effect on word reading-aloud latency decreases across position of irregularity. This has been explained by a sublexical serially operating reading mechanism. It is unclear whether sublexical serial processing occurs in reading two-character kanji words aloud. To investigate this issue, we studied how the position of atypical character-to-sound correspondences influenced reading performance. When participants read inconsistent-atypical words aloud mixed randomly with nonwords, reading latencies of words with an inconsistent-atypical correspondence in the initial position were significantly longer than words with an inconsistent-atypical correspondence in the second position. The significant difference of reading latencies for inconsistent-atypical words disappeared when inconsistent-atypical words were presented without nonwords. Moreover, reading latencies for words with an inconsistent-atypical correspondence in the first position were shorter than for words with a typical correspondence in the first position. This typicality effect was absent when the atypicality was in the second position. These position-of-atypicality effects suggest that sublexical processing of kanji occurs serially and that the phonology of two-character kanji words is generated from both a lexical parallel process and a sublexical serial process.

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...

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....

[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.

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.

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.

Light Video Game Play is Associated with Enhanced Visual Processing of Rapid Serial Visual Presentation Targets.

Science.gov (United States)

Howard, Christina J; Wilding, Robert; Guest, Duncan

2017-02-01

There is mixed evidence that video game players (VGPs) may demonstrate better performance in perceptual and attentional tasks than non-VGPs (NVGPs). The rapid serial visual presentation task is one such case, where observers respond to two successive targets embedded within a stream of serially presented items. We tested light VGPs (LVGPs) and NVGPs on this task. LVGPs were better at correct identification of second targets whether they were also attempting to respond to the first target. This performance benefit seen for LVGPs suggests enhanced visual processing for briefly presented stimuli even with only very moderate game play. Observers were less accurate at discriminating the orientation of a second target within the stream if it occurred shortly after presentation of the first target, that is to say, they were subject to the attentional blink (AB). We find no evidence for any reduction in AB in LVGPs compared with NVGPs.

Serial headache drawings by children with migraine: correlation with clinical headache status.

Science.gov (United States)

Stafstrom, Carl E; Goldenholz, Shira R; Dulli, Douglas A

2005-10-01

Children's artistic self-depictions of headache provide valuable insights into their experience of pain and aid in the diagnostic differentiation of headache types. In a previous study, we compared the clinical diagnosis (gold standard) and artistic diagnosis of headaches in 226 children. In approximately 90% of cases, the drawing predicted the clinical diagnosis of migraine versus nonmigraine headache correctly. In the present study, we explored whether headache drawings correlate with clinical improvement after treatment in children with migraine headaches followed longitudinally. Children seen in the Pediatric Neurology Clinic with the chief complaint of headache were asked to draw a picture of what their headache feels like. On subsequent clinic visits, children with the clinical diagnosis of migraine were asked to draw another picture depicting their current headache. The two drawings were compared to assess whether there was improvement; this "artistic response" was then correlated with the child's clinical status (ie, whether the headaches were improved clinically). One hundred eleven children (66 girls, 45 boys) participated in the study, with a mean interval of 5.3 +/- 2.3 (standard error of the mean) months between the first and second visits. The mean age at the first visit was 11.6 +/- 3.1 years. The raters agreed that serial drawings were both improved or both not improved in 99 of the 111 cases (89%; interrater reliability kappa score of 0.767). Fifty-three children had improvements in their headaches and drawings, 3 children had an improved drawing but no clinical headache improvement, 32 children had no improvement in either their drawing or clinical headaches, and 11 children had improved headaches but no improvement in their drawing. The sensitivity of the drawings for clinical improvement was 0.83, and the specificity was 0.91. The predictive value of an improved headache drawing for an improved clinical response was 0.946. There was no

Emotional noun processing: an ERP study with rapid serial visual presentation.

Science.gov (United States)

Yi, Shengnan; He, Weiqi; Zhan, Lei; Qi, Zhengyang; Zhu, Chuanlin; Luo, Wenbo; Li, Hong

2015-01-01

Reading is an important part of our daily life, and rapid responses to emotional words have received a great deal of research interest. Our study employed rapid serial visual presentation to detect the time course of emotional noun processing using event-related potentials. We performed a dual-task experiment, where subjects were required to judge whether a given number was odd or even, and the category into which each emotional noun fit. In terms of P1, we found that there was no negativity bias for emotional nouns. However, emotional nouns elicited larger amplitudes in the N170 component in the left hemisphere than did neutral nouns. This finding indicated that in later processing stages, emotional words can be discriminated from neutral words. Furthermore, positive, negative, and neutral words were different from each other in the late positive complex, indicating that in the third stage, even different emotions can be discerned. Thus, our results indicate that in a three-stage model the latter two stages are more stable and universal.

Emotional noun processing: an ERP study with rapid serial visual presentation.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shengnan Yi

Full Text Available Reading is an important part of our daily life, and rapid responses to emotional words have received a great deal of research interest. Our study employed rapid serial visual presentation to detect the time course of emotional noun processing using event-related potentials. We performed a dual-task experiment, where subjects were required to judge whether a given number was odd or even, and the category into which each emotional noun fit. In terms of P1, we found that there was no negativity bias for emotional nouns. However, emotional nouns elicited larger amplitudes in the N170 component in the left hemisphere than did neutral nouns. This finding indicated that in later processing stages, emotional words can be discriminated from neutral words. Furthermore, positive, negative, and neutral words were different from each other in the late positive complex, indicating that in the third stage, even different emotions can be discerned. Thus, our results indicate that in a three-stage model the latter two stages are more stable and universal.

Clinical and anatomic pathology effects of serial blood sampling in rat toxicology studies, using conventional or microsampling methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Caron, Alexis; Lelong, Christine; Bartels, T; Dorchies, O; Gury, T; Chalier, Catherine; Benning, Véronique

2015-08-01

As a general practice in rodent toxicology studies, satellite animals are used for toxicokinetic determinations, because of the potential impact of serial blood sampling on toxicological endpoints. Besides toxicological and toxicokinetic determinations, blood samples obtained longitudinally from a same animal may be used for the assessment of additional parameters (e.g., metabolism, pharmacodynamics, safety biomarkers) to maximize information that can be deduced from rodents. We investigated whether removal of up to 6 × 200 μL of blood over 24h can be applied in GLP rat toxicology studies without affecting the scientific outcome. 8 week-old female rats (200-300 g) were dosed for up to 1 month with a standard vehicle and subjected or not (controls) to serial blood sampling for sham toxicokinetic/ancillary determinations, using miniaturized methods allowing collection of 6 × 50, 100 or 200 μL over 24h. In-life endpoints, clinical pathology parameters and histopathology of organs sensitive to blood volume reduction were evaluated at several time points after completion of sampling. In sampled rats, minimal and reversible changes in red blood cell mass (maximally 15%) and subtle variations in liver enzymes, fibrinogen and neutrophils were not associated with any organ/tissue macroscopic or microscopic correlate. Serial blood sampling (up to 6 × 200 μL over 24h) is compatible with the assessment of standard toxicity endpoints in adult rats. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Serial clinical and echocardiographic evaluation in children with Marfan syndrome].

Science.gov (United States)

Lopez, Victor Manuel Oporto; Perez, Ana Beatriz Alvarez; Moisés, Valdir Ambrósio; Gomes, Lourdes; Pedreira, Patricia da Silveira; Silva, Célia C; Campos Filho, Orlando; Carvalho, Antônio Carlos C

2005-11-01

To describe the clinical cardiac manifestations and temporal evolution of Marfan syndrome in children; to estimate the incidence of annuloaortic ectasia and mitral valve prolapse; and to evaluate tolerability and efficacy of beta-blockers in these patients. During one year, 21 children with Marfan syndrome underwent serial clinical and echocardiographic examinations. Echocardiograms assessed: the presence of mitral valve prolapse, aortic root diameter, mitral and aortic valves regurgitation, and aortic enlargement during beta-blocker therapy. Eleven patients had two measurements of the aortic root taken one year apart. The children were asymptomatic throughout the study. Mitral prolapse was found in 11 (52%) children. Annuloaortic ectasia occurred in 16 (76%) patients and found to be mild in 42.8%, moderate in 9.5%, and severe in 23.8%. One of these patients underwent aortic valve replacement and repair of the ascending aorta by the Bentall-De Bono technique, with good results. Heart rate decreased by 13.6% (from 85 to 73 bpm; p < 0.009) with the use of beta-blockers; however, aortic root diameter increased by 1.4 mm/year (p < 0.02). One child could not be given beta-blockers due to bronchial asthma, and no significant side effects were observed in the remaining children, including one who also had bronchial asthma. The children remained asymptomatic throughout the study, the use of beta-blockers led to a significant decrease in heart rate, and no significant adverse effects were observed. Contrary to the literature, incidence of annuloaortic ectasia was high among the study population, greater than that of mitral valve prolapse, even during beta-blocker therapy.

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.

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.

A Survey of Electronic Serials Managers Reveals Diversity in Practice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura Costello

2014-09-01

�� In surveying academic librarians engaged in serials management, the author sought to identify trends and standards in the field, but instead found significant variation in serials budgets and processes amongst the responding libraries. While it is clear that electronic subscriptions are a significant development and now a permanent feature of serials management, decisions to move from print to digital are complex and definitive conclusions about best practices for serials transitions could not be drawn from this study. The survey revealed that institutions have invested in staff and tools for the management of electronic serials, but staffing configurations and tool combinations are also extremely diverse. The author concluded that the lack of standardization in these areas and the disconnect between institution and serials budget size indicated a serials landscape that was highly individualized and customized to each institution’s unique needs.

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…

Quick, sensitive serial NMR experiments with Radon transform.

Science.gov (United States)

Dass, Rupashree; Kasprzak, Paweł; Kazimierczuk, Krzysztof

2017-09-01

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

Serial CT and MRI of ischaemic cerebral infarcts: frequency and clinical impact of haemorrhagic transformation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mayer, T.E.; Brueckmann, H. [Muenchen Univ. (Germany). Abt. fuer Neuroradiologie; Schulte-Altedorneburg, G. [Dept. of Radiology/Neuroradiology, University Medical School of Luebeck (Germany); Droste, D.W. [Dept. of Neurology, University Medical School of Luebeck (Germany)

2000-04-01

The frequency, predisposing factors and clinical consequences of haemorrhagic infarcts and damaged blood-brain barrier as shown by contrast enhancement (CE) in ischaemic cerebral infarcts are controversial. We prospectively compared the sensitivity of CT and MRI to haemorrhagic transformation (HT) and CE. We also wished to investigate the clinical significance of HT and factors possibly associated with it. We studied 36 patients with acute ischaemic infarcts in the middle cerebral artery territory during the first 2 weeks after the ictus. After CT and rating of the neurological deficit on admission, serial examinations with clinical neuromonitoring, contrast-enhanced CT and MRI were done on the same day. The occurrence and severity of HT were correlated with CE, stroke mechanism, infarct size, development of neurological deficits and antithrombotic treatment. The frequency of HT detected by MRI was 80 %. CE usually preceded HT or was seen simultaneously. MRI had a higher sensitivity than CT to HT and CE. Severity of HT was positively correlated with infarct size (P < 0.01). HT had no influence on patient's neurological status. Neither the type of antithrombotic treatment nor the stroke mechanism was associated with the severity of HT. No parenchymal haemorrhage occurred. (orig.)

Kinematic and dynamic analysis of a serial-link robot for inspection process in EAST vacuum vessel

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Peng Xuebing, E-mail: pengxb@ipp.ac.cn [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 1126, Shushanhu Road 350, Hefei, Anhui 230031 (China); Yuan Jianjun; Zhang Weijun [Research Institute of Robotics, Mechanical Engineering School, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, No.800, Dong Chuan Road, Min Hang District, Shanghai 200240 (China); Yang Yang; Song Yuntao [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 1126, Shushanhu Road 350, Hefei, Anhui 230031 (China)

2012-08-15

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer A serial-link robot FIVIR is proposed for inspection of EAST PFCs between plasma shots. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The FIVIR is a function modular design and has specially designed curvilinear mechanism for axes 4-6. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The D-H coordinate systems, forward and inverse kinematic model can be easily established and solved for the FIVIR. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The FIVIR can fulfill the required workspace and has a good dynamic performance in the inspection process. - Abstract: The present paper introduces a serial-link robot which is named flexible in-vessel inspection robot (FIVIR) and developed for Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST). The task of the robot is to carry process tools, such as viewing camera and leakage detector, to inspect the components installed inside of EAST vacuum vessel. The FIVIR can help to understand the physical phenomena which could be happened in the vacuum vessel during plasma operation and could be one part of EAST remote handling system if needed. The FIVIR was designed with the consideration of having easy control and a good mechanics property which drives it resulted in function modular design. The workspace simulation and kinematic analysis are given in this paper. The dynamic behavior of the FIVIR is studied by multi-body system simulation using ADAMS software. The study result shows the FIVIR has ascendant kinematic and dynamic performance and can fulfill the design requirement for inspection process in EAST vacuum vessel.

Kinematic and dynamic analysis of a serial-link robot for inspection process in EAST vacuum vessel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peng Xuebing; Yuan Jianjun; Zhang Weijun; Yang Yang; Song Yuntao

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► A serial-link robot FIVIR is proposed for inspection of EAST PFCs between plasma shots. ► The FIVIR is a function modular design and has specially designed curvilinear mechanism for axes 4–6. ► The D-H coordinate systems, forward and inverse kinematic model can be easily established and solved for the FIVIR. ► The FIVIR can fulfill the required workspace and has a good dynamic performance in the inspection process. - Abstract: The present paper introduces a serial-link robot which is named flexible in-vessel inspection robot (FIVIR) and developed for Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST). The task of the robot is to carry process tools, such as viewing camera and leakage detector, to inspect the components installed inside of EAST vacuum vessel. The FIVIR can help to understand the physical phenomena which could be happened in the vacuum vessel during plasma operation and could be one part of EAST remote handling system if needed. The FIVIR was designed with the consideration of having easy control and a good mechanics property which drives it resulted in function modular design. The workspace simulation and kinematic analysis are given in this paper. The dynamic behavior of the FIVIR is studied by multi-body system simulation using ADAMS software. The study result shows the FIVIR has ascendant kinematic and dynamic performance and can fulfill the design requirement for inspection process in EAST vacuum vessel.

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.

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,…

Leukocyte scintigraphy: correlation of serial scintigraphic findings and clinical progression of inflammatory bowel disease

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ho, Y.; Kelly, M.J.; Kaliff, V.

1997-01-01

Full text: This study was performed (a) to determine whether the clinical progress of individual patients with inflammatory bowel disease mirrored changes in leukocyte scans, and (b) to assess the reasons for significant discrepancies. Two nuclear medicine physicians reviewed 44 white cell scans in 20 consecutive patients (4 males, 18 females) who were referred for two or more leukocyte scans (using either the 111 In Oxine or 99m Tc HMPAO labelling methods) by three gastroenterologists between 1 January 1992 and 1 June 1996. The sequential scanpairs (range 2-18 months apart) were classified by consensus reading as showing no change, more severe or less severe disease. Questionnaires were sent to the referring gastroenterologists to determine whether the overall clinical status of each patient was unchanged, better or worse in the interval between the two scans. There was complete agreement between clinical and scintigraphic assessment in 45% (10/22) of the study pairs. Review of responses of the three individual gastroenterologists showed a wide range of agreement (4/4, 4/5, 2/13). Review of data showed that most disagreement was based on subjective clinical assessment, and hence of uncertain significance. In two patients, however, potentially preventable false negative leukocyte scans occurred in patients with active proctitis. This may be overcome by rigorous attention to ensure complete emptying of radioactivity from the bladder when 99m Tc HMPAO is used. It was concluded that serial leukocyte scans add to clinical assessment but careful technique is needed to avoid false negative scans in the rectum

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)

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,…

Serial diffusion-weighted MRI correlates with clinical course and treatment response in children with intracranial pus collections

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fanning, Noel F.; Laffan, Eoghan E.; Shroff, Manohar M.

2006-01-01

Accurate assessment of treatment response in children with intracranial pus collections is vital to guide appropriate therapy and reduce morbidity and mortality. To correlate serial MR-measurable changes in diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) with clinical response to treatment. We retrospectively reviewed clinical notes, conventional MR sequences and DWI in eight children with intracranial pus collections. Trace DWI signal intensity and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values were compared at three time points: at initial diagnosis (eight children, 13 collections), at follow-up during continued clinical infection (three children, sp collections), and at follow-up when clinical infection had resolved (seven children, 12 collections). At initial diagnosis all patients were septic and collections showed restricted diffusion (mean ADC 0.61±0.15 x 10 -3 mm 2 /s). Patients with persistent clinical sepsis at follow-up DWI had collections with persistent low ADC values (0.66±0.21 x 10 -3 mm 2 /s), significantly (P -3 mm 2 /s, P<0.01) compared both to patients with signs of continued sepsis and to normal gray matter values. Persistent restricted diffusion in pus collections correlates with continued sepsis. Treatment response is associated with clinical resolution of sepsis and ADC value elevation significantly above normal gray matter values. (orig.)

Do Readers Obtain Preview Benefit from Word n + 2? A Test of Serial Attention Shift versus Distributed Lexical Processing Models of Eye Movement Control in Reading

Science.gov (United States)

Rayner, Keith; Juhasz, Barbara J.; Brown, Sarah J.

2007-01-01

Two experiments tested predictions derived from serial lexical processing and parallel distributed models of eye movement control in reading. The boundary paradigm (K. Rayner, 1975) was used, and the boundary location was set either at the end of word n - 1 (the word just to the left of the target word) or at the end of word n - 2. Serial lexical…

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

Reliability of mechanical and phased-array designs for serial intravascular ultrasound examinations--animal and clinical studies in stented and non-stented coronary arteries.

Science.gov (United States)

Tardif, J C; Bertrand, O F; Mongrain, R; Lespérance, J; Grégoire, J; Paiement, P; Bonan, R

2000-10-01

Both mechanical and multi-element intravascular ultrasound designs have potential advantages and limitations that may impact on their value for clinical and research purposes. Determination of the reproducibility of measurements is critical before a given system can be used in studies such as regression of atherosclerosis trials. We performed serial intravascular ultrasound imaging with catheters using mechanical and phased-array designs in stented and non-stented coronary arteries in dogs and in patients. Both systems correlated well for areas (r > or = 0.90, p or = 0.84. p mechanical designs for measurements of area (mean difference in dogs and in patients: -0.24 and 0.96 mm2, p mechanical system (r > or = 0.96 for all measurements). The differences in absolute and relative variability between the mechanical and phased-array designs, both for reanalysis of same frames and serial pullbacks, were very small. Although multi-element and mechanical intravascular ultrasound designs are not strictly interchangeable, their similar reproducibility and the small differences in measurements demonstrate that both designs are acceptable alternatives for trials of regression of atherosclerosis. Determination of the variability for serial pullbacks of both designs was also important to assess the statistical power of such trials.

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.

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.…

Union Listing via OCLC's Serials Control Subsystem.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Malley, Terrence J.

1984-01-01

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

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)

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

Investigating the impact of blood pressure increase to the brain using high resolution serial histology and image processing

Science.gov (United States)

Lesage, F.; Castonguay, A.; Tardif, P. L.; Lefebvre, J.; Li, B.

2015-09-01

A combined serial OCT/confocal scanner was designed to image large sections of biological tissues at microscopic resolution. Serial imaging of organs embedded in agarose blocks is performed by cutting through tissue using a vibratome which sequentially cuts slices in order to reveal new tissue to image, overcoming limited light penetration encountered in microscopy. Two linear stages allow moving the tissue with respect to the microscope objective, acquiring a 2D grid of volumes (1x1x0.3 mm) with OCT and a 2D grid of images (1x1mm) with the confocal arm. This process is repeated automatically, until the entire sample is imaged. Raw data is then post-processed to re-stitch each individual acquisition and obtain a reconstructed volume of the imaged tissue. This design is being used to investigate correlations between white matter and microvasculature changes with aging and with increase in pulse pressure following transaortic constriction in mice. The dual imaging capability of the system allowed to reveal different contrast information: OCT imaging reveals changes in refractive indices giving contrast between white and grey matter in the mouse brain, while transcardial perfusion of FITC or pre-sacrifice injection of Evans Blue shows microsvasculature properties in the brain with confocal imaging.

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.

Serial or overlapping processing in multitasking as individual preference: Effects of stimulus preview on task switching and concurrent dual-task performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Reissland, Jessika; Manzey, Dietrich

2016-07-01

Understanding the mechanisms and performance consequences of multitasking has long been in focus of scientific interest, but has been investigated by three research lines more or less isolated from each other. Studies in the fields of the psychological refractory period, task switching, and interruptions have scored with a high experimental control, but usually do not give participants many degrees of freedom to self-organize the processing of two concurrent tasks. Individual strategies as well as their impact on efficiency have mainly been neglected. Self-organized multitasking has been investigated in the field of human factors, but primarily with respect to overall performance without detailed investigation of how the tasks are processed. The current work attempts to link aspects of these research lines. All of them, explicitly or implicitly, provide hints about an individually preferred type of task organization, either more cautious trying to work strictly serially on only one task at a time or more daring with a focus on task interleaving and, if possible, also partially overlapping (parallel) processing. In two experiments we investigated different strategies of task organization and their impact on efficiency using a new measure of overall multitasking efficiency. Experiment 1 was based on a classical task switching paradigm with two classification tasks, but provided one group of participants with a stimulus preview of the task to switch to next, enabling at least partial overlapping processing. Indeed, this preview led to a reduction of switch costs and to an increase of dual-task efficiency, but only for a subgroup of participants. They obviously exploited the possibility of overlapping processing, while the others worked mainly serially. While task-sequence was externally guided in the first experiment, Experiment 2 extended the approach by giving the participants full freedom of task organization in concurrent performance of the same tasks. Fine

The Associative Memory Serial Link Processor of the ALTAS Fast TracKer Processing System

CERN Document Server

Sotiropoulou, Calliope Louisa; The ATLAS collaboration

2017-01-01

The upgraded trigger system of the ATLAS experiment at LHC will improve the capability of the detectors to select the events with the greatest scientific potential. The FastTracker (FTK) is one of the ATLAS trigger upgrade that is presently under commissioning. FTK is a hardware system that feeds the High Level Trigger with charged particle tracks reconstructed from hits in silicon detectors at the rate of 105 events per second. Once a track candidate is found, the track reconstruction proceeds by matching low resolution hits to predefined patterns. Selected hits matching the predefined pattern are used in a second processing step for a more precise track fitting algorithm. The main processing element of FTK is the Associative Memory (AM) system that is used to perform pattern matching with high degree of parallelism. Its implementation is called the AM Board Serial Link Processor (AMBSLP) and it is a very efficient pattern matching machine that handles massively parallel data. The AMB SLP consists of two typ...

[Allocation of attentional resource and monitoring processes under rapid serial visual presentation].

Science.gov (United States)

Nishiura, K

1998-08-01

With the use of rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP), the present study investigated the cause of target intrusion errors and functioning of monitoring processes. Eighteen students participated in Experiment 1, and 24 in Experiment 2. In Experiment 1, different target intrusion errors were found depending on different kinds of letters --romaji, hiragana, and kanji. In Experiment 2, stimulus set size and context information were manipulated in an attempt to explore the cause of post-target intrusion errors. Results showed that as stimulus set size increased, the post-target intrusion errors also increased, but contextual information did not affect the errors. Results concerning mean report probability indicated that increased allocation of attentional resource to response-defining dimension was the cause of the errors. In addition, results concerning confidence rating showed that monitoring of temporal and contextual information was extremely accurate, but it was not so for stimulus information. These results suggest that attentional resource is different from monitoring resource.

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.

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.

Protein Turnover Measurements in Human Serum by Serial Immunoaffinity LC-MS/MS.

Science.gov (United States)

Farrokhi, Vahid; Chen, Xiaoying; Neubert, Hendrik

2018-02-01

The half-life of target proteins is frequently an important parameter in mechanistic pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) modeling of biotherapeutics. Clinical studies for accurate measurement of physiologically relevant protein turnover can reduce the uncertainty in PK/PD model-based predictions, for example, of the therapeutic dose and dosing regimen in first-in-human clinical trials. We used a targeted mass spectrometry work flow based on serial immunoaffinity enrichment ofmultiple human serum proteins from a [5,5,5- 2 H 3 ]-L-leucine tracer pulse-chase study in healthy volunteers. To confirm the reproducibility of turnover measurements from serial immunoaffinity enrichment, multiple aliquots from the same sample set were subjected to protein turnover analysis in varying order. Tracer incorporation was measured by multiple-reaction-monitoring mass spectrometry and target turnover was calculated using a four-compartment pharmacokinetic model. Five proteins of clinical or therapeutic relevance including soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily member 12A, tissue factor pathway inhibitor, soluble interleukin 1 receptor like 1, soluble mucosal addressin cell adhesion molecule 1, and muscle-specific creatine kinase were sequentially subjected to turnover analysis from the same human serum sample. Calculated half-lives ranged from 5-15 h; however, no tracer incorporation was observed for mucosal addressin cell adhesion molecule 1. The utility of clinical pulse-chase studies to investigate protein turnover can be extended by serial immunoaffinity enrichment of target proteins. Turnover analysis from serum and subsequently from remaining supernatants provided analytical sensitivity and reproducibility for multiple human target proteins in the same sample set, irrespective of the order of analysis. © 2017 American Association for Clinical Chemistry.

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...

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

High-Yield Purification, Preservation, and Serial Transplantation of Human Satellite Cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Steven M. Garcia

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Summary: Investigation of human muscle regeneration requires robust methods to purify and transplant muscle stem and progenitor cells that collectively constitute the human satellite cell (HuSC pool. Existing approaches have yet to make HuSCs widely accessible for researchers, and as a result human muscle stem cell research has advanced slowly. Here, we describe a robust and predictable HuSC purification process that is effective for each human skeletal muscle tested and the development of storage protocols and transplantation models in dystrophin-deficient and wild-type recipients. Enzymatic digestion, magnetic column depletion, and 6-marker flow-cytometric purification enable separation of 104 highly enriched HuSCs per gram of muscle. Cryostorage of HuSCs preserves viability, phenotype, and transplantation potential. Development of enhanced and species-specific transplantation protocols enabled serial HuSC xenotransplantation and recovery. These protocols and models provide an accessible system for basic and translational investigation and clinical development of HuSCs. : Garcia and colleagues report methods for efficient purification of satellite cells from human skeletal muscle. They use their approaches to demonstrate stem cell functions of endogenous satellite cells and to make human satellite cells accessible for sharing among researchers. Keywords: human satellite cell purification, serial transplantation, satellite cell cryopreservation

Comparative analysis of serial and parallel laser patterning of Ag nanowire thin films

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oh, Harim; Lee, Myeongkyu, E-mail: myeong@yonsei.ac.kr

2017-03-31

Highlights: • Serial and parallel laser patterning of Ag nanowire thin films is comparatively analyzed. • AgNW film can be directly patterned by a spatially-modulated pulsed Nd:YAG laser beam. • An area of 2.24 cm{sup 2} can be simultaneously patterned by a single pulse with energy of 350 mJ. - Abstract: Ag nanowire (AgNW) films solution-coated on a glass substrate were laser-patterned in two different ways. For the conventional serial process, a pulsed ultraviolet laser of 30 kHz repetition rate and ∼20 ns pulse width was employed as the laser source. For parallel patterning, the film was directly irradiated by a spatially-modulated Nd:YAG laser beam that has a low repetition rate of 10 kHz and a shorter pulse width of 5 ns. While multiple pulses with energy density ranging from 3 to 9 J/cm{sup 2} were required to pattern the film in the serial process, a single pulse with energy density of 0.16 J/cm{sup 2} completely removed AgNWs in the parallel patterning. This may be explained by the difference in patterning mechanism. In the parallel process using short pulses of 5 ns width, AgNWs can be removed in their solid state by the laser-induced thermo-elastic force, while they should be evaporated in the serial process utilizing a high-repetition rate laser. Important process parameters such as threshold energy density, speed, and available feature sizes are comparatively discussed for the two patterning.

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.

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.

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.  

“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...

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).

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.

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.

Fractional Flow Reserve Assessment of a Significant Coronary Stenosis Masked by a Downstream Serial Lesion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lawrence Yu-Min Liu

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Fractional flow reserve (FFR has been recognized as an effective tool to determine functional significance in intermediate coronary lesions and FFR-guided percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI improves clinical outcomes. However, hemodynamic interaction between serial stenoses within one coronary artery complicates the assessment of functional severity of each individual lesion. We present a case in which FFR measurement by intracoronary bolus injection of adenosine helps to make appropriate revascularization decision in serial stenoses when the procedures are performed systemically and properly.

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

Nutritional effects of the serial transverse enteroplasty procedure in experimental short bowel syndrome

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kaji, Tatsuru; Tanaka, Hiroaki; Wallace, Laurie E

2009-01-01

The serial transverse enteroplasty (STEP) procedure appears beneficial clinically, but the mechanism(s) underlying these effects remains unclear. The present study evaluated the nutritional, hormonal, and morphologic effects of the STEP procedure in a rodent model of short bowel syndrome....

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.

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephen Donovan

2017-12-01

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

Learning of serial digits leads to frontal activation in functional MR imaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Karakaş, Hakki Muammer; Karakaş, Sirel

2006-03-01

Clinical studies have shown that performance on the serial digit learning test (SDLT) is dependent upon the mesial temporal lobes, which are responsible for learning and its consolidation. However, an effective SDLT performance is also dependent upon sequencing, temporal ordering, and the utilization of mnemonic strategies. All of these processes are among the functions of the frontal lobes; in spite of this, the relationship between SDLT performance and the frontal lobes has not been demonstrated with previously used mapping techniques. The aim of this study was to investigate the areas of the brain that are activated by SDLT performance. Ten healthy, right handed volunteers (mean age, 20.1 years; SD: 3.3) who had 12 years of education were studied with a 1.0 T MR imaging scanner. BOLD (blood oxygen level dependent) contrast and a modified SDLT were used. Activated loci were automatically mapped using a proportional grid. In learning, the most consistent activation was observed in B-a-7 of the right (80%) and the left hemispheres (50%). In recall, the most consistent activation was observed in B-a-7 of the right hemisphere (60%). Activations were observed in 2.5+/-0.97 Talairach volumes in learning, whereas they encompassed 1.7+/-0.95 volumes in recall. The difference between both phases (learning and recall) regarding total activated volume was significant (p SDLT performance was not related to learning or to recall, but to a function that is common to both of these cognitive processes. A candidate for this common factor may be the executive functions, which also include serial position processing and temporal ordering.

Sequential processing deficits in schizophrenia: relationship to neuropsychology and genetics.

Science.gov (United States)

Hill, S Kristian; Bjorkquist, Olivia; Carrathers, Tarra; Roseberry, Jarett E; Hochberger, William C; Bishop, Jeffrey R

2013-12-01

Utilizing a combination of neuropsychological and cognitive neuroscience approaches may be essential for characterizing cognitive deficits in schizophrenia and eventually assessing cognitive outcomes. This study was designed to compare the stability of select exemplars for these approaches and their correlations in schizophrenia patients with stable treatment and clinical profiles. Reliability estimates for serial order processing were comparable to neuropsychological measures and indicate that experimental serial order processing measures may be less susceptible to practice effects than traditional neuropsychological measures. Correlations were moderate and consistent with a global cognitive factor. Exploratory analyses indicated a potentially critical role of the Met allele of the Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) Val158Met polymorphism in externally paced sequential recall. Experimental measures of serial order processing may reflect frontostriatal dysfunction and be a useful supplement to large neuropsychological batteries. © 2013.

Serial fetal abdominal circumference measurements in predicting normal birth weight in gestational diabetes mellitus.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Neff, Karl J

2013-06-24

To construct a clinical management matrix using serial fetal abdominal circumference measurements (ACMs) that will predict normal birth weight in pregnancies complicated by gestational diabetes (GDM) and reduce unnecessary ultrasound examination in women with GDM.

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.

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;…

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2015-01-01

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

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

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

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

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

2017-01-01

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

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ida Rochani Adi

2014-06-01

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

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.

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.

Freeform Optics: current challenges for future serial production

Science.gov (United States)

Schindler, C.; Köhler, T.; Roth, E.

2017-10-01

One of the major developments in optics industry recently is the commercial manufacturing of freeform surfaces for optical mid- and high performance systems. The loss of limitation on rotational symmetry enables completely new optical design solutions - but causes completely new challenges for the manufacturer too. Adapting the serial production from radial-symmetric to freeform optics cannot be done just by the extension of machine capabilities and software for every process step. New solutions for conventional optics productions or completely new process chains are necessary.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

Design and construction the identification of nitriding plasma process parameters using personal computer based on serial communication

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frida Iswinning Diah; Slamet Santosa

2012-01-01

Design and construction the identification of process parameters using personal computer based on serial communication PLC M-series has been done. The function of this device is to identify the process parameters of a system (plan), to which then be analyzed and conducted a follow-up given to the plan by the user. The main component of this device is the M-Series T100MD1616 PLC and personal computer (PC). In this device the data plan parameters obtained from the corresponding sensor outputs in the form of voltage or current. While the analog parameter data is adjusted to the ADC analog input of the PLC using a signal conditioning system. Then, as the parameter is processed by the PLC then sent to a PC via RS232 to be displayed in the form of graphs or tables and stored in the database. Software to program the database is created using Visual Basic Programming V-6. The device operation test is performed for the measurement of temperature parameter and vacuum level on the plasma nitriding machine. The results indicate that the device has functioning as an identification device parameters process of plasma nitriding machine. (author)

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.

Serial completely stirred tank reactors for improving biogas production and substance degradation during anaerobic digestion of corn stover.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, YuQian; Liu, ChunMei; Wachemo, Akiber Chufo; Yuan, HaiRong; Zou, DeXun; Liu, YanPing; Li, XiuJin

2017-07-01

Several completely stirred tank reactors (CSTR) connected in series for anaerobic digestion of corn stover were investigated in laboratory scale. Serial anaerobic digestion systems operated at a total HRT of 40days, and distribution of HRT are 10+30days (HRT10+30d), 20+20days (HRT20+20d), and 30+10days (HRT30+10d) were compared to a conventional one-step CSTR at the same HRT of 40d. The results showed that in HRT10+30d serial system, the process became very unstable at organic load of 50gTS·L -1 . The HRT20+20d and HRT30+10d serial systems improved methane production by 8.3-14.6% compared to the one-step system in all loads of 50, 70, 90gTS·L -1 . The conversion rates of total solid, cellulose, and hemicellulose were increased in serial anaerobic digestion systems compared to single system. The serial systems showed more stable process performance in high organic load. HRT30+10d system showed the best biogas production and conversions among all systems. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Serial auditory-evoked potentials in the diagnosis and monitoring of a child with Landau-Kleffner syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Plyler, Erin; Harkrider, Ashley W

2013-01-01

A boy, aged 2 1/2 yr, experienced sudden deterioration of speech and language abilities. He saw multiple medical professionals across 2 yr. By almost 5 yr, his vocabulary diminished from 50 words to 4, and he was referred to our speech and hearing center. The purpose of this study was to heighten awareness of Landau-Kleffner syndrome (LKS) and emphasize the importance of an objective test battery that includes serial auditory-evoked potentials (AEPs) to audiologists who often are on the front lines of diagnosis and treatment delivery when faced with a child experiencing unexplained loss of the use of speech and language. Clinical report. Interview revealed a family history of seizure disorder. Normal social behaviors were observed. Acoustic reflexes and otoacoustic emissions were consistent with normal peripheral auditory function. The child could not complete behavioral audiometric testing or auditory processing tests, so serial AEPs were used to examine central nervous system function. Normal auditory brainstem responses, a replicable Na and absent Pa of the middle latency responses, and abnormal slow cortical potentials suggested dysfunction of auditory processing at the cortical level. The child was referred to a neurologist, who confirmed LKS. At age 7 1/2 yr, after 2 1/2 yr of antiepileptic medications, electroencephalographic (EEG) and audiometric measures normalized. Presently, the child communicates manually with limited use of oral information. Audiologists often are one of the first professionals to assess children with loss of speech and language of unknown origin. Objective, noninvasive, serial AEPs are a simple and valuable addition to the central audiometric test battery when evaluating a child with speech and language regression. The inclusion of these tests will markedly increase the chance for early and accurate referral, diagnosis, and monitoring of a child with LKS which is imperative for a positive prognosis. American Academy of Audiology.

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.

The Associative Memory Serial Link Processor of the ALTAS Fast TracKer Processing System

CERN Document Server

Sotiropoulou, Calliope Louisa; The ATLAS collaboration

2017-01-01

The upgraded Trigger and Data Acquisition (TDAQ) system of the ATLAS experiment at the LHC will improve the capability of the detector to select the events with the greatest scientific potential. The Fast TracKer (FTK) is one of the ATLAS TDAQ upgrades that is presently under commissioning. FTK is a custom hardware system that feeds the High Level Trigger (HLT) with charged particle tracks reconstructed from hits in silicon detectors at the rate of 105 events per second. The main processing element of FTK is the Associative Memory (AM) system that is used to perform pattern matching with a high degree of parallelism. Its implementation is called the AM Board Serial Link Processor (AMBSLP) and it is a very efficient pattern matching machine that handles in parallel massive data samples. The AMBSLP consists of two types of boards: the Little Associative Memory Board (LAMB), a mezzanine where the AM chips are mounted, and the Associative Memory Board (AMB), a 9U VME motherboard that hosts four LAMB daughter-boar...

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 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

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…

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.

Clinical Process Intelligence

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vilstrup Pedersen, Klaus

2006-01-01

.e. local guidelines. From a knowledge management point of view, this externalization of generalized processes, gives the opportunity to learn from, evaluate and optimize the processes. "Clinical Process Intelligence" (CPI), will denote the goal of getting generalized insight into patient centered health...

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.

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2011-05-01

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

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.

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...

MO-C-17A-10: Comparison of Dose Deformable Accumulation by Using Parallel and Serial Approaches

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gao, Z; Li, M; Wong, J [Morristown Medical Center, Morristown, NJ (United States)

2014-06-15

Purpose: The uncertainty of dose accumulation over multiple CT datasets with deformable fusion may have significant impact on clinical decisions. In this study, we investigate the difference of two dose summation approaches involving deformable fusion. Methods: Five patients, four external beam and one brachytherapy(BT), were chosen for the study. The BT patient was treated with CT-based HDR. The CT image sets acquired in the imageguidance process (8-11 CTs/patient) were used to determine the dose delivered to the four external beam patients. (prostate, pelvis, lung and head and neck). For the HDR patient (cervix), five CT image sets and the corresponding BT plans were used. In total 44 CT datasets and RT dose/plans were imported into the image fusion software MiM (6.0.4) for analysis.For each of the five clinical cases, the dose from each fraction was accumulated into the primary CT dataset by using both Parallel and Serial approaches. The dose-volume histogram (DVH) for CTV and selected organs-at-risks (OAR) were generated. The D95(CTV), OAR(mean) and OAR(max) for the four external beam cases the D90(CTV), and the max dose to bladder and rectum for the BT case were compared. Results: For the four external beam patients, the difference in D95(CTV) were <1.2% PD between the parallel and the serial approaches. The differences of the OAR(mean) and the OAR(max ) range from 0 to 3.7% and <1% PD respectively. For the HDR patient, the dose difference for D90 is 11% PD while that of the max dose to bladder and rectum were 11.5% and 23.3% respectively. Conclusion: For external beam treatments, the parallel and serial approaches have <5% difference probably because tumor volume and OAR have less changes from fraction to fraction. For the brachytherapy case, >10% dose difference between the two approaches was observed as significant volume changes of tumor and OAR were observed among treatment fractions.

Serial position effects in patients with mild cognitive impairment and early and moderate Alzheimer's disease compared with healthy comparison subjects.

Science.gov (United States)

Moser, B; Deisenhammer, E A; Marksteiner, J; Papousek, I; Fink, A; Weiss, E M

2014-01-01

This study aimed to investigate whether the serial position effects in memory can differentiate patients with different subtypes of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) from healthy controls and patients with different stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The serial position effects was tested with the CERAD word list task in 184 persons (39 healthy control subjects, 15 amnestic MCI single domain subjects, 23 amnestic MCI multiple domain subjects, 31 nonamnestic MCI subjects, 45 early or mild AD patients, and 31 moderate AD patients). With progression of dementia, memory deficits increased and the impairment in the primacy effect during the learning trials advanced, whereas the recall of recent items was less impaired. The serial position profile of nonamnestic MCI patients resembled that of healthy control subjects, whereas amnestic MCI patients showed poorer performance in all 3 positions but no significant difference as a function of serial word position. Analyses of the serial position effect may be a useful complement to clinical neuropsychological measures for distinguishing amnestic MCI patients from normal aging and patients with different stages of dementia. © 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel.

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.

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.

Lexical Access in L2 Speech Production: a controlled serial search task

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gicele Vergine Vieira

2017-09-01

Full Text Available When it comes to lexical access in L2 speech production, working memory (WM seems to play a central role as for less automatized procedures require more WM capacity to be executed (Prebianca, 2007. With that in mind, this paper aims at claiming that bilingual lexical access qualifies as a controlled serial strategic search task susceptible to individual differences in WM capacity. Evidence in support of such claim is provided by the results of AUTHOR's (2010 study conducted so as to investigate the relationship between L2 lexical access, WMC and L2 proficiency. AUTHOR's (2010 findings indicate that bilingual lexical access entails underlying processes such as cue generation, set delimitation, serial search and monitoring, which to be carried out, require the allocation of attention. Attention is limited and, as a result, only higher spans were able to perform these underlying processes automatically.

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.

Is Serial Testing Required to Diagnose Imported Malaria in the Era of Rapid Diagnostic Tests?

Science.gov (United States)

Pasricha, Janet M.; Juneja, Surender; Manitta, Joseph; Whitehead, Susan; Maxwell, Ellen; Goh, Wai-Keong; Pasricha, Sant-Rayn; Eisen, Damon P.

2013-01-01

Exclusion of malaria traditionally requires three negative serial thick and thin blood films. However, many clinical laboratories now routinely perform rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) in addition to blood films when malaria is suspected. We sought to determine whether serial testing is necessary in this setting. We examined 388 cases of malaria diagnosed during 1999–2010 at three laboratories in Melbourne, Australia. For each case, we ascertained whether the diagnosis was made on initial or follow-up testing. Nine cases (3.5%) were diagnosed after a negative initial blood film and RDT: 7 Plasmodium vivax, 1 P. ovale, and 1 P. falciparum. Of four case-patients with P. vivax in which clinical data were available, all had recent exposure to antimalarial medication. Our data suggest that among patients who have not received recent anti-malarial therapy, and when RDTs are performed and blood films are prepared, most malaria diagnoses are made by using the first set of tests. PMID:23208885

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…

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

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.

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.

[Landmark-based automatic registration of serial cross-sectional images of Chinese digital human using Photoshop and Matlab software].

Science.gov (United States)

Su, Xiu-yun; Pei, Guo-xian; Yu, Bin; Hu, Yan-ling; Li, Jin; Huang, Qian; Li, Xu; Zhang, Yuan-zhi

2007-12-01

This paper describes automatic registration of the serial cross-sectional images of Chinese digital human by projective registration method based on the landmarks using the commercially available software Photoshop and Matlab. During cadaver embedment for acquisition of the Chinese digital human images, 4 rods were placed parallel to the vertical axis of the frozen cadaver to allow orientation. Projective distortion of the rod positions on the cross-sectional images was inevitable due to even slight changes of the relative position of the camera. The original cross-sectional images were first processed using Photoshop software firstly to obtain the images of the orientation rods, and the centroid coordinate of every rod image was acquired with Matlab software. With the average coordinate value of the rods as the fiducial point, two-dimensional projective transformation coefficient of each image was determined. Projective transformation was then carried out and projective distortion from each original serial image was eliminated. The rectified cross-sectional images were again processed using Photoshop to obtain the image of the first orientation rod, the coordinate value of first rod image was calculated using Matlab software, and the cross-sectional images were cut into images of the same size according to the first rod spatial coordinate, to achieve automatic registration of the serial cross-sectional images. sing Photoshop and Matlab softwares, projective transformation can accurately accomplish the image registration for the serial images with simpler calculation processes and easier computer processing.

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)

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.

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.

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)

Experiences with serial and parallel algorithms for channel routing using simulated annealing

Science.gov (United States)

Brouwer, Randall Jay

1988-01-01

Two algorithms for channel routing using simulated annealing are presented. Simulated annealing is an optimization methodology which allows the solution process to back up out of local minima that may be encountered by inappropriate selections. By properly controlling the annealing process, it is very likely that the optimal solution to an NP-complete problem such as channel routing may be found. The algorithm presented proposes very relaxed restrictions on the types of allowable transformations, including overlapping nets. By freeing that restriction and controlling overlap situations with an appropriate cost function, the algorithm becomes very flexible and can be applied to many extensions of channel routing. The selection of the transformation utilizes a number of heuristics, still retaining the pseudorandom nature of simulated annealing. The algorithm was implemented as a serial program for a workstation, and a parallel program designed for a hypercube computer. The details of the serial implementation are presented, including many of the heuristics used and some of the resulting solutions.

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

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

Rapid serial visual presentation design for cognition

CERN Document Server

Spence, Robert

2013-01-01

A powerful new image presentation technique has evolved over the last twenty years, and its value demonstrated through its support of many and varied common tasks. Conceptually, Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) is basically simple, exemplified in the physical world by the rapid riffling of the pages of a book in order to locate a known image. Advances in computation and graphics processing allow RSVP to be applied flexibly and effectively to a huge variety of common tasks such as window shopping, video fast-forward and rewind, TV channel selection and product browsing. At its heart is a

End-of-treatment and serial PET imaging in primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma following dose-adjusted-EPOCH-R: A paradigm shift in clinical decision making.

Science.gov (United States)

Melani, Christopher; Advani, Ranjana; Roschewski, Mark; Walters, Kelsey M; Chen, Clara C; Baratto, Lucia; Ahlman, Mark A; Miljkovic, Milos D; Steinberg, Seth M; Lam, Jessica; Shovlin, Margaret; Dunleavy, Kieron; Pittaluga, Stefania; Jaffe, Elaine S; Wilson, Wyndham H

2018-05-10

Dose-adjusted-EPOCH-R obviates the need for radiotherapy in most patients with primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma. End-of-treatment PET, however, does not accurately identify patients at risk of treatment failure, thereby confounding clinical decision making. To define the role of PET in primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma following dose-adjusted-EPOCH-R, we extended enrollment and follow-up on our published phase II trial and independent series. Ninety-three patients received dose-adjusted-EPOCH-R without radiotherapy. End-of-treatment PET was performed in 80 patients, of whom 57 received 144 serial scans. One nuclear medicine physician from each institution blindly reviewed all scans from their respective institution. End-of-treatment PET was negative (Deauville 1-3) in 55 (69%) patients with one treatment failure (8-year event-free and overall survival of 96.0% and 97.7%). Among 25 (31%) patients with a positive (Deauville 4-5) end-of-treatment PET, there were 5 (20%) treatment failures (8-year event-free and overall survival of 71.1% and 84.3%). Linear regression analysis of serial scans showed a significant decrease in SUVmax in positive end-of-treatment PET non-progressors compared to an increase in treatment failures. Among 6 treatment failures, the median end-of-treatment SUVmax was 15.4 (range, 1.9-21.3) and 4 achieved long-term remission with salvage therapy. Virtually all patients with a negative end-of-treatment PET following dose-adjusted-EPOCH-R achieved durable remissions and should not receive radiotherapy. Among patients with a positive end-of-treatment PET, only 5/25 (20%) had treatment-failure. Serial PET imaging distinguished end-of-treatment PET positive patients without treatment failure, thereby reducing unnecessary radiotherapy by 80%, and should be considered in all patients with an initial positive PET following dose-adjusted-EPOCH-R (NCT00001337). Copyright © 2018, Ferrata Storti Foundation.

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.

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

Serial gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging in patients with multiple sclerosis treated with mitoxantrone

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krapf, H.; Mauch, E.; Fetzer, U.; Laufen, H.; Kornhuber, H.H.

1995-01-01

Serial gadolinium (Gd)-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to monitor the effect of mitoxantrone in ten patients with rapidly deteriorating multiple sclerosis (MS). MRI was performed as a baseline and thereafter at 1, 3, 6, 9, 12 and 24 months. The total number of Gd-enhancing lesions diminished from 169 at baseline to 10 after 1 year and to 5 after 2 years. This reduction and the percentage of follow-up MRI studies showing no Gd enhancement were more pronounced than in other MRI studies of the natural course of MS. Measured with quantitative neurological scales, only one patient showed deterioration after 2 years; nevertheless, the changes in MRI were much more marked than those observed clinically. Serial Gd-MRI therefore, seems necessary for documenting efficacy in future therapeutic trails. (orig.)

Virulence-associated genome mutations of murine rotavirus identified by alternating serial passages in mice and cell cultures.

Science.gov (United States)

Tsugawa, Takeshi; Tatsumi, Masatoshi; Tsutsumi, Hiroyuki

2014-05-01

Although significant clinical efficacy and safety of rotavirus vaccines were recently revealed in many countries, the mechanism of their attenuation is not well understood. We passaged serially a cell culture-adapted murine rotavirus EB strain in mouse pups or in cell cultures alternately and repeatedly and fully sequenced all 11 genes of 21 virus samples passaged in mice or in cell cultures. Sequence analysis revealed that mouse-passaged viruses that regained virulence almost consistently acquired four kinds of amino acid (aa) substitutions in VP4 and substitution in aa 37 (Val to Ala) in NSP4. In addition, they gained and invariably conserved the 3' consensus sequence in NSP1. The molecular changes occurred along with the acquisition of virulence during passages in mice and then disappeared following passages in cell cultures. Intraperitoneal injection of recombinant NSP4 proteins confirmed the aa 37 site as important for its diarrheagenic activity in mice. These genome changes are likely to be correlated with rotavirus virulence. Serial passage of a virulent wild-type virus in vitro often results in loss of virulence of the virus in an original animal host, while serial passage of a cell culture-adapted avirulent virus in vivo often gains virulence in an animal host. Actually, live attenuated virus vaccines were originally produced by serial passage in cell cultures. Although clinical efficacy and safety of rotavirus vaccines were recently revealed, the mechanism of their attenuation is not well understood. We passaged serially a murine rotavirus by alternating switch of host (mice or cell cultures) repeatedly and sequenced the eleven genes of the passaged viruses to identify mutations associated with the emergence or disappearance of virulence. Sequence analysis revealed that changes in three genes (VP4, NSP1, and NSP4) were associated with virulence in mice. Intraperitoneal injection of recombinant NSP4 proteins confirmed its diarrheagenic activity in mice

Virulence-Associated Genome Mutations of Murine Rotavirus Identified by Alternating Serial Passages in Mice and Cell Cultures

Science.gov (United States)

Tatsumi, Masatoshi; Tsutsumi, Hiroyuki

2014-01-01

ABSTRACT Although significant clinical efficacy and safety of rotavirus vaccines were recently revealed in many countries, the mechanism of their attenuation is not well understood. We passaged serially a cell culture-adapted murine rotavirus EB strain in mouse pups or in cell cultures alternately and repeatedly and fully sequenced all 11 genes of 21 virus samples passaged in mice or in cell cultures. Sequence analysis revealed that mouse-passaged viruses that regained virulence almost consistently acquired four kinds of amino acid (aa) substitutions in VP4 and substitution in aa 37 (Val to Ala) in NSP4. In addition, they gained and invariably conserved the 3′ consensus sequence in NSP1. The molecular changes occurred along with the acquisition of virulence during passages in mice and then disappeared following passages in cell cultures. Intraperitoneal injection of recombinant NSP4 proteins confirmed the aa 37 site as important for its diarrheagenic activity in mice. These genome changes are likely to be correlated with rotavirus virulence. IMPORTANCE Serial passage of a virulent wild-type virus in vitro often results in loss of virulence of the virus in an original animal host, while serial passage of a cell culture-adapted avirulent virus in vivo often gains virulence in an animal host. Actually, live attenuated virus vaccines were originally produced by serial passage in cell cultures. Although clinical efficacy and safety of rotavirus vaccines were recently revealed, the mechanism of their attenuation is not well understood. We passaged serially a murine rotavirus by alternating switch of host (mice or cell cultures) repeatedly and sequenced the eleven genes of the passaged viruses to identify mutations associated with the emergence or disappearance of virulence. Sequence analysis revealed that changes in three genes (VP4, NSP1, and NSP4) were associated with virulence in mice. Intraperitoneal injection of recombinant NSP4 proteins confirmed its

Significant others, situations and infant feeding behaviour change processes: a serial qualitative interview study.

Science.gov (United States)

McInnes, Rhona J; Hoddinott, Pat; Britten, Jane; Darwent, Kirsty; Craig, Leone C A

2013-05-16

Exclusive breastfeeding until six months followed by the introduction of solids and continued breastfeeding is recommended by the World Health Organisation. The dominant approach to achieving this has been to educate and support women to start and continue breastfeeding rather than understanding behaviour change processes from a broader perspective. Serial qualitative interviews examined the influences of significant others on women's feeding behaviour. Thirty-six women and 37 nominated significant others participated in 220 interviews, conducted approximately four weekly from late pregnancy to six months after birth. Responses to summative structured questions at the end of each interview asking about significant influences on feeding decisions were compared and contrasted with formative semi-structured data within and between cases. Analysis focused on pivotal points where behaviour changed from exclusive breastfeeding to introducing formula, stopping breastfeeding or introducing solids. This enabled us to identify processes that decelerate or accelerate behaviour change and understand resolution processes afterwards. The dominant goal motivating behaviour change was family wellbeing, rather than exclusive breastfeeding. Rather than one type of significant other emerging as the key influence, there was a complex interplay between the self-baby dyad, significant others, situations and personal or vicarious feeding history. Following behaviour change women turned to those most likely to confirm or resolve their decisions and maintain their confidence as mothers. Applying ecological models of behaviour would enable health service organisation, practice, policy and research to focus on enhancing family efficacy and wellbeing, improving family-centred communication and increasing opportunities for health professionals to be a constructive influence around pivotal points when feeding behaviour changes. A paradigm shift is recommended away from the dominant approach of

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.

A Rational Analysis of the Effects of Memory Biases on Serial Reproduction

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Jing; Griffiths, Thomas L.

2010-01-01

Many human interactions involve pieces of information being passed from one person to another, raising the question of how this process of information transmission is affected by the cognitive capacities of the agents involved. Bartlett (1932) explored the influence of memory biases on the "serial reproduction" of information, in which one…

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 ...

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.

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2014-01-01

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

Clinical outcomes from an innovative protocol using serial ultrasound imaging and a single MR image to guide brachytherapy for locally advanced cervix cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

van Dyk, Sylvia; Narayan, Kailash; Bernshaw, David; Kondalsamy-Chennakesavan, Srinivas; Khaw, Pearly; Lin, Ming Yin; Schneider, Michal

The aim of this study was to report clinical outcomes in a series of patients who underwent serial ultrasound and a single MRI to plan and verify intracavitary brachytherapy. Data for patients who were referred for curative intent radiotherapy for International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) Stage 1-1V cervix cancer between January 2007 and March 2012 were analyzed. All patients received external beam radiotherapy with concurrent chemotherapy and sequential high-dose rate brachytherapy. Brachytherapy was planned and verified using serial ultrasound imaging and a single MRI. Data from 191 patients were available for analyses. The median (range) followup time was 5.08 (0.25-8.25) years. Five-year local control, failure-free survival, cancer-specific survival, and overall survival were 86%, 57.3%, 70% and 63%, respectively. Mean (standard deviation) combined external beam radiotherapy and brachytherapy target doses, equivalent to doses in 2 Gy fractions were 80.4 Gy10 (3.89), median (range) 80 (49-96) Gy10. Grade 3 or greater gastrointestinal, genitourinary, or vaginal late toxicity occurred in 3%, 1.6%, and 2% of patients, respectively. Survival, patterns of failure, and late complication rates were similar to published series of MRI/CT-based brachytherapy practices. This large study demonstrates that favorable treatment outcomes can be obtained using a pragmatic and innovative combination of ultrasound and MR imaging. Crown Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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.

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.

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).

Representation of Item Position in Immediate Serial Recall: Evidence from Intrusion Errors

Science.gov (United States)

Fischer-Baum, Simon; McCloskey, Michael

2015-01-01

In immediate serial recall, participants are asked to recall novel sequences of items in the correct order. Theories of the representations and processes required for this task differ in how order information is maintained; some have argued that order is represented through item-to-item associations, while others have argued that each item is…

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...

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…

New learning following reactivation in the human brain: targeting emotional memories through rapid serial visual presentation.

Science.gov (United States)

Wirkner, Janine; Löw, Andreas; Hamm, Alfons O; Weymar, Mathias

2015-03-01

Once reactivated, previously consolidated memories destabilize and have to be reconsolidated to persist, a process that might be altered non-invasively by interfering learning immediately after reactivation. Here, we investigated the influence of interference on brain correlates of reactivated episodic memories for emotional and neutral scenes using event-related potentials (ERPs). To selectively target emotional memories we applied a new reactivation method: rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP). RSVP leads to enhanced implicit processing (pop out) of the most salient memories making them vulnerable to disruption. In line, interference after reactivation of previously encoded pictures disrupted recollection particularly for emotional events. Furthermore, memory impairments were reflected in a reduced centro-parietal ERP old/new difference during retrieval of emotional pictures. These results provide neural evidence that emotional episodic memories in humans can be selectively altered through behavioral interference after reactivation, a finding with further clinical implications for the treatment of anxiety disorders. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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.

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

Clinical processes in behavioral couples therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Fischer, Daniel J; Fink, Brandi C

2014-03-01

Behavioral couples therapy is a broad term for couples therapies that use behavioral techniques based on principles of operant conditioning, such as reinforcement. Behavioral shaping and rehearsal and acceptance are clinical processes found across contemporary behavioral couples therapies. These clinical processes are useful for assessment and case formulation, as well as teaching couples new methods of conflict resolution. Although these clinical processes assist therapists in achieving efficient and effective therapeutic change with distressed couples by rapidly stemming couples' corrosive affective exchanges, they also address the thoughts, emotions, and issues of trust and intimacy that are important aspects of the human experience in the context of a couple. Vignettes are provided to illustrate the clinical processes described. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).

The essential guide to Serial ATA and SATA express

CERN Document Server

Deming, David A

2014-01-01

Used in laptop and desktop computers, low-end servers, and mobile devices, Serial ATA (Advance Technology Attachment), or SATA, is the pervasive disk storage technology in use today. SATA has also penetrated the enterprise computing environment by adding hardware components for fail-over, extending command processing capabilities, and increasing device performance and link speeds. If you work in a data center or manage your company's storage resources, you will likely encounter storage solutions that require SATA software or hardware.In this book, leading storage networking technologist David

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.

Potential value of serial cerebral SPECT scanning in the evaluation of psychiatric illness

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Notardonato, H.; Gonzalez-Avilez, A.; Van Heertum, R.L.; O'Connell, R.A.; Yudd, A.P.

1989-01-01

Cerebral SPECT imaging has the potential to make an important contribution to clinical psychiatry. Cerebral SPECT scanning, stimulated by the work with PET, is readily available and much less expensive than PET. This paper reports a case demonstrating the potential value of cerebral SPECT scanning with I-123 IMP, specifically in the serial evaluation of a schizophrenic patient with auditory hallucinations. The initial scan revealed focal areas of increased uptake in the caudate nuclei of the basal ganglia, and in the right temporal lobe. After pharmacological treatment with clinical improvement, the follow-up SPECT scan demonstrated significant improvement in the distribution of the radiopharmaceutical

The inpatient evaluation and treatment of a self-professed budding serial killer.

Science.gov (United States)

Reisner, Andrew D; McGee, Mark; Noffsinger, Stephen G

2003-02-01

The authors present the case of a man who was hospitalized after claiming that he was about to become a serial killer. The patient presented with extensive written homicidal fantasies and homicidal intentions without evidence of actual homicidal acts. In addition to routine assessments, hospital staff members used case conferences, psychological testing, outside forensic consultation, and a forensic review process to make decisions regarding diagnosis, treatment planning, and discharge. The patient was discharged after 8 months of inpatient treatment and was apparently free of homicidal impulses or symptoms of severe mental illness. A 2-year court commitment allowed for the enactment and potential enforcement of a discharge plan that was endorsed by the patient, the hospital, and community care providers. The authors review diagnostic and risk management issues. Comparisons with known features of typical serial killers are made.

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.

In vivo serial sampling of epididymal sperm in mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Del Val, Gonzalo Moreno; Robledano, Patricia Muñoz

2013-07-01

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

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.

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 CT scannings in herpes simplex encephalitis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fukushima, Masashi; Sawada, Tohru; Kuriyama, Yoshihiro; Kinugawa, Hidekazu; Yamaguchi, Takenori

1981-01-01

Two patients with serologically confirmed herpes simplex encephalitis were studied by serial CT scannings. Case 1, a 60-year-old woman, was admitted to National Cardiovascular Center because of headache, fever, and attacks of Jacksonian seizure. Case 2, a 54-year-old man, was admitted because of fever, consciousness disturbance and right hemipare sis. Pleocytosis (mainly lymphocytes) and elevation of protein content in cerebrospinal fluid were observed in both cases. Both patients presented ''das apallische Syndrom'' one month after admission. The diagnosis of herpes simplex encephalitis was confirmed by typical clinical courses and by greater than fourfold rises in serum antibody titer for herpes simplex virus as well as that in cerebrospinal fluid in case 1. Characteristic CT findings observed in these two cases were summarized as follows: Within a week after the onset, no obvious abnormalities could be detected on CT scans (Case 1). Two weeks after the onset, a large low-density area appeared in the left temporal lobe and in the contralateral insular cortex with midline shift toward the right side (Case 2). One month later, an ill-defined linear and ring-like high-density area (Case 1), or a well-defined high-density area (Case 2), that was enhanced after contrast administration, was observed in the large low-density area in the temporal lobe. These findings were considered as characteristic for hemorrhagic encephalitis. These high-density areas disappeared two months later, however, widespread and intensified low-density areas still remained. In both cases, the basal ganglia and thalamus were completely spared on CT scans. From these observations, it can be concluded that serial CT scannings are quite useful for diagnosis of herpes simplex encephalitis. (author)

Volume imaging NDE and serial sectioning of carbon fiber composites

Science.gov (United States)

Hakim, Issa; Schumacher, David; Sundar, Veeraraghavan; Donaldson, Steven; Creuz, Aline; Schneider, Rainer; Keller, Juergen; Browning, Charles; May, Daniel; Ras, Mohamad Abo; Meyendorf, Norbert

2018-04-01

A composite material is a combination of two or more materials with very different mechanical, thermal and electrical properties. The various forms of composite materials, due to their high material properties, are widely used as structural materials in the aviation, space, marine, automobile, and sports industries. However, some defects like voids, delamination, or inhomogeneous fiber distribution that form during the fabricating processes of composites can seriously affect the mechanical properties of the composite material. In this study, several imaging NDE techniques such as: thermography, high frequency eddy current, ultrasonic, x-ray radiography, x-ray laminography, and high resolution x-ray CT were conducted to characterize the microstructure of carbon fiber composites. Then, a 3D analysis was implemented by the destructive technique of serial sectioning for the same sample tested by the NDE methods. To better analyze the results of this work and extract a clear volume image for all features and defects contained in the composite material, an intensive comparison was conducted among hundreds of 3D-NDE and multi serial sections' scan images showing the microstructure variation.

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...

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

CERN Document Server

Hu, Xueye; The ATLAS collaboration

2014-01-01

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

Effects of language dominance on item and order memory in free recall, serial recall and order reconstruction.

Science.gov (United States)

Francis, Wendy S; Baca, Yuzeth

2014-01-01

Spanish-English bilinguals (N = 144) performed free recall, serial recall and order reconstruction tasks in both English and Spanish. Long-term memory for both item and order information was worse in the less fluent language (L2) than in the more fluent language (L1). Item scores exhibited a stronger disadvantage for the L2 in serial recall than in free recall. Relative order scores were lower in the L2 for all three tasks, but adjusted scores for free and serial recall were equivalent across languages. Performance of English-speaking monolinguals (N = 72) was comparable to bilingual performance in the L1, except that monolinguals had higher adjusted order scores in free recall. Bilingual performance patterns in the L2 were consistent with the established effects of concurrent task performance on these memory tests, suggesting that the cognitive resources required for processing words in the L2 encroach on resources needed to commit item and order information to memory. These findings are also consistent with a model in which item memory is connected to the language system, order information is processed by separate mechanisms and attention can be allocated differentially to these two systems.

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.

Dyslexic children show short-term memory deficits in phonological storage and serial rehearsal: an fMRI study.

Science.gov (United States)

Beneventi, Harald; Tønnessen, Finn Egil; Ersland, Lars

2009-01-01

Dyslexia is primarily associated with a phonological processing deficit. However, the clinical manifestation also includes a reduced verbal working memory (WM) span. It is unclear whether this WM impairment is caused by the phonological deficit or a distinct WM deficit. The main aim of this study was to investigate neuronal activation related to phonological storage and rehearsal of serial order in WM in a sample of 13-year-old dyslexic children compared with age-matched nondyslexic children. A sequential verbal WM task with two tasks was used. In the Letter Probe task, the probe consisted of a single letter and the judgment was for the presence or absence of that letter in the prior sequence of six letters. In the Sequence Probe (SP) task, the probe consisted of all six letters and the judgment was for a match of their serial order with the temporal order in the prior sequence. Group analyses as well as single-subject analysis were performed with the statistical parametric mapping software SPM2. In the Letter Probe task, the dyslexic readers showed reduced activation in the left precentral gyrus (BA6) compared to control group. In the Sequence Probe task, the dyslexic readers showed reduced activation in the prefrontal cortex and the superior parietal cortex (BA7) compared to the control subjects. Our findings suggest that a verbal WM impairment in dyslexia involves an extended neural network including the prefrontal cortex and the superior parietal cortex. Reduced activation in the left BA6 in both the Letter Probe and Sequence Probe tasks may be caused by a deficit in phonological processing. However, reduced bilateral activation in the BA7 in the Sequence Probe task only could indicate a distinct working memory deficit in dyslexia associated with temporal order processing.

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2003-01-01

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

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.

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

Science.gov (United States)

Nimmo, Lisa M; Lewandowsky, Stephan

2005-12-01

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

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.

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.

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."

Serial analysis of clinical and imaging indices reveals prolonged efficacy of TNF-α and IL-6 receptor targeted therapies in refractory Takayasu arteritis.

Science.gov (United States)

Youngstein, Taryn; Peters, James E; Hamdulay, Shahir S; Mewar, Devesh; Price-Forbes, Alec; Lloyd, Mark; Jeffery, Rachel; Kinderlerer, Anne R; Mason, Justin C

2014-01-01

We analysed a large cohort of patients with Takayasu arteritis, seeking robust clinical evidence for prolonged responses to tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 receptor (IL-6R) antagonists in severe refractory disease. Case notes from ninety-eight patients with Takayasu arteritis were retrospectively reviewed. Drug treatment, laboratory and serial non-invasive imaging data were analysed, and the Indian Takayasu arteritis activity (ITAS) and damage scores (TADs) calculated. Nine patients were treated with biologic therapies. All had previously received high dose prednisolone and ≥1 conventional immunosuppressant. Five patients had failed cyclophosphamide. The patients prescribed biologics had more extensive arterial injury than the remainder of the cohort and persistent active disease (ITAS range 2-9, CRP 12-206 mg/L, TADs 3--1). Eight patients were prescribed anti-TNF-α therapy, three IL-6R blockade. The mean duration of anti-TNF-α treatment was 42 months (maximum 8 years). One patient developed new arterial stenoses while receiving anti-TNF-α and subsequently achieved disease remission with tocilizumab. Two patients have now demonstrated sustained responses to IL-6R inhibition at 19 and 20 months. Following introduction of biologic therapy, serial non-invasive imaging has revealed no significant progression in arterial injury. A significant fall in CRP (p<0.01), prednisolone dose (p<0.01) and ITAS (p<0.01) was observed, with no increase in TADs. We report for the first time sustained responses to both anti-TNF-α and IL6R antagonists in refractory Takayasu arteritis. As 5/9 patients were cyclophosphamide non-responders, we propose that biologics should now be considered ahead of cyclophosphamide in these young patients.

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.

A random walk model for evaluating clinical trials involving serial observations.

Science.gov (United States)

Hopper, J L; Young, G P

1988-05-01

For clinical trials where the variable of interest is ordered and categorical (for example, disease severity, symptom scale), and where measurements are taken at intervals, it might be possible to achieve a greater discrimination between the efficacy of treatments by modelling each patient's progress as a stochastic process. The random walk is a simple, easily interpreted model that can be fitted by maximum likelihood using a maximization routine with inference based on standard likelihood theory. In general the model can allow for randomly censored data, incorporates measured prognostic factors, and inference is conditional on the (possibly non-random) allocation of patients. Tests of fit and of model assumptions are proposed, and application to two therapeutic trials of gastroenterological disorders are presented. The model gave measures of the rate of, and variability in, improvement for patients under different treatments. A small simulation study suggested that the model is more powerful than considering the difference between initial and final scores, even when applied to data generated by a mechanism other than the random walk model assumed in the analysis. It thus provides a useful additional statistical method for evaluating clinical trials.

Virtual reality paced serial assessment test for neuropsychological assessment of a military cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

Parsons, Thomas D; Courtney, Christopher; Rizzo, Albert A; Armstrong, Christina; Edwards, Joseph; Reger, Gregory

2012-01-01

The assessment and treatment of traumatic brain injury (TBI) has become a difficult challenge for the DoD medical health system. Clinical neuropsychologists are being asked to make statements regarding a soldier's functional skills, ability to return to active duty, and competence in tasks of community living. Given the increasing prevalence of blast injuries to the head, and the fact that many brain injuries may have no external marker of injury, there is need for researching innovative assessment methods in detecting blast-related brain injury. To address these issues, two virtual reality-based Paced Auditory/Visual Serial Addition Tests (PA/VSAT) were developed that involve the participant being immersed in a Virtual Middle Eastern City as serial addition stimuli are presented. This study is an initial validation of the VRPASAT and VRPVSAT as assessments of neurocognitive functioning. When compared to the paper-and-pencil version of the test, as well as the Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metrics, the VRPASAT and VRPVSAT appear to have enhanced capacity for providing an indication of a participant's performance while immersed in a military relevant simulation.

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.

Serial CT scannings in herpes simplex encephalitis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fukushima, M.; Sawada, T.; Kuriyama, Y.; Kinugawa, H.; Yamaguchi, T. (National Cardivascular Center, Osaka (Japan))

1981-10-01

Two patients with serologically confirmed herpes simplex encephalitis were studied by serial CT scannings. Case 1, a 60-year-old woman, was admitted to National Cardiovascular Center because of headache, fever, and attacks of Jacksonian seizure. Case 2, a 54-year-old man, was admitted because of fever, consciousness disturbance and right hemiparesis. Pleocytosis (mainly lymphocytes) and elevation of protein content in cerebrospinal fluid were observed in both cases. Both patients presented ''das apallische Syndrom'' one month after admission. The diagnosis of herpes simplex encephalitis was confirmed by typical clinical courses and by greater than fourfold rises in serum antibody titer for herpes simplex virus as well as that in cerebrospinal fluid in case 1. Characteristic CT findings observed in these two cases were summarized as follows: Within a week after the onset, no obvious abnormalities could be detected on CT scans (Case 1). Two weeks after the onset, a large low-density area appeared in the left temporal lobe and in the contralateral insular cortex with midline shift toward the right side (Case 2). One month later, an ill-defined linear and ring-like high-density area (Case 1), or a well-defined high-density area (Case 2), that was enhanced after contrast administration, was observed in the large low-density area in the temporal lobe. These findings were considered as characteristic for hemorrhagic encephalitis. These high-density areas disappeared two months later, however, widespread and intensified low-density areas still remained. In both cases, the basal ganglia and thalamus were completely spared on CT scans. From these observations, it can be concluded that serial CT scannings are quite useful for diagnosis of herpes simplex encephalitis.

Integer-valued trawl processes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Barndorff-Nielsen, Ole E.; Lunde, Asger; Shephard, Neil

2014-01-01

the probabilistic properties of such processes in detail and, in addition, study volatility modulation and multivariate extensions within the new modelling framework. Moreover, we describe how the parameters of a trawl process can be estimated and obtain promising estimation results in our simulation study. Finally......This paper introduces a new continuous-time framework for modelling serially correlated count and integer-valued data. The key component in our new model is the class of integer-valued trawl processes, which are serially correlated, stationary, infinitely divisible processes. We analyse...

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2011-03-01

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

[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...

A novel image toggle tool for comparison of serial mammograms: automatic density normalization and alignment-development of the tool and initial experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Honda, Satoshi; Tsunoda, Hiroko; Fukuda, Wataru; Saida, Yukihisa

2014-12-01

The purpose is to develop a new image toggle tool with automatic density normalization (ADN) and automatic alignment (AA) for comparing serial digital mammograms (DMGs). We developed an ADN and AA process to compare the images of serial DMGs. In image density normalization, a linear interpolation was applied by taking two points of high- and low-brightness areas. The alignment was calculated by determining the point of the greatest correlation while shifting the alignment between the current and prior images. These processes were performed on a PC with a 3.20-GHz Xeon processor and 8 GB of main memory. We selected 12 suspected breast cancer patients who had undergone screening DMGs in the past. Automatic processing was retrospectively performed on these images. Two radiologists subjectively evaluated them. The process of the developed algorithm took approximately 1 s per image. In our preliminary experience, two images could not be aligned approximately. When they were aligned, image toggling allowed detection of differences between examinations easily. We developed a new tool to facilitate comparative reading of DMGs on a mammography viewing system. Using this tool for toggling comparisons might improve the interpretation efficiency of serial DMGs.

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2009-10-01

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

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.

Serial sectioning methods for 3D investigations in materials science.

Science.gov (United States)

Zankel, Armin; Wagner, Julian; Poelt, Peter

2014-07-01

A variety of methods for the investigation and 3D representation of the inner structure of materials has been developed. In this paper, techniques based on slice and view using scanning microscopy for imaging are presented and compared. Three different methods of serial sectioning combined with either scanning electron or scanning ion microscopy or atomic force microscopy (AFM) were placed under scrutiny: serial block-face scanning electron microscopy, which facilitates an ultramicrotome built into the chamber of a variable pressure scanning electron microscope; three-dimensional (3D) AFM, which combines an (cryo-) ultramicrotome with an atomic force microscope, and 3D FIB, which delivers results by slicing with a focused ion beam. These three methods complement one another in many respects, e.g., in the type of materials that can be investigated, the resolution that can be obtained and the information that can be extracted from 3D reconstructions. A detailed review is given about preparation, the slice and view process itself, and the limitations of the methods and possible artifacts. Applications for each technique are also provided. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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).

77 FR 66920 - Registration of Claims to Copyright: Group Registration of Serial Issues Filed Electronically

Science.gov (United States)

2012-11-08

... registered on a single application and for a single fee. The group registration privilege is contingent upon... was limited to basic registrations, i.e., claims in single works, while the capacity to process online... of related serials. Revisions to the electronic registration system will upgrade the capacity of the...

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 recall of rhythms and verbal sequences: Impacts of concurrent tasks and irrelevant sound.

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Debbora; Gathercole, Susan E

2011-08-01

Rhythmic grouping enhances verbal serial recall, yet very little is known about memory for rhythmic patterns. The aim of this study was to compare the cognitive processes supporting memory for rhythmic and verbal sequences using a range of concurrent tasks and irrelevant sounds. In Experiment 1, both concurrent articulation and paced finger tapping during presentation and during a retention interval impaired rhythm recall, while letter recall was only impaired by concurrent articulation. In Experiments 2 and 3, irrelevant sound consisted of irrelevant speech or tones, changing-state or steady-state sound, and syncopated or paced sound during presentation and during a retention interval. Irrelevant speech was more damaging to rhythm and letter recall than was irrelevant tone sound, but there was no effect of changing state on rhythm recall, while letter recall accuracy was disrupted by changing-state sound. Pacing of sound did not consistently affect either rhythm or letter recall. There are similarities in the way speech and rhythms are processed that appear to extend beyond reliance on temporal coding mechanisms involved in serial-order recall.

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ly John

2012-04-01

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

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

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

2004-01-01

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

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.

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ling Zhang

2012-01-01

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

Serial computed tomography and its uses in the diagnosis of pathological changes in the liver, pancreas and kidneys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schmiedel, R.

1983-01-01

The investigations described were carried out in such a way as to fulfil the defined requirements of serial computed tomography like short periods of measurement, high scanning frequency and intravasal bolus injection of a contrast medium that would readily be excreted by the renal route. In this connection, the following questions were of particular interest: 1. Is computed serial tomography able to provide better clues to tissue identification and the distinction between normal and pathological structures in the liver, pancreas and kidneys? 2. Would it be possible to obtain information as to the degree of vascularisation in space-occupying pathological processes in the liver, pancreas and kidneys? 3. Is serial computed tomography a useful tool to diagnose specific pathological changes in the liver, pancreas and kidneys? 4. Would this investigation permit predictions to be made about the functional performance of the liver, pancreas and kidneys? (orig./MG) [de

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

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.

KANBAN allocation in a serial suply chain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guillermo Andrés Sánchez C.

2012-06-01

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

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.

Successfully Managed Acute Transverse Myelitis Related to Scrub Typhus and Serial Image Findings.

Science.gov (United States)

Yun, Jae Sung; Song, Ji Soo; Choi, Eun Jung; Hwang, Jeong-Hwan; Lee, Chang-Seop; Park, Eun Hae

2017-03-01

AbstractCentral nervous system involvement manifesting as meningitis or meningoencephalitis is a known complication of scrub typhus, but very few spinal cord lesions such as acute transverse myelitis (ATM) have been reported in association with this disease. Scrub typhus patients with a spinal lesion present with neurologic symptoms including dysuria, motor, and sensory weakness. Herein, we describe a rare case of ATM associated with scrub typhus. Clinical characteristics, cerebrospinal fluid cytology, Orientia tsutsugamushi serum antibody titer, and serial magnetic resonance imaging scans resulted in a diagnosis of ATM associated with scrub typhus.

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 ...

Serial correlation of quality control data--on the use of proper control charts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Winkel, P; Zhang, Nevin

2004-01-01

Biochemical quality control (QC) data have been reported to be autocorrelated. Serial correlation may increase the rate of false alarms if the traditional exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) control chart to monitoring the process mean is used. False alarms are the focus of this paper, w......, where an alarm is defined as the occurrence of a QC value outside the three standard deviation control limits....

Serial correlation of quality control data--on the use of proper control charts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Winkel, P; Zhang, Nevin

2004-01-01

Biochemical quality control (QC) data have been reported to be autocorrelated. Serial correlation may increase the rate of false alarms if the traditional exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) control chart to monitoring the process mean is used. False alarms are the focus of this paper......, where an alarm is defined as the occurrence of a QC value outside the three standard deviation control limits....

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…

Activating clinical trials: a process improvement approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Martinez, Diego A; Tsalatsanis, Athanasios; Yalcin, Ali; Zayas-Castro, José L; Djulbegovic, Benjamin

2016-02-24

The administrative process associated with clinical trial activation has been criticized as costly, complex, and time-consuming. Prior research has concentrated on identifying administrative barriers and proposing various solutions to reduce activation time, and consequently associated costs. Here, we expand on previous research by incorporating social network analysis and discrete-event simulation to support process improvement decision-making. We searched for all operational data associated with the administrative process of activating industry-sponsored clinical trials at the Office of Clinical Research of the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida. We limited the search to those trials initiated and activated between July 2011 and June 2012. We described the process using value stream mapping, studied the interactions of the various process participants using social network analysis, and modeled potential process modifications using discrete-event simulation. The administrative process comprised 5 sub-processes, 30 activities, 11 decision points, 5 loops, and 8 participants. The mean activation time was 76.6 days. Rate-limiting sub-processes were those of contract and budget development. Key participants during contract and budget development were the Office of Clinical Research, sponsors, and the principal investigator. Simulation results indicate that slight increments on the number of trials, arriving to the Office of Clinical Research, would increase activation time by 11 %. Also, incrementing the efficiency of contract and budget development would reduce the activation time by 28 %. Finally, better synchronization between contract and budget development would reduce time spent on batching documentation; however, no improvements would be attained in total activation time. The presented process improvement analytic framework not only identifies administrative barriers, but also helps to devise and evaluate potential improvement scenarios. The strength

The primacy model: a new model of immediate serial recall.

Science.gov (United States)

Page, M P; Norris, D

1998-10-01

A new model of immediate serial recall is presented: the primacy model. The primacy model stores order information by means of the assumption that the strength of activation of successive list items decreases across list position to form a primacy gradient. Ordered recall is supported by a repeated cycle of operations involving a noisy choice of the most active item followed by suppression of the chosen item. Word-length and list-length effects are attributed to a decay process that occurs both during input, when effective rehearsal is prevented, and during output. The phonological similarity effect is attributed to a second stage of processing at which phonological confusions occur. The primacy model produces accurate simulations of the effects of word length, list length, and phonological similarity.

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.

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.

Quality improvement tools and processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Lau, Catherine Y

2015-04-01

The Model for Improvement and the Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle is a popular quality improvement (QI) tool for health care providers to successfully lead QI projects and redesign care processes. This tool has several distinct components that must be addressed in sequence to organize and critically evaluate improvement activities. Unlike other health sciences clinical research, QI projects and research are based on dynamic hypotheses that develop into observable, serial tests of change with continuous collection and feedback of performance data to stakeholders. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Serial Changes of Tendon Histomorphology and Strain Elastography After Induced Achilles Tendinopathy in Rabbits: An In Vivo Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahn, Kyung-Sik; Lee, Nam Joon; Kang, Chang Ho; Lee, Young Hen; Jeon, Hae Jeong

2017-04-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate and compare the serial changes of morphology and strain in the early process of Achilles tendinopathy in a rabbit model. A total of 10 New Zealand white rabbits underwent ligation of one of their Achilles tendons to induce ischemic injury. Both inflamed and contralateral Achilles tendons were serially evaluated with 3 follow-ups: the first on days 3 to 5, the second on days 9 to 13, and the third and last follow-up on days 15 to 20 after surgery. During each examination, tendon thickness was measured and red, green, and blue pixel intensities of the elastogram were analyzed using color histogram analysis software. Differences between the inflamed and control group were compared. The mean thickness of the inflamed tendons increased during consecutive follow-ups and was significantly larger than that of control tendons (P tendons was also serially increased and was higher than that in the control tendons, indicating softening. However, the difference was significant only in the second and third follow-ups (P Tendon thickening and softening developed during the early process of Achilles tendinopathy in a rabbit model. Tendon softening may present later than thickening. © 2017 by the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine.

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.

FPGA Based Test Module for Error Bit Evaluation in Serial Links

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Kolouch

2006-04-01

Full Text Available A test module for serial links is described. In the link transmitter, one module generates pseudorandom pulse signal that is transmitted by the link. Second module located in the link receiver generates the same signal and compares it to the received signal. Errors caused by the signal transmission can be then detected and results sent to a master computer for further processing like statistical evaluation. The module can be used for long-term error monitoring without need for human operator presence.

Real-time monitoring of clinical processes using complex event processing and transition systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Meinecke, Sebastian

2014-01-01

Dependencies between tasks in clinical processes are often complex and error-prone. Our aim is to describe a new approach for the automatic derivation of clinical events identified via the behaviour of IT systems using Complex Event Processing. Furthermore we map these events on transition systems to monitor crucial clinical processes in real-time for preventing and detecting erroneous situations.

A novel technique of serial biopsy in mouse brain tumour models.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sasha Rogers

Full Text Available Biopsy is often used to investigate brain tumour-specific abnormalities so that treatments can be appropriately tailored. Dacomitinib (PF-00299804 is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI, which is predicted to only be effective in cancers where the targets of this drug (EGFR, ERBB2, ERBB4 are abnormally active. Here we describe a method by which serial biopsy can be used to validate response to dacomitinib treatment in vivo using a mouse glioblastoma model. In order to determine the feasibility of conducting serial brain biopsies in mouse models with minimal morbidity, and if successful, investigate whether this can facilitate evaluation of chemotherapeutic response, an orthotopic model of glioblastoma was used. Immunodeficient mice received cortical implants of the human glioblastoma cell line, U87MG, modified to express the constitutively-active EGFR mutant, EGFRvIII, GFP and luciferase. Tumour growth was monitored using bioluminescence imaging. Upon attainment of a moderate tumour size, free-hand biopsy was performed on a subgroup of animals. Animal monitoring using a neurological severity score (NSS showed that all mice survived the procedure with minimal perioperative morbidity and recovered to similar levels as controls over a period of five days. The technique was used to evaluate dacomitinib-mediated inhibition of EGFRvIII two hours after drug administration. We show that serial tissue samples can be obtained, that the samples retain histological features of the tumour, and are of sufficient quality to determine response to treatment. This approach represents a significant advance in murine brain surgery that may be applicable to other brain tumour models. Importantly, the methodology has the potential to accelerate the preclinical in vivo drug screening process.

Automated detection of multiple sclerosis lesions in serial brain MRI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

2012-01-01

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

Automated detection of multiple sclerosis lesions in serial brain MRI

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

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

2012-08-15

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, J.; Kim, K.

1991-01-01

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, J.; Kim, K.

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

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

Continuous Heterogeneous Photocatalysis in Serial Micro-Batch Reactors.

Science.gov (United States)

Pieber, Bartholomäus; Shalom, Menny; Antonietti, Markus; Seeberger, Peter H; Gilmore, Kerry

2018-01-29

Solid reagents, leaching catalysts, and heterogeneous photocatalysts are commonly employed in batch processes but are ill-suited for continuous-flow chemistry. Heterogeneous catalysts for thermal reactions are typically used in packed-bed reactors, which cannot be penetrated by light and thus are not suitable for photocatalytic reactions involving solids. We demonstrate that serial micro-batch reactors (SMBRs) allow for the continuous utilization of solid materials together with liquids and gases in flow. This technology was utilized to develop selective and efficient fluorination reactions using a modified graphitic carbon nitride heterogeneous catalyst instead of costly homogeneous metal polypyridyl complexes. The merger of this inexpensive, recyclable catalyst and the SMBR approach enables sustainable and scalable photocatalysis. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

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 album validation for promotion of infant body weight control

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nathalia Costa Gonzaga Saraiva

2018-05-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Objective: to validate the content and appearance of a serial album for children aged from 7 to 10 years addressing the topic of prevention and control of body weight. Method: methodological study with descriptive nature. The validation process was attended by 33 specialists in educational technologies and/or in excess of infantile weight. The agreement index of 80% was the minimum considered to guarantee the validation of the material. Results: most of the specialists had a doctoral degree and a graduate degree in nursing. Regarding content, illustrations, layout and relevance, all items were validated and 69.7% of the experts considered the album as great. The overall agreement validation index for the educational technology was 0.88. Only the script-sheet 3 did not reach the cutoff point of the content validation index. Changes were made to the material, such as title change, inclusion of the school context and insertion of nutritionist and physical educator in the story narrated in the album. Conclusion: the proposed serial album was considered valid by experts regarding content and appearance, suggesting that this technology has the potential to contribute in health education by promoting healthy weight in the age group of 7 to 10 years.

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.

Perceptual-gestural (mis)mapping in serial short-term memory: the impact of talker variability.

Science.gov (United States)

Hughes, Robert W; Marsh, John E; Jones, Dylan M

2009-11-01

The mechanisms underlying the poorer serial recall of talker-variable lists (e.g., alternating female-male voices) as compared with single-voice lists were examined. We tested the novel hypothesis that this talker variability effect arises from the tendency for perceptual organization to partition the list into streams based on voice such that the representation of order maps poorly onto the formation of a gestural sequence-output plan assembled in support of the reproduction of the true temporal order of the items. In line with the hypothesis, (a) the presence of a spoken lead-in designed to further promote by-voice perceptual partitioning accentuates the effect (Experiments 1 and 2); (b) the impairment is larger the greater the acoustic coherence is between nonadjacent items: Alternating-voice lists are more poorly recalled than four-voice lists (Experiment 3); and (c) talker variability combines nonadditively with phonological similarity, consistent with the view that both variables disrupt sequence output planning (Experiment 4). The results support the view that serial short-term memory performance reflects the action of sequencing processes embodied within general-purpose perceptual input-processing and gestural output-planning systems.

Depression and pain: testing of serial multiple mediators.

Science.gov (United States)

Wongpakaran, Tinakon; Wongpakaran, Nahathai; Tanchakvaranont, Sitthinant; Bookkamana, Putipong; Pinyopornpanish, Manee; Wannarit, Kamonporn; Satthapisit, Sirina; Nakawiro, Daochompu; Hiranyatheb, Thanita; Thongpibul, Kulvadee

2016-01-01

Despite the fact that pain is related to depression, few studies have been conducted to investigate the variables that mediate between the two conditions. In this study, the authors explored the following mediators: cognitive function, self-sacrificing interpersonal problems, and perception of stress, and the effects they had on pain symptoms among patients with depressive disorders. An analysis was performed on the data of 346 participants with unipolar depressive disorders. The 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, Mini-Mental State Examination, the pain subscale of the health-related quality of life (SF-36), the self-sacrificing subscale of the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems, and the Perceived Stress Scale were used. Parallel multiple mediator and serial multiple mediator models were used. An alternative model regarding the effect of self-sacrificing on pain was also proposed. Perceived stress, self-sacrificing interpersonal style, and cognitive function were found to significantly mediate the relationship between depression and pain, while controlling for demographic variables. The total effect of depression on pain was significant. This model, with an additional three mediators, accounted for 15% of the explained variance in pain compared to 9% without mediators. For the alternative model, after controlling for the mediators, a nonsignificant total direct effect level of self-sacrificing was found, suggesting that the effect of self-sacrificing on pain was based only on an indirect effect and that perceived stress was found to be the strongest mediator. Serial mediation may help us to see how depression and pain are linked and what the fundamental mediators are in the chain. No significant, indirect effect of self-sacrificing on pain was observed, if perceived stress was not part of the depression and/or cognitive function mediational chain. The results shown here have implications for future research, both in terms of testing the model and in

Jumps in binomial AR(1) processes

OpenAIRE

Weiß , Christian H.

2009-01-01

Abstract We consider the binomial AR(1) model for serially dependent processes of binomial counts. After a review of its definition and known properties, we investigate marginal and serial properties of jumps in such processes. Based on these results, we propose the jumps control chart for monitoring a binomial AR(1) process. We show how to evaluate the performance of this control chart and give design recommendations. correspondance: Tel.: +49 931 31 84968; ...

Statistical process control for serially correlated data

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wieringa, Jakob Edo

1999-01-01

Statistical Process Control (SPC) aims at quality improvement through reduction of variation. The best known tool of SPC is the control chart. Over the years, the control chart has proved to be a successful practical technique for monitoring process measurements. However, its usefulness in practice

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…

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…

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.

Animated-simulation modeling facilitates clinical-process costing.

Science.gov (United States)

Zelman, W N; Glick, N D; Blackmore, C C

2001-09-01

Traditionally, the finance department has assumed responsibility for assessing process costs in healthcare organizations. To enhance process-improvement efforts, however, many healthcare providers need to include clinical staff in process cost analysis. Although clinical staff often use electronic spreadsheets to model the cost of specific processes, PC-based animated-simulation tools offer two major advantages over spreadsheets: they allow clinicians to interact more easily with the costing model so that it more closely represents the process being modeled, and they represent cost output as a cost range rather than as a single cost estimate, thereby providing more useful information for decision making.

Clinical report writing: Process and perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Ewald, H. R.

1981-01-01

Clinical report writing in psychology and psychiatry is addressed. Audience/use analysis and the basic procedures of information gathering, diagnosis, and prognosis are described. Two interlinking processes are involved: the process of creation and the process of communication. Techniques for good report writing are presented.

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...

Communication and interoperability for serial comparison in continuous health care--the new challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

Zywietz, Christoph

2004-01-01

The evolution of information technology and of telematics and increasing efforts to establish an electronic health record stimulate the development and introduction of new concepts in health care. However, compared to other application areas, e.g., tourism, banking, commerce etc. the use of information technology in health care is still of limited success. In hospitals as well in ambulatory medicine (General Practitioner systems) computers are often only used for administrative purposes. Fully operational Hospital Information Systems (HIS) are rare and often island solutions. The situation is somewhat better for department systems (DIS), e.g., where image analysis, processing of biochemical data or of biosignals is in the clinical focus. Even before we have solved the various problems in health care data processing and management within the "conventional" care institutions new challenges are coming up with concepts of telemedicine for assisted and non-assisted home care for patients with chronic diseases or people at high risk. The major challenges for provision of tele-monitoring and alarming services are improvement of communication and interoperability of devices and care providers. A major obstacle in achieving such goals are lack of standards for devices as well for procedures and a lack of databases with information on "normal" variability of many medical parameters to be monitored by serial comparison in continuous medical care. Some of these aspects will be discussed in more detail.

Pragmatic trial of a multidisciplinary lung cancer care model in a community healthcare setting: study design, implementation evaluation, and baseline clinical results

Science.gov (United States)

Smeltzer, Matthew P.; Rugless, Fedoria E.; Jackson, Bianca M.; Berryman, Courtney L.; Faris, Nicholas R.; Ray, Meredith A.; Meadows, Meghan; Patel, Anita A.; Roark, Kristina S.; Kedia, Satish K.; DeBon, Margaret M.; Crossley, Fayre J.; Oliver, Georgia; McHugh, Laura M.; Hastings, Willeen; Osborne, Orion; Osborne, Jackie; Ill, Toni; Ill, Mark; Jones, Wynett; Lee, Hyo K.; Signore, Raymond S.; Fox, Roy C.; Li, Jingshan; Robbins, Edward T.; Ward, Kenneth D.; Klesges, Lisa M.

2018-01-01

Background Responsible for 25% of all US cancer deaths, lung cancer presents complex care-delivery challenges. Adoption of the highly recommended multidisciplinary care model suffers from a dearth of good quality evidence. Leading up to a prospective comparative-effectiveness study of multidisciplinary vs. serial care, we studied the implementation of a rigorously benchmarked multidisciplinary lung cancer clinic. Methods We used a mixed-methods approach to conduct a patient-centered, combined implementation and effectiveness study of a multidisciplinary model of lung cancer care. We established a co-located multidisciplinary clinic to study the implementation of this care-delivery model. We identified and engaged key stakeholders from the onset, used their input to develop the program structure, processes, performance benchmarks, and study endpoints (outcome-related process measures, patient- and caregiver-reported outcomes, survival). In this report, we describe the study design, process of implementation, comparative populations, and how they contrast with patients within the local and regional healthcare system. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02123797. Results Implementation: the multidisciplinary clinic obtained an overall treatment concordance rate of 90% (target >85%). Satisfaction scores were high, with >95% of patients and caregivers rating themselves as being “very satisfied” with all aspects of care from the multidisciplinary team (patient/caregiver response rate >90%). The Reach of the multidisciplinary clinic included a higher proportion of minority patients, more women, and younger patients than the regional population. Comparative effectiveness: The comparative effectiveness trial conducted in the last phase of the study met the planned enrollment per statistical design, with 178 patients in the multidisciplinary arm and 348 in the serial care arm. The multidisciplinary cohort had older age and a higher percentage of racial

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.

Serial superficial digital flexor tendon biopsies for diagnosing and monitoring collagenase-induced tendonitis in horses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José C. de Lacerda Neto

2013-06-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this investigation was to demonstrate the feasibility of a biopsy technique by performing serial evaluations of tissue samples of the forelimb superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT in healthy horses and in horses subjected to superficial digital flexor tendonitis induction. Eight adult horses were evaluated in two different phases (P, control (P1 and tendonitis-induced (P2. At P1, the horses were subjected to five SDFT biopsies of the left forelimb, with 24 hours (h of interval. Clinical and ultrasonographic (US examinations were performed immediately before the tendonitis induction, 24 and 48 h after the procedure. The biopsied tendon tissues were analyzed through histology. P2 evaluations were carried out three months later, when the same horses were subjected to tendonitis induction by injection of bacterial collagenase into the right forelimb SDFT. P2 clinical and US evaluations, and SDFT biopsies were performed before, and after injury induction at the following time intervals: after 24, 48, 72 and 96 h, and after 15, 30, 60, 90, 120 and 150 days. The biopsy technique has proven to be easy and quick to perform and yielded good tendon samples for histological evaluation. At P1 the horses did not show signs of localised inflammation, pain or lameness, neither SDFT US alterations after biopsies, showing that the biopsy procedure per se did not risk tendon integrity. Therefore, this procedure is feasible for routine tendon histological evaluations. The P2 findings demonstrate a relation between the US and histology evaluations concerning induced tendonitis evolution. However, the clinical signs of tendonitis poorly reflected the microscopic tissue condition, indicating that clinical presentation is not a reliable parameter for monitoring injury development. The presented method of biopsying SDFT tissue in horses enables the serial collection of material for histological analysis causing no clinical signs and tendon damage seen

Serial Holter ST-segment monitoring after first acute myocardial infarction. Prevalence, variability, and long-term prognostic importance of transient myocardial ischemia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mickley, H; Nielsen, J R; Berning, J

1998-01-01

Based on serial Holter monitoring performed 7 times within 3 years after a first acute myocardial infarction, we assessed the prevalence, variability and long-term clinical importance of transient myocardial ischemia (TMI) defined as episodes of ambulatory ST-segment depression. In all, 121...... consecutive male patients variability was found within and between patients...

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...

An appreciation of Bruce and Young's (1986) serial stage model of face naming after 25 years.

Science.gov (United States)

Hanley, J Richard

2011-11-01

The current status of Bruce and Young's (1986) serial model of face naming is discussed 25 years after its original publication. In the first part of the paper, evidence for and against the serial model is reviewed. It is argued that there is no compelling reason why we should abandon Bruce and Young's claim that recall of a name is contingent upon prior retrieval of semantic information about the person. The current status of the claim that people's names are more difficult to recall than the names of objects is then evaluated. Finally, an account of the anatomical location in the brain of Bruce and Young's three processing stages (face familiarity, retrieval of semantic information, retrieval of names) is suggested. In particular, there is evidence that biographical knowledge about familiar people is stored in the right anterior temporal lobes (ATL) and that the left temporal pole (TP) is heavily involved in retrieval of the names of familiar people. The issue of whether these brain areas play a similar role in object processing is also discussed. ©2011 The British Psychological Society.

Automation of 3D reconstruction of neural tissue from large volume of conventional serial section transmission electron micrographs.

Science.gov (United States)

Mishchenko, Yuriy

2009-01-30

We describe an approach for automation of the process of reconstruction of neural tissue from serial section transmission electron micrographs. Such reconstructions require 3D segmentation of individual neuronal processes (axons and dendrites) performed in densely packed neuropil. We first detect neuronal cell profiles in each image in a stack of serial micrographs with multi-scale ridge detector. Short breaks in detected boundaries are interpolated using anisotropic contour completion formulated in fuzzy-logic framework. Detected profiles from adjacent sections are linked together based on cues such as shape similarity and image texture. Thus obtained 3D segmentation is validated by human operators in computer-guided proofreading process. Our approach makes possible reconstructions of neural tissue at final rate of about 5 microm3/manh, as determined primarily by the speed of proofreading. To date we have applied this approach to reconstruct few blocks of neural tissue from different regions of rat brain totaling over 1000microm3, and used these to evaluate reconstruction speed, quality, error rates, and presence of ambiguous locations in neuropil ssTEM imaging data.

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.

[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.

A case of multiple intracranial tuberculoma followed by serial computerized tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kummer, R. von; Storch, B.; Krause, K.H.; Rauch, H.

1981-01-01

This is the case report of an Indian living in Europe who suffered from multiple cerebral tuberculomes in connexion with extrapulmonal tuberculosis. The retrogression of the inflammatory granulomes and the surrounding cerebral edema by treatment with tuberculostatics and Dexamethasone was observed by means of computerized tomography (CT) over a period of 8 months. The value of CT in the diagnosis and treatment of cerebral tuberculomes is discussed. The diagnosis of cerebral tuberculomes is difficult as neither the clinical picture nor additional neuroradiological tests ensure safe delimitation against other intracranial growths. In how far this situation has changed by the introduction of CT into diagnostics is discussed by the example of serial computerized tomography on a patient with multiple cerebral tuberculomes. (orig.) [de

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...

Automated radiochemical processing for clinical PET

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Padgett, H.C.; Schmidt, D.G.; Bida, G.T.; Wieland, B.W.; Pekrul, E.; Kingsbury, W.G.

1991-01-01

With the recent emergence of positron emission tomography (PET) as a viable clinical tool, there is a need for a convenient, cost-effective source of the positron emitter-labeled radiotracers labeled with carbon-11, nitrogen-13, oxygen-15, and fluorine-18. These short-lived radioisotopes are accelerator produced and thus, require a cyclotron and radiochemistry processing instrumentation that can be operated 3 in a clinical environment by competant technicians. The basic goal is to ensure safety and reliability while setting new standards for economy and ease of operation. The Siemens Radioisotope Delivery System (RDS 112) is a fully automated system dedicated to the production and delivery of positron-emitter labeled precursors and radiochemicals required to support a clinical PET imaging program. Thus, the entire RDS can be thought of as an automated radiochemical processing apparatus

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…

[Serial clinical examinations as the main approach to dental caries prevention in children].

Science.gov (United States)

Skripkina, G I; Garifullina, A Zh

2015-01-01

Leading scientific and organizational prerequisites for the feasibility of clinical examination of the entire child population of the Russian Federation to the dentist is, above all, the high prevalence and intensity of dental diseases in children of all ages. As a result of many years of research and follow-up of children of preschool and school age we have proved the need to distinguish a group of children with zero activity of dental caries. The referring criteria are determined according to the results of comprehensive clinical and laboratory examination in order to determine the degree of risk of dental caries and individual caries resistance. The age-specific risk group is settled by "Stop caries" software. In order to optimize the preventive activities children are divided in 5 groups for routine preventive dental care. Unfortunately the efforts of modern dental services aimed at eliminating the consequences of caries process by filling cavities. Individualized preventive approach will increase the effectiveness of preventive measures and save public funds allocated in the amount of compulsory health insurance for pediatric dentistry.

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.

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...

Long-term effects of serial anodal tDCS on motion perception in subjects with occipital stroke measured in the unaffected visual hemifield

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manuel C Olma

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS is a novel neuromodulatory tool that has seen early transition to clinical trials, although the high variability of these findings necessitates further studies in clincally-relevant populations. The majority of evidence into effects of repeated tDCS is based on research in the human motor system, but it is unclear whether the long-term effects of serial tDCS are motor-specific or transferable to other brain areas. This study aimed to examine whether serial anodal tDCS over the visual cortex can exogenously induce long-term neuroplastic changes in the visual cortex. However, when the visual cortex is affected by a cortical lesion, up-regulated endogenous neuroplastic adaptation processes may alter the susceptibility to tDCS. To this end, motion perception was investigated in the unaffected hemifield of subjects with unilateral visual cortex lesions. Twelve subjects with occipital ischaemic lesions participated in a within-subject, sham-controlled, double-blind study. MRI-registered sham or anodal tDCS (1.5 mA, 20 minutes was applied on five consecutive days over the visual cortex. Motion perception was tested before and after stimulation sessions and at 14- and 28-day follow-up. After a 16-day interval an identical study block with the other stimulation condition (anodal or sham tDCS followed. Serial anodal tDCS over the visual cortex resulted in an improvement in motion perception, a function attributed to MT/V5. This effect was still measurable at 14- and 28-day follow-up measurements. Thus, this may represent evidence for long-term tDCS-induced plasticity and has implications for the design of studies examining the time course of tDCS effects in both the visual and motor systems.

Application of statistical methods to the quality assurance process in the serial production of containers of type lead Cpb-M and Cpb-G

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zuniga Santana, J.F.; Fernadez Rondon, M.; Viant Garrido, E.; Torres Berdeguez, M.B.; Fernadez, A.

1998-01-01

Nowadays the statistic has an action change and its applications have to do with all the branches of the scientific knowledge. Constantly new applications arise for the statistic, one of those is in the insurance of the quality of productive processes. The process of serial production of the devices of shielding gamma type CPb-m and CPb-g are carried out in correspondence with the designed methodology and validated in the Department of Technologic Design of the Center of Nuclear Technology (CTN). With view to execute the normative ones national and international for this packing type were designed a System of Insurance of the Quality (SAC) based on the normative ISO composed by a manual of quality and a manual of procedures where is described of detailed way each one of the stages. Presently work different statistical methods are analyzed with the objective of selecting the good one to determine the factors that have bigger influence in to the quality of production of the devices of shielding gamma used by the CENTIS for the packing and transportation of the radioactive preparations

Monitoring of benzene-induced hematotoxicity in mice by serial leukocyte counting using a microcavity array.

Science.gov (United States)

Hosokawa, Masahito; Asami, Marie; Yoshino, Tomoko; Tsujimura, Noriyuki; Takahashi, Masayuki; Nakasono, Satoshi; Tanaka, Tsuyoshi; Matsunaga, Tadashi

2013-02-15

Monitoring of hematotoxicity, which requires serial blood collection, is difficult to carry out in small animals due to a lack of non-invasive, individual animal-appropriate techniques that enable enumeration of leukocyte subsets from limited amounts of whole blood. In this study, a microfluidic device equipped with a microcavity array that enables highly efficient separation of leukocytes from submicroliters of whole blood was applied for hematotoxicity monitoring in mice. The microcavity array can specifically separate leukocytes from whole blood based on differences in the size and deformability between leukocytes and other blood cells. Mouse leukocytes recovered on aligned microcavities were continuously processed for image-based immunophenotypic analysis. Our device successfully recovered almost 100% of mouse leukocytes in 0.1 μL of whole blood without the effect of serial blood collection such as changes in body weight and total leukocyte count. We assessed benzene-associated hematotoxicity in mice using this system. Mice were administered with benzene once daily and the depression of leukocyte numbers induced in individual mice was successfully monitored from tail vein blood collected every other day for 2 weeks. Serial monitoring of the leukocyte number in individual mice will contribute to the understanding of hematotoxicity and reduction of the number of animal experiment trials. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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)

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2016-05-01

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

Development of technical information processing system(VI)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Jee Hoh; Kim, Tae Hwan; Choi, Kwang; Chung, Hyun Sook; Keum, Jong Yong [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

1994-12-01

This project is to establish high-quality information circulation system by developing serials-control system to improve serials management from ordering to distributing and availability on R and D and to advance in quality of information service needed in R and D by fast retrieval and providing of research information with CD-Net. The results of the project are as follows. 1. Serials management process which covers from ordering to distributing have higher efficiency by development of subscription information system. 2. Systematic control on each issue of serials is achieved by development of serials checking system. 3. It is possible to provide vol. and no. information of issue received currently to researchers promptly by improvement of serials holding information system. 4. Retrieval of research information contained in various CD-ROM DB throughout KAERI-NET is possible by research on construction methods of CD-Net. 2 figs, 25 refs. (Author).

Development of technical information processing system(VI)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Jee Hoh; Kim, Tae Hwan; Choi, Kwang; Chung, Hyun Sook; Keum, Jong Yong

1994-12-01

This project is to establish high-quality information circulation system by developing serials-control system to improve serials management from ordering to distributing and availability on R and D and to advance in quality of information service needed in R and D by fast retrieval and providing of research information with CD-Net. The results of the project are as follows. 1. Serials management process which covers from ordering to distributing have higher efficiency by development of subscription information system. 2. Systematic control on each issue of serials is achieved by development of serials checking system. 3. It is possible to provide vol. and no. information of issue received currently to researchers promptly by improvement of serials holding information system. 4. Retrieval of research information contained in various CD-ROM DB throughout KAERI-NET is possible by research on construction methods of CD-Net. 2 figs, 25 refs. (Author)

Short-term memory development: differences in serial position curves between age groups and latent classes.

Science.gov (United States)

Koppenol-Gonzalez, Gabriela V; Bouwmeester, Samantha; Vermunt, Jeroen K

2014-10-01

In studies on the development of cognitive processes, children are often grouped based on their ages before analyzing the data. After the analysis, the differences between age groups are interpreted as developmental differences. We argue that this approach is problematic because the variance in cognitive performance within an age group is considered to be measurement error. However, if a part of this variance is systematic, it can provide very useful information about the cognitive processes used by some children of a certain age but not others. In the current study, we presented 210 children aged 5 to 12 years with serial order short-term memory tasks. First we analyze our data according to the approach using age groups, and then we apply latent class analysis to form latent classes of children based on their performance instead of their ages. We display the results of the age groups and the latent classes in terms of serial position curves, and we discuss the differences in results. Our findings show that there are considerable differences in performance between the age groups and the latent classes. We interpret our findings as indicating that the latent class analysis yielded a much more meaningful way of grouping children in terms of cognitive processes than the a priori grouping of children based on their ages. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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...

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...

Serial personal digital assistant data capture of health-related quality of life: A randomized controlled trial in a prostate cancer clinic

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ritvo Paul

2007-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background In clinical and research practice linked to prostate cancer treatment, frequent monitoring of patient health-related quality of life (HRQOL is essential. Practical and analytic limitations of paper questionnaire data capture may be overcome with the use of self-administered personal digital assistant (PDA data collection. The objective of this study was to assess the reliability, validity, and feasibility of using PDA in place of paper versions of the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS, the Patient Oriented Prostate Cancer Utility Survey (PORPUS, and the International Index of Erectile Function-5 (IIEF-5 in a prostate cancer clinic setting. Methods 152 participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: 1 paper followed by PDA survey; 2 PDA followed by paper survey; or 3 PDA followed by PDA survey. Evaluation included an assessment of data quality (internal consistency, test-retest reliability, response correlation, completeness of data, and feasibility (participation rates, time to completion, preference and difficultly/ease of using PDA. Results Internal consistency was similar for both PDA and paper applications. Test-retest reliability was confirmed for PDA repeated administration. Data from paper and PDA questionnaires were strongly correlated. Lower missed item rates were found in PDA administration. 82.8% of participants preferred using the PDA or had no preference. Mean difficulty/ease ratings indicated that participants found the PDA easy to use. Age did not significantly correlate with preference or difficulty. Conclusion The results confirm the adaptability of the IPSS, IIEF-5, and the PORPUS to PDA administration. Similarly, the findings of this study support the feasibility of using PDA technology for HRQOL serial data capture in the prostate cancer patient population.

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 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.

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

Depression and pain: testing of serial multiple mediators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wongpakaran T

2016-07-01

function were found to significantly mediate the relationship between depression and pain, while controlling for demographic variables. The total effect of depression on pain was significant. This model, with an additional three mediators, accounted for 15% of the explained variance in pain compared to 9% without mediators. For the alternative model, after controlling for the mediators, a nonsignificant total direct effect level of self-sacrificing was found, suggesting that the effect of self-sacrificing on pain was based only on an indirect effect and that perceived stress was found to be the strongest mediator.Conclusion: Serial mediation may help us to see how depression and pain are linked and what the fundamental mediators are in the chain. No significant, indirect effect of self-sacrificing on pain was observed, if perceived stress was not part of the depression and/or cognitive function mediational chain. The results shown here have implications for future research, both in terms of testing the model and in clinical application. Keywords: depressive disorder, mediator, serial mediation, multiple mediation

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

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 thallium-201 imaging after dipyridamole for coronary disease detection: quantitative analysis using myocardial clearance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Okada, R.D.; Dai, Y.H.; Boucher, C.A.; Pohost, G.M.

1984-01-01

After dipyridamole, canine studies have demonstrated a slower rate of myocardial thallium-201 clearance from zones distal to a coronary artery stenosis compared to normal zones. To determine if criteria based on canine myocardial thallium-201 clearance rates could be applied clinically, 40 patients with and 26 patients without coronary artery disease (CAD) had serial thallium-201 images obtained for 2 to 5 hours after dipyridamole. Regions of interest were manually placed over six left ventricular segments in two projections for each of three imaging times. The myocardial thallium-201 clearance rate was calculated for each of the six segments and, using the clearance rate criterion found in canine studies, was considered abnormal if less than 6.5%/hr. Using this criterion alone, 22 of 26 patients (85%) without CAD had normal and 30 of 40 patients (75%) with CAD had abnormal myocardial thallium-201 clearance rates. A quantitative analysis of regional inhomogeneity in tracer distribution (normal was greater than or equal to 25% difference between segments) was negative in 24 of 26 patients (92%) without CAD and positive in 20 of 40 patients (50%) with CAD. When both clearance rate and regional inhomogeneity were considered, 21 of 26 patients (81%) without CAD had negative and 36 of 40 patients (90%) with CAD had positive results. Thus, post-dipyridamole myocardial clearance rate criteria derived from canine studies can be applied to clinical thallium imaging. Quantitative analysis of serial thallium-201 images after dipyridamole is optimized by using myocardial thallium-201 clearance rates. Such an approach is independent of regional inhomogeneities in tracer distribution

Memory as embodiment: The case of modality and serial short-term memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Macken, Bill; Taylor, John C; Kozlov, Michail D; Hughes, Robert W; Jones, Dylan M

2016-10-01

Classical explanations for the modality effect-superior short-term serial recall of auditory compared to visual sequences-typically recur to privileged processing of information derived from auditory sources. Here we critically appraise such accounts, and re-evaluate the nature of the canonical empirical phenomena that have motivated them. Three experiments show that the standard account of modality in memory is untenable, since auditory superiority in recency is often accompanied by visual superiority in mid-list serial positions. We explain this simultaneous auditory and visual superiority by reference to the way in which perceptual objects are formed in the two modalities and how those objects are mapped to speech motor forms to support sequence maintenance and reproduction. Specifically, stronger obligatory object formation operating in the standard auditory form of sequence presentation compared to that for visual sequences leads both to enhanced addressability of information at the object boundaries and reduced addressability for that in the interior. Because standard visual presentation does not lead to such object formation, such sequences do not show the boundary advantage observed for auditory presentation, but neither do they suffer loss of addressability associated with object information, thereby affording more ready mapping of that information into a rehearsal cohort to support recall. We show that a range of factors that impede this perceptual-motor mapping eliminate visual superiority while leaving auditory superiority unaffected. We make a general case for viewing short-term memory as an embodied, perceptual-motor process. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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.

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2018-05-01

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

A mixed signal multi-chip module with high speed serial output links for the ATLAS Level-1 trigger

CERN Document Server

Pfeiffer, U

2000-01-01

We have built and tested a mixed signal multi-chip module (MCM) to be used in the Level-1 Pre-Processor system for the Calorimeter Trigger of the ATLAS experiment at CERN. The MCM performs high speed digital signal processing on four analogue input signals. Results are transmitted serially at a serial data rate of 800 MBd. Nine chips of different technologies are mounted on a four layer Cu substrate. ADC converters and serialiser chips are the major consumers of electrical power on the MCM, which amounts to 9 W for all dies. Special cut-out areas are used to dissipate heat directly to the copper substrate. In this paper we report on design criteria, chosen MCM technology for substrate and die mounting, experiences with the MCM operation and measurement results. (4 refs).

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.

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)

Proposal for future diagnosis and management of vascular tumors by using automatic software for image processing and statistic prediction.

Science.gov (United States)

Popescu, M D; Draghici, L; Secheli, I; Secheli, M; Codrescu, M; Draghici, I

2015-01-01

Infantile Hemangiomas (IH) are the most frequent tumors of vascular origin, and the differential diagnosis from vascular malformations is difficult to establish. Specific types of IH due to the location, dimensions and fast evolution, can determine important functional and esthetic sequels. To avoid these unfortunate consequences it is necessary to establish the exact appropriate moment to begin the treatment and decide which the most adequate therapeutic procedure is. Based on clinical data collected by a serial clinical observations correlated with imaging data, and processed by a computer-aided diagnosis system (CAD), the study intended to develop a treatment algorithm to accurately predict the best final results, from the esthetical and functional point of view, for a certain type of lesion. The preliminary database was composed of 75 patients divided into 4 groups according to the treatment management they received: medical therapy, sclerotherapy, surgical excision and no treatment. The serial clinical observation was performed each month and all the data was processed by using CAD. The project goal was to create a software that incorporated advanced methods to accurately measure the specific IH lesions, integrated medical information, statistical methods and computational methods to correlate this information with that obtained from the processing of images. Based on these correlations, a prediction mechanism of the evolution of hemangioma, which helped determine the best method of therapeutic intervention to minimize further complications, was established.

Quality Assessment of Serially Ultradiluted and Agitated Drug Digitalis purpurea by Emission Spectroscopy and Clinical Analysis of Its Effect on the Heart Rate of Indian Bufo melanostictus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anup Sharma

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The investigation of ultradiluted (homeopathic drugs is extremely interesting and challenging, and from that point of view this study shows novelty. A study of in vivo changes in heart rate of the Indian Bufo melanostictus caused by commercially available serially ultra-diluted and agitated extract of Digitalis purpurea has been tried in order to understand their pharmacological role. RR interval (of ECG was compared after intraperitoneal administration of serially diluted and agitated Digitalis purpurea extract, diluent rectified spirit, and Digoxin in anesthetized animals. The study revealed statistically significant changes in the heart rate after application of these drugs except in case of Digoxin and the 200th serial dilution of Digitalis purpurea. The duration of RR intervals after application of the drugs was corroborative of the effect of Digoxin and Digitalis purpurea extract up to 30th dilution. Emission spectra were obtained for the experimental ultra-diluted Digitalis purpurea extract and Digoxin to identify and characterize them. The observed RR pattern and emission spectra show an association. The quality assessment of the commercial ultra-diluted organic drugs obtained from natural products may be initiated by monitoring in vivo studies on animal models.

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

Defining and reconstructing clinical processes based on IHE and BPMN 2.0.

Science.gov (United States)

Strasser, Melanie; Pfeifer, Franz; Helm, Emmanuel; Schuler, Andreas; Altmann, Josef

2011-01-01

This paper describes the current status and the results of our process management system for defining and reconstructing clinical care processes, which contributes to compare, analyze and evaluate clinical processes and further to identify high cost tasks or stays. The system is founded on IHE, which guarantees standardized interfaces and interoperability between clinical information systems. At the heart of the system there is BPMN, a modeling notation and specification language, which allows the definition and execution of clinical processes. The system provides functionality to define healthcare information system independent clinical core processes and to execute the processes in a workflow engine. Furthermore, the reconstruction of clinical processes is done by evaluating an IHE audit log database, which records patient movements within a health care facility. The main goal of the system is to assist hospital operators and clinical process managers to detect discrepancies between defined and actual clinical processes and as well to identify main causes of high medical costs. Beyond that, the system can potentially contribute to reconstruct and improve clinical processes and enhance cost control and patient care quality.

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.

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

A comparative study of working memory: immediate serial spatial recall in baboons (Papio papio) and humans.

Science.gov (United States)

Fagot, Joël; De Lillo, Carlo

2011-12-01

Two experiments assessed if non-human primates can be meaningfully compared to humans in a non-verbal test of serial recall. A procedure was used that was derived from variations of the Corsi test, designed to test the effects of sequence structure and movement path length in humans. Two baboons were tested in Experiment 1. The monkeys showed several attributes of human serial recall. These included an easier recall of sequences with a shorter number of items and of sequences characterized by a shorter path length when the number of items was kept constant. However, the accuracy and speed of processing did not indicate that the monkeys were able to benefit from the spatiotemporal structure of sequences. Humans tested in Experiment 2 showed a quantitatively longer memory span, and, in contrast with monkeys, benefitted from sequence structure. The results are discussed in relation to differences in how human and non-human primates segment complex visual patterns. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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.

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

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Inge van de Ven

2016-06-01

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

Long-term course of orthostatic tremor in serial posturographic measurement.

Science.gov (United States)

Feil, K; Böttcher, N; Guri, F; Krafczyk, S; Schöberl, F; Zwergal, A; Strupp, M

2015-08-01

Primary orthostatic tremor (OT) is a rare neurological disease of unknown pathophysiology characterized by a high-frequency tremor mainly of the legs when standing. The aim of this study was to examine its long-term course by subjective estimation and objective recording by serial posturography and to obtain further standardized epidemiological and clinical data on patients with OT. A clinical cohort of 37 patients with the diagnosis of primary OT was screened for this longitudinal follow-up study. Eighteen patients consented to participate. During study visit all patients underwent a standardized neurological examination and completed subjective scales and scores. Posturographic recordings at follow-up were compared to prior clinical posturographic measurements in 15 cases. In our cohort the mean duration of symptoms was 14.1 ± 6.8 years. Subjectively, 78% of patients reported progression of the disease. Posturographic data (5.4 ± 4.0 years) revealed a significant increase of the total sway path (standing on firm ground with eyes open) from 2.4 ± 1.3 to 3.4 ± 1.4 m/min (p = 0.022) and of the total root mean square values from 9.8 ± 4.3 to 12.4 ± 4.8 mm (p = 0.028). None of these observations are explained by aging of the patients. Mean frequency of the tremor did not change over time (14.7 ± 1.9 Hz vs. 14.9 ± 2.0 Hz at follow-up). Clinically, most patients had signs of cerebellar dysfunction and a substantial portion also showed proprioceptive deficits in the long-term course. This long-term follow-up study indicates, that primary OT is a progressive disorder. Furthermore, the clinical observation of cerebellar dysfunction in most OT patients in the long-term course might indicate an important role of the cerebellum in its pathophysiology. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Associative Memory Serial Link Processor for the Fast TracKer (FTK) at ATLAS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andreani, A; Citterio, M; Liberali, V; Annovi, A; Beretta, M; Beccherle, R; Crescioli, F; Biesuz, N; Billereau, W; Combe, J M; Cipriani, R; Citraro, S; Donati, S; Giannetti, P; Luciano, P; Colombo, A; Dimas, D; Gentsos, C; Kordas, K; Lanza, A

2014-01-01

The Fast TracKer (FTK) is an extremely powerful and very compact processing unit, essential for efficient Level 2 trigger selection in future high-energy physics experiments at the LHC. FTK employs Associative Memories (AM) to perform pattern recognition; input and output data are transmitted over serial links at 2 Gbit/s to reduce routing congestion at the board level. Prototypes of the AM chip and of the AM board have been manufactured and tested, in preparation of the imminent design of the final version

Quality control on pre-serial Bridgman production of PbWO{sub 4} scintillating crystals by means of photoelasticity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rinaldi, D., E-mail: d.rinaldi@univpm.i [Dipartimento di Fisica e Ingegneria dei Materiali e del Territorio, Universita Politecnica delle Marche, via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona (Italy); INFN section of Perugia (Italy); Ciriaco, A. [Dipartimento di Fisica e Ingegneria dei Materiali e del Territorio, Universita' Politecnica delle Marche, via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona (Italy); Lebeau, M. [CERN PH department, 1211 Geneva 23 (Switzerland); Paone, N. [Dipartimento di Meccanica, Universita' Politecnica delle Marche, via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona (Italy)

2010-04-11

Residual internal stresses in PbWO{sub 4} (PWO) scintillating crystals grown by Bridgman method have been systematically studied. Residual stresses induced during growth play an important role in production yield. Cracking probability during mechanical processing as well as stable mechanical properties in finished crystal are closely related to internal stress levels. A regular production of good-quality crystals requires a fast and easy feed-back on growth parameters. Samples from a pre-serial production were analyzed in order to give the producer a quality feed-back for process optimization. By means of photoelasticity, we measured residual stress distribution in several sections along the growth axis and for typical positions in every section. The stress analysis revealed defects occurring during the crystallization process, attributed to dislocations, lattice disorientation and poly-crystallinity. This work had been prompted by the need for quality monitoring of a pre-serial production of PWO for the CMS experiment at CERN's LHC. Mapping stress levels inside the ingot volume and proposing a synthetic parameter to be used as a quality indicator, the resulting analysis should contribute to parameter optimization and improve the growth performance. The proposed method may be useful in conventional crystal production.

Ultrafast Nonlinear Signal Processing in Silicon Waveguides

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Oxenløwe, Leif Katsuo; Mulvad, Hans Christian Hansen; Hu, Hao

2012-01-01

We describe recent demonstrations of exploiting highly nonlinear silicon waveguides for ultrafast optical signal processing. We describe wavelength conversion and serial-to-parallel conversion of 640 Gbit/s data signals and 1.28 Tbit/s demultiplexing and all-optical sampling.......We describe recent demonstrations of exploiting highly nonlinear silicon waveguides for ultrafast optical signal processing. We describe wavelength conversion and serial-to-parallel conversion of 640 Gbit/s data signals and 1.28 Tbit/s demultiplexing and all-optical sampling....

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.

Central hemodynamic responses during serial exercise tests in heart failure patients using implantable hemodynamic monitors.

Science.gov (United States)

Ohlsson, A; Steinhaus, D; Kjellström, B; Ryden, L; Bennett, T

2003-06-01

Exercise testing is commonly used in patients with congestive heart failure for diagnostic and prognostic purposes. Such testing may be even more valuable if invasive hemodynamics are acquired. However, this will make the test more complex and expensive and only provides information from isolated moments. We studied serial exercise tests in heart failure patients with implanted hemodynamic monitors allowing recording of central hemodynamics. Twenty-one NYHA Class II-III heart failure patients underwent maximal exercise tests and submaximal bike or 6-min hall walk tests to quantify their hemodynamic responses and to study the feasibility of conducting exercise tests in patients with such devices. Patients were followed for 2-3 years with serial exercise tests. During maximal tests (n=70), heart rate increased by 52+/-19 bpm while S(v)O(2) decreased by 35+/-10% saturation units. RV systolic and diastolic pressure increased 29+/-11 and 11+/-6 mmHg, respectively, while pulmonary artery diastolic pressure increased 21+/-8 mmHg. Submaximal bike (n=196) and hall walk tests (n=172) resulted in S(v)O(2) changes of 80 and 91% of the maximal tests, while RV pressures ranged from 72 to 79% of maximal responses. An added potential value of implantable hemodynamic monitors in heart failure patients may be to quantitatively determine the true hemodynamic profile during standard non-invasive clinical exercise tests and to compare that to hemodynamic effects of regular exercise during daily living. It would be of interest to study whether such information could improve the ability to predict changes in a patient's clinical condition and to improve tailoring patient management.

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

Science.gov (United States)

Tindle, Richard; Longstaff, Mitchell G

2016-02-01

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

Pre-series and testing route for the serial fabrication of W7-X target elements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boscary, J.; Greuner, H.; Friedrich, T.; Traxler, H.; Mendelevitch, B.; Boeswirth, B.; Schlosser, J.; Smirnow, M.; Stadler, R.

2009-01-01

The fabrication of the actively cooled high-heat flux divertor of the WENDELSTEIN 7-X stellarator (W7-X) requires the delivery of 890 target elements, which are designed to withstand a stationary heat flux of 10 MW/m 2 . The organization of the manufacturing and testing route for the serial fabrication is the result of the pre-series activities. Flat CFC Sepcarb NB31 tiles are bonded to CuCrZr copper alloy cooling structure in consecutive steps. A copper layer is active metal cast to CFC tiles, and then an OF-copper layer is added by hot isostatic pressing to produce bi-layer tiles. These tiles are bonded by electron beam welding onto the cooling structure, which was manufactured independently. The introduction of the bi-layer technology proved to be a significant improvement of the bond reliability under thermal cycling loading. This result is also the consequence of the improved bond inspections throughout the manufacturing route performed in the ARGUS pulsed thermography facility of PLANSEE. The repairing process by electron beam welding of the bonding was also qualified. The extended pre-series activities related to the qualification of fabrication processes with the relevant non-destructive examinations aim to minimize the risks for the serial manufacturing and to guarantee the steady-state operation of the W7-X divertor.

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…

Pulmonary mucormycosis. Serial morphologic changes on computed tomography correlate with clinical and pathologic findings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nam, Bo Da; Kim, Tae Jung; Lee, Kyung Soo; Kim, Tae Sung; Chung, Myung Jin; Han, Joungho

2018-01-01

To evaluate serial computed tomography (CT) findings of pulmonary mucormycosis correlated with peripheral blood absolute neutrophil count (ANC). Between February 1997 and June 2016, 20 immunocompromised patients (10 males, 10 females; mean age, 48.9 years) were histopathologically diagnosed as pulmonary mucormycosis. On initial (n=20) and follow-up (n=15) CT scans, the patterns of lung abnormalities and their changing features on follow-up scans were evaluated, and the pattern changes were correlated with ANC changes. All patients were immunocompromised. On initial CT scans, nodule (≤3cm)/mass (>3cm) or consolidation with surrounding ground-glass opacity halo (18/20, 90%) was the most common pattern. On follow-up CT, morphologic changes (13/15, 87%) could be seen and they included reversed halo (RH) sign, central necrosis, and air-crescent sign. Although all cases did not demonstrate the regular morphologic changes at the same timeline, various combinations of pattern change could be seen in all patients. Sequential morphologic changes were related with recovering of ANC in 13 of 15 patients. Pulmonary mucormycosis most frequently presents as consolidation or nodule/mass with halo sign at CT. Morphologic changes into RH sign, central necrotic cavity or air-crescent sign occur with treatment and recovery of ANC. (orig.)

Pulmonary mucormycosis. Serial morphologic changes on computed tomography correlate with clinical and pathologic findings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nam, Bo Da; Kim, Tae Jung; Lee, Kyung Soo; Kim, Tae Sung; Chung, Myung Jin [Samsung Medical Centre, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Department of Radiology and Centre for Imaging Science, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Han, Joungho [Samsung Medical Centre, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Department of Pathology, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2018-02-15

To evaluate serial computed tomography (CT) findings of pulmonary mucormycosis correlated with peripheral blood absolute neutrophil count (ANC). Between February 1997 and June 2016, 20 immunocompromised patients (10 males, 10 females; mean age, 48.9 years) were histopathologically diagnosed as pulmonary mucormycosis. On initial (n=20) and follow-up (n=15) CT scans, the patterns of lung abnormalities and their changing features on follow-up scans were evaluated, and the pattern changes were correlated with ANC changes. All patients were immunocompromised. On initial CT scans, nodule (≤3cm)/mass (>3cm) or consolidation with surrounding ground-glass opacity halo (18/20, 90%) was the most common pattern. On follow-up CT, morphologic changes (13/15, 87%) could be seen and they included reversed halo (RH) sign, central necrosis, and air-crescent sign. Although all cases did not demonstrate the regular morphologic changes at the same timeline, various combinations of pattern change could be seen in all patients. Sequential morphologic changes were related with recovering of ANC in 13 of 15 patients. Pulmonary mucormycosis most frequently presents as consolidation or nodule/mass with halo sign at CT. Morphologic changes into RH sign, central necrotic cavity or air-crescent sign occur with treatment and recovery of ANC. (orig.)

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

Computed tomography of neurodegenerative disease in childhood. Serial CT findings and their diagnostic values

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kataoka, Kenkichi; Nakagawa, Yoshihiro; Hojo, Hiroatsu

1984-12-01

Serial computed tomographic scans were performed on seven children with neurodegenerative disorders. In two cases of white-matter diseases (Krabbe's disease and metachromatic leukodystrophy), diffuse, low-density lesions of white matter were visible in the early stage of the diseases. In one case of adrenoleukodystrophy, regional low-density lesions of the white matter around the posterior horns and peculiar high-density strip lesions were visible in the early stage. In two cases of storage-type gray-matter diseases (Tay-Sachs' and infantile Gaucher's disease), there were no abnormalities in the early stage, but diffuse cortical atrophies in the late stage. In one case of Leigh's disease, there were small, low-density lesions of the basal ganglia and multiple low-density lesions of the gray matter in the early stage. In one case of subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, there were no abnormalities in the early stage, but small, low-density lesions of the basal ganglia and diffuse cerebral atrophies in the late stage. Diagnostic values were recognized dominantly in two cases of adrenoleukodystrophy and Leigh's disease. In the other cases, however, serial CT scans were useful in the diagnostic process. (author).

Semantic processing of EHR data for clinical research.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Hong; Depraetere, Kristof; De Roo, Jos; Mels, Giovanni; De Vloed, Boris; Twagirumukiza, Marc; Colaert, Dirk

2015-12-01

There is a growing need to semantically process and integrate clinical data from different sources for clinical research. This paper presents an approach to integrate EHRs from heterogeneous resources and generate integrated data in different data formats or semantics to support various clinical research applications. The proposed approach builds semantic data virtualization layers on top of data sources, which generate data in the requested semantics or formats on demand. This approach avoids upfront dumping to and synchronizing of the data with various representations. Data from different EHR systems are first mapped to RDF data with source semantics, and then converted to representations with harmonized domain semantics where domain ontologies and terminologies are used to improve reusability. It is also possible to further convert data to application semantics and store the converted results in clinical research databases, e.g. i2b2, OMOP, to support different clinical research settings. Semantic conversions between different representations are explicitly expressed using N3 rules and executed by an N3 Reasoner (EYE), which can also generate proofs of the conversion processes. The solution presented in this paper has been applied to real-world applications that process large scale EHR data. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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.

A serial killer of elderly women: analysis of a multi-victim homicide investigation.

Science.gov (United States)

Campobasso, Carlo P; Colonna, Massimo F; Carabellese, Felice; Grattagliano, Ignazio; Candelli, Chiara; Morton, Robert J; Catanesi, Roberto

2009-03-10

Between 1995 and 1997, in the territories of Southern Italy, there were fifteen murders of elderly women over the age of 70 years old. Initially, however, not all the murders were attributed to a single serial killer. The majority of the victims were stabbed multiple times in the neck, except for three cases in which the cause of death was manual strangulation. There was evidence of sexual assault in only one of the cases. All the victims were discovered in their own apartments, which were located on the ground level, with no signs of forced entry. In most of the cases, the offender stole money and/or jewellery. A multi-disciplinary team reviewed the cases during the investigation and created a profile of the killer. The team determined that the method of operation was completely unusual for the local criminal element. They suggested that the perpetrator could be an immigrant, who committed the murders for sexual motivation and who may have been arrested previously for sex-related incidents. On 15th September 1997, a suspect was arrested. He was identified as Ben Mohamed Ezzedine Sebai, a 35-year-old white male, originally from Tunisia. He was charged and convicted of four of the murders and was given a life sentence. In 2005, Sebai confessed to the murders of four additional elderly women, for which nine other people had already been previously tried and convicted, among them, a man who committed suicide in jail. In 2007, Sebai finally confessed to committing fifteen murders that occurred between 1995 and 1997. Sebai also admitted to experiencing sexual gratification at every homicide scene, even though there was no physical proof at most of the crime scenes. The goal of this article is to illustrate a little-known but noteworthy case concerning a serial sexual killer of elderly women that occurred in Southern Italy, highlighting the method of operation, the victim selection process, and the injuries inflicted. The article will also discuss his motivation, the

Applying Statistical Process Control to Clinical Data: An Illustration.

Science.gov (United States)

Pfadt, Al; And Others

1992-01-01

Principles of statistical process control are applied to a clinical setting through the use of control charts to detect changes, as part of treatment planning and clinical decision-making processes. The logic of control chart analysis is derived from principles of statistical inference. Sample charts offer examples of evaluating baselines and…

Visual form-processing deficits: a global clinical classification.

Science.gov (United States)

Unzueta-Arce, J; García-García, R; Ladera-Fernández, V; Perea-Bartolomé, M V; Mora-Simón, S; Cacho-Gutiérrez, J

2014-10-01

Patients who have difficulties recognising visual form stimuli are usually labelled as having visual agnosia. However, recent studies let us identify different clinical manifestations corresponding to discrete diagnostic entities which reflect a variety of deficits along the continuum of cortical visual processing. We reviewed different clinical cases published in medical literature as well as proposals for classifying deficits in order to provide a global perspective of the subject. Here, we present the main findings on the neuroanatomical basis of visual form processing and discuss the criteria for evaluating processing which may be abnormal. We also include an inclusive diagram of visual form processing deficits which represents the different clinical cases described in the literature. Lastly, we propose a boosted decision tree to serve as a guide in the process of diagnosing such cases. Although the medical community largely agrees on which cortical areas and neuronal circuits are involved in visual processing, future studies making use of new functional neuroimaging techniques will provide more in-depth information. A well-structured and exhaustive assessment of the different stages of visual processing, designed with a global view of the deficit in mind, will give a better idea of the prognosis and serve as a basis for planning personalised psychostimulation and rehabilitation strategies. Copyright © 2011 Sociedad Española de Neurología. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Serial recall of visuospatial and verbal information with and without material-specific interference: implications for contemporary models of working memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Lynne C; Rane, Shruti; Hiscock, Merrill

2013-01-01

A longstanding question in working memory (WM) research concerns the fractionation of verbal and nonverbal processing. Although some contemporary models include both domain-specific and general-purpose mechanisms, the necessity to postulate differential processing of verbal and nonverbal material remains unclear. In the present two-experiment series we revisit the order reconstruction paradigm that Jones, Farrand, Stuart, and Morris (1995) used to support a unitary model of WM. Goals were to assess (1) whether serial position curves for dot positions differ from curves for letter names; and (2) whether selective interference can be demonstrated. Although we replicated Jones et al.'s finding of similar serial position curves for the two tasks, this similarity could reflect the demands of the order reconstruction paradigm rather than undifferentiated processing of verbal and nonverbal stimuli. Both generalised and material-specific interference was found, which can be attributed to competition between primary and secondary tasks for attentional resources. As performance levels for the combined primary and secondary tasks exceed active WM capacity limits, primary task items apparently are removed from active memory during processing of the secondary list and held temporarily in maintenance storage. We conclude that active WM is multimodal but maintenance stores may be domain specific.

Detection and three-dimensional reconstruction of a vascular network from serial sections

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ip, H H.S.

1983-07-01

The process of three-dimensional reconstruction from serial sections includes aligning adjacent sections, segmenting the desired objects and constructing a computer internal model of the reconstructed object. Computational methodologies taking advantage of the parallel processing facilities of CLIP4 are presented for automating these tasks. The author is interested in the detailed structure of the carotid body which is a highly vascularized organ with the largest blood flow rate of any tissue in the body (Biscoe (1971), Seidl (1975), Lubbers et al. (1977), Clarke and Daly (1982)). It plays an important role in monitoring the chemical composition of arterial blood (p(o/sub 2/), p(co/sub 2/), ph). The aim of the investigation in the paper is to reconstruct the total vasculature of the organ and to make an analytical study of the geometrical configuration of its vessels. 15 references.

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.

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.

[Clinical decision making and critical thinking in the nursing diagnostic process].

Science.gov (United States)

Müller-Staub, Maria

2006-10-01

The daily routine requires complex thinking processes of nurses, but clinical decision making and critical thinking are underestimated in nursing. A great demand for educational measures in clinical judgement related with the diagnostic process was found in nurses. The German literature hardly describes nursing diagnoses as clinical judgements about human reactions on health problems / life processes. Critical thinking is described as an intellectual, disciplined process of active conceptualisation, application and synthesis of information. It is gained through observation, experience, reflection and communication and leads thinking and action. Critical thinking influences the aspects of clinical decision making a) diagnostic judgement, b) therapeutic reasoning and c) ethical decision making. Human reactions are complex processes and in their course, human behavior is interpreted in the focus of health. Therefore, more attention should be given to the nursing diagnostic process. This article presents the theoretical framework of the paper "Clinical decision making: Fostering critical thinking in the nursing diagnostic process through case studies".

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.

Serial cranial computed-tomography scans in children with leukemia given two different forms of central nervous system therapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ochs, J.J.; Parvey, L.S.; Whitaker, J.N.; Bowman, W.P.; Ch'ien, L.; Campbell, M.; Coburn, T.

1983-01-01

Cranial computed tomography (CT) was used to estimate the frequency and permanence of brain abnormalities in 108 consecutive children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Fifty-five patients received cranial irradiation (1,800 rad) with intrathecal methotrexate (RT group) and 53 patients received intravenous and intrathecal methotrexate without irradiation (IVIT group). Continuation treatment included sequential drug pairs for the RT group and periodic IVIT methotrexate for the other group. After 12 to 24 months of serial evaluation, five (9%) of the 55 patients in the RT group have had CT scan abnormalities, compared to 10 (19%) of 52 in the IVIT group (p . 0.171). Fourteen of the 15 patients with CT scan abnormalities had focal or diffuse white-matter hypodensity; these have reverted to normal in most cases, reflecting a dynamic process. While such CT findings are of concern and may be an early indicator of central nervous system toxicity, this remains to be proven. Therapy should not be altered on the basis of abnormal CT scans alone but in the context of the entire clinical situation

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.

Clinical evaluation of gastric scintigraphy with sup(99m)Tc-pertechnetate

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kaneko, T; Tsuchigame, T; Katayama, K [Kumamoto Univ. (Japan). School of Medicine; Matsumoto, M

1979-12-01

Gastric scintigraphy with sup(99m)Tc-pertechnetate has been clinically evaluated. After an overnight fast, 3 mCi sup(99m)Tc-pertechnetate was injected intravenously and serial gastric images were obtained by the use of a gamma camera and a data processing system. The appropriate term available for observation of the gastric image widely ranged from within 3 min to more than 15 min after injection. A total of 84 cases were investigated. In 19 out of 20 cases of gastric cancer, the size of cold spots was influenced by the presence of intestinal metaplasia accompanying the cancer. Similar results were observed in cases of gastric ulcer (16 cases) and gastritis (12 cases). It is useful, though of less clinical significance for the detection of gastric cancer and ulcer, to study the condition of gastric mucosa clinically.

Clinical evaluation of gastric scintigraphy with sup(99m)Tc-pertechnetate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaneko, Teruo; Tsuchigame, Tadatoshi; Katayama, Kenshi; Matsumoto, Masanori.

1979-01-01

Gastric scintigraphy with sup(99m)Tc-pertechnetate has been clinically evaluated. After an overnight fast, 3 mCi sup(99m)Tc-pertechnetate was injected intravenously and serial gastric images were obtained by the use of a gamma camera and a data processing system. The appropriate term available for observation of the gastric image widely ranged from within 3 min to more than 15 min after injection. A total of 84 cases were investigated. In 19 out of 20 cases of gastric cancer, the size of cold spots was influenced by the presence of intestinal metaplasia accompanying the cancer. Similar results were observed in cases of gastric ulcer (16 cases) and gastritis (12 cases). It is useful, though of less clinical significance for the detection of gastric cancer and ulcer, to study the condition of gastric mucosa clinically. (author)

Modeling of ETL-Processes and Processed Information in Clinical Data Warehousing.

Science.gov (United States)

Tute, Erik; Steiner, Jochen

2018-01-01

Literature describes a big potential for reuse of clinical patient data. A clinical data warehouse (CDWH) is a means for that. To support management and maintenance of processes extracting, transforming and loading (ETL) data into CDWHs as well as to ease reuse of metadata between regular IT-management, CDWH and secondary data users by providing a modeling approach. Expert survey and literature review to find requirements and existing modeling techniques. An ETL-modeling-technique was developed extending existing modeling techniques. Evaluation by exemplarily modeling existing ETL-process and a second expert survey. Nine experts participated in the first survey. Literature review yielded 15 included publications. Six existing modeling techniques were identified. A modeling technique extending 3LGM2 and combining it with openEHR information models was developed and evaluated. Seven experts participated in the evaluation. The developed approach can help in management and maintenance of ETL-processes and could serve as interface between regular IT-management, CDWH and secondary data users.

Automated blood-sample handling in the clinical laboratory.

Science.gov (United States)

Godolphin, W; Bodtker, K; Uyeno, D; Goh, L O

1990-09-01

The only significant advances in blood-taking in 25 years have been the disposable needle and evacuated blood-drawing tube. With the exception of a few isolated barcode experiments, most sample-tracking is performed through handwritten or computer-printed labels. Attempts to reduce the hazards of centrifugation have resulted in air-tight lids or chambers, the use of which is time-consuming and cumbersome. Most commonly used clinical analyzers require serum or plasma, distributed into specialized containers, unique to that analyzer. Aliquots for different tests are prepared by handpouring or pipetting. Moderate to large clinical laboratories perform so many different tests that even multi-analyzers performing multiple analyses on a single sample may account for only a portion of all tests ordered for a patient. Thus several aliquots of each specimen are usually required. We have developed a proprietary serial centrifuge and blood-collection tube suitable for incorporation into an automated or robotic sample-handling system. The system we propose is (a) safe--avoids or prevents biological danger to the many "handlers" of blood; (b) small--minimizes the amount of sample taken and space required to adapt to the needs of satellite and mobile testing, and direct interfacing with analyzers; (c) serial--permits each sample to be treated according to its own "merits," optimizes throughput, and facilitates flexible automation; and (d) smart--ensures quality results through monitoring and intelligent control of patient identification, sample characteristics, and separation process.

Does registration of serial MRI improve diagnosis of dementia?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barnes, Josephine; Kennedy, Jonathan; Barker, Suzie; Lehmann, Manja; Nordstrom, R.C.; Smith, Joseph R.; Rossor, Martin N.; Fox, Nick C.; Mitchell, L.A.; Bastos-Leite, Antonio J.; Frost, Chris; Garde, Ellen

2010-01-01

We aimed to assess the value of a second MR scan in the radiological diagnosis of dementia. One hundred twenty subjects with clinical follow-up of at least 1 year with two scans were selected from a cognitive disorders clinic. Scans were reviewed as a single first scan (method A), two unregistered scans presented side-by-side (method B) and a registered pair (method C). Scans were presented to two neuroradiologists and a clinician together with approximate scan interval (if applicable) and age. Raters decided on a main and subtype diagnosis. There was no evidence that differences between methods (expressed as relative odds of a correct response) differed between reviewers (p = 0.17 for degenerative condition or not, p = 0.5 for main diagnosis, p = 0.16 for subtype). Accordingly, results were pooled over reviewers. For distinguishing normal/non-progressors from degenerative conditions, the proportions correctly diagnosed were higher with methods B and C than with A (p = 0.001, both tests). The difference between method B and C was not statistically significant (p = 0.18). For main diagnosis, the proportion of correct diagnoses were highest with method C for all three reviewers; however, this was not statistically significant comparing with method A (p = 0.23) or with method B (p = 0.16). For subtype diagnosis, there was some evidence that method C was better than method A (p = 0.01) and B (p = 0.048). Serial MRI and registration may improve visual diagnosis in dementia. (orig.)

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.

Abutment region dosimetry for serial tomotherapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Low, Daniel A.; Mutic, Sasa; Dempsey, James F.; Markman, Jerry; Goddu, S. Murty; Purdy, James A.

1999-01-01

Purpose: A commercial intensity modulated radiation therapy system (Corvus, NOMOS Corp.) is presently used in our clinic to generate optimized dose distributions delivered using a proprietary dynamic multileaf collimator (DMLC) (MIMiC) composed of 20 opposed leaf pairs. On our accelerator (Clinac 600C/D, Varian Associates, Inc.) each MIMiC leaf projects to either 1.00 x 0.84 or 1.00 x 1.70 cm 2 (depending on the treatment plan and termed 1 cm or 2 cm mode, respectively). The MIMiC is used to deliver serial (axial) tomotherapy treatment plans, in which the beam is delivered to a nearly cylindrical volume as the DMLC is rotated about the patient. For longer targets, the patient is moved (indexed) between treatments a distance corresponding to the projected leaf width. The treatment relies on precise indexing and a method was developed to measure the precision of indexing devices. A treatment planning study of the dosimetric effects of incorrect patient indexing and concluded that a dose heterogeneity of 10% mm -1 resulted. Because the results may be sensitive to the dose model accuracy, we conducted a measurement-based investigation of the consequences of incorrect indexing using our accelerator. Although the indexing provides an accurate field abutment along the isocenter, due to beam divergence, hot and cold spots will be produced below and above isocenter, respectively, when less than 300 deg. arcs were used. A preliminary study recently determined that for a 290 deg. rotation in 1 cm mode, 15% cold and 7% hot spots were delivered to 7 cm above and below isocenter, respectively. This study completes the earlier work by investigating the dose heterogeneity as a function of position relative to the axis of rotation, arc length, and leaf width. The influence of random daily patient positioning errors is also investigated. Methods and Materials: Treatment plans were generated using 8.0 cm diameter cylindrical target volumes within a homogeneous rectilinear film

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.

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.

Rapid, serial, non-invasive assessment of drug efficacy in mice with autoluminescent Mycobacterium ulcerans infection.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tianyu Zhang

Full Text Available Buruli ulcer (BU caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans is the world's third most common mycobacterial infection. There is no vaccine against BU and surgery is needed for patients with large ulcers. Although recent experience indicates combination chemotherapy with streptomycin and rifampin improves cure rates, the utility of this regimen is limited by the 2-month duration of therapy, potential toxicity and required parenteral administration of streptomycin, and drug-drug interactions caused by rifampin. Discovery and development of drugs for BU is greatly hampered by the slow growth rate of M. ulcerans, requiring up to 3 months of incubation on solid media to produce colonies. Surrogate markers for evaluating antimicrobial activity in real-time which can be measured serially and non-invasively in infected footpads of live mice would accelerate pre-clinical evaluation of new drugs to treat BU. Previously, we developed bioluminescent M. ulcerans strains, demonstrating proof of concept for measuring luminescence as a surrogate marker for viable M. ulcerans in vitro and in vivo. However, the requirement of exogenous substrate limited the utility of such strains, especially for in vivo experiments.For this study, we engineered M. ulcerans strains that express the entire luxCDABE operon and therefore are autoluminescent due to endogenous substrate production. The selected reporter strain displayed a growth rate and virulence similar to the wild-type parent strain and enabled rapid, real-time monitoring of in vitro and in vivo drug activity, including serial, non-invasive assessments in live mice, producing results which correlated closely with colony-forming unit (CFU counts for a panel of drugs with various mechanisms of action.Our results indicate that autoluminescent reporter strains of M. ulcerans are exceptional tools for pre-clinical evaluation of new drugs to treat BU due to their potential to drastically reduce the time, effort, animals, compound

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...

A common type system for clinical natural language processing.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Stephen T; Kaggal, Vinod C; Dligach, Dmitriy; Masanz, James J; Chen, Pei; Becker, Lee; Chapman, Wendy W; Savova, Guergana K; Liu, Hongfang; Chute, Christopher G

2013-01-03

One challenge in reusing clinical data stored in electronic medical records is that these data are heterogenous. Clinical Natural Language Processing (NLP) plays an important role in transforming information in clinical text to a standard representation that is comparable and interoperable. Information may be processed and shared when a type system specifies the allowable data structures. Therefore, we aim to define a common type system for clinical NLP that enables interoperability between structured and unstructured data generated in different clinical settings. We describe a common type system for clinical NLP that has an end target of deep semantics based on Clinical Element Models (CEMs), thus interoperating with structured data and accommodating diverse NLP approaches. The type system has been implemented in UIMA (Unstructured Information Management Architecture) and is fully functional in a popular open-source clinical NLP system, cTAKES (clinical Text Analysis and Knowledge Extraction System) versions 2.0 and later. We have created a type system that targets deep semantics, thereby allowing for NLP systems to encapsulate knowledge from text and share it alongside heterogenous clinical data sources. Rather than surface semantics that are typically the end product of NLP algorithms, CEM-based semantics explicitly build in deep clinical semantics as the point of interoperability with more structured data types.

Is there an additional benefit of serial NT-proBNP measurements in patients with stable chronic heart failure receiving individually optimized therapy?

Science.gov (United States)

Franke, Jennifer; Frankenstein, Lutz; Schellberg, Dieter; Bajrovic, Amer; Wolter, Jan Sebastian; Ehlermann, Philipp; Doesch, Andreas O; Nelles, Manfred; Katus, Hugo A; Zugck, Christian

2011-12-01

The role of serial NT-proBNP measurements in patients suffering from chronic systolic heart failure (CHF) who already receive individually optimized pharmacotherapy is still unresolved. NT-proBNP was assessed at baseline and at 6 months follow-up in 504 stable CHF patients treated with individually optimized pharmacotherapy. After assessment of clinical stability at 6 months, patients were followed up for at least 1 year. The combined primary endpoint was defined as death, hospitalization due to cardiac reasons or heart transplantation in 1-year follow-up. We stratified our patients according to two principles: first, a percent change of value (CV) between the first and second measurement of NT-proBNP and secondly, the transformed logarithm of NT-proBNP measured at 6 months. During the follow-up period of 1 year, 50 patients (9.9%) reached the combined primary endpoint. Stratification according to percentage CV was less accurate in predicting endpoint-free survival compared to a classification in categories of lnNT-proBNP measured at 6 months (ROC AUC = 0.615; 95% CI 0.525-0.70 vs. ROC AUC = 0.790; 95% CI 0.721-0.856, respectively). When entered into proportional hazard regression analysis, lnNT-proBNP measured at 6 months remained an independent predictor of the combined primary endpoint with an associated HR of 2.53 (95% CI 1.385-4.280). To date, this is the largest analysis of serial NT-proBNP measurements in patients with CHF receiving individually optimized medical therapy. These data suggest that a single NT-proBNP measurement after 6 months in stable clinical conditions may have higher predictive value than stratification of change in serial measurements.

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,…

Serial MRI and MRS studies with unusual findings in Rasmussen's encephalitis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tuerkdogan-Soezueer, D.; Oezek, M.M.; Pamir, M.N.; Sav, A.; Dincer, A.

2000-01-01

Rasmussen's syndrome is characterized by intractable seizures and progressive neuropsychiatric deterioration secondary to unilateral cortical inflammation and tissue destruction. Diagnosis of Rasmussen's syndrome in the early phase depends mainly on the clinical features. Neuroimaging and histopathologic examinations may not be specific during this period. We report a case of Rasmussen's syndrome followed by serial MRI and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) studies over a 3- to 16-month period. A healthy 6-year-old boy presented with focal motor seizures. An MRI study demonstrated prominent enlargement and T2 hyperintensity of the left mesial temporal lobe and perisylvian region. This early finding evolved to volume loss and later progressive atrophy of the ipsilateral hemisphere when epilepsia partialis continua occurred. Being aware of those early MRI features in a patient with increasing frequency of focal motor seizures should suggest Rasmussen's syndrome. In addition, we found prominently increased myoinositol concentration in atrophic cortex which might reflect increased gliosis in the late period of the disease. (orig.)

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

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

Orienting and Onboarding Clinical Nurse Specialists: A Process Improvement Project.

Science.gov (United States)

Garcia, Mayra G; Watt, Jennifer L; Falder-Saeed, Karie; Lewis, Brennan; Patton, Lindsey

Clinical nurse specialists (CNSs) have a unique advanced practice role. This article describes a process useful in establishing a comprehensive orientation and onboarding program for a newly hired CNS. The project team used the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists core competencies as a guide to construct a process for effectively onboarding and orienting newly hired CNSs. Standardized documents were created for the orientation process including a competency checklist, needs assessment template, and professional evaluation goals. In addition, other documents were revised to streamline the orientation process. Standardizing the onboarding and orientation process has demonstrated favorable results. As of 2016, 3 CNSs have successfully been oriented and onboarded using the new process. Unique healthcare roles require special focus when onboarding and orienting into a healthcare system. The use of the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists core competencies guided the project in establishing a successful orientation and onboarding process for newly hired CNSs.

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

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

Serial Myocardial Imaging after a Single Dose of Thallium-201

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Takahiko Kamata

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Although thallium-201 exercise scintigraphy has been established for the detection of myocardial ischemia and viability, little is known regarding the myocardial thallium-201 kinetics during angioplasty. Herein, we report a 77-year old man with angina pectoris, in whom serial myocardial imaging after a single dose of thallium-201 was helpful in identifying not only the culprit lesion and myocardial viability, but also the dynamic changes in myocardial perfusion during angioplasty. Thallium-201 images after exercise showed a perfusion defect in the inferior wall, with a trivial redistribution 3 hours after the exercise and a marked improvement 24 hours later. Coronary angiography, performed 27 hours after exercise scintigraphy, showed severe stenosis in the right coronary artery. Guidewire crossing of the lesion interrupted the antegrade flow, which was restored after balloon dilation and stent implantation. Thallium-201 images, 2 hours after angioplasty (i.e., 30 hours after exercise, showed a decreased tracer uptake in the inferior wall, which improved the next day (i.e., 48 hours after exercise. Cardiac biomarkers were negative in the clinical course.

Possibility of the conservative management of acute epidural hematoma from the point of views of serial CT scan and the consciousness level

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miki, Tamotsu; Okada, Kazunori; Ito, Yoshinori; Miwa, Tetsuro

1985-01-01

Nowadays serial computerized tomography is often performed in the diagnosis and care of patients with acute epidural hematoma. In the treatment of acute epidural hematoma, serial computerized tomography has shown dynamic changes in the hematoma, and the careful observation of clinical signs has reduced the number of operative cases. Moreover, some good outcomes of cases of acute epidural hematoma have appeared as a result of conservative management. Since the introduction of computerized tomography, we have treated 79 cases of acute epidural hematoma. The mortality rate has been 12.7 % (10 cases), while there have been 60 good-outcome cases, including 22 non-surgical cases (27.8 %). In an attempt to make clear the possibility of the conservative management of acute epidural hematoma, we made a comparative study of surgical good-outcome cases and conservative good-outcome cases from the points of view of serial computerized tomography and the consciousness level. We reached the following conclusions: The guidelines for the conservative management of acute epidural hematoma are: 1) Glasgow coma scale: more than 14 points, 2) Volume of hematoma on CT: less than 20 ml, as determined by the volume-summation method, 3) No mass sign of hematoma on CT, 4) No or only transient forcal neurological signs, and 5) The above factors (1)-(4) have no tendency to get worse within 6 hours after head trauma. (author)

Serial recording of median nerve stimulated subcortical somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) in developing brain death.

Science.gov (United States)

Buchner, H; Ferbert, A; Hacke, W

1988-01-01

Subcortical somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) to median nerve stimulation were recorded serially in 35 patients during the evolution towards brain death and in brain death. Neuropathological alterations of the central nervous system down to the C1/C2 spinal cord segment in brain death are well known. SEP components supposed to be generated above this level should be lost in brain death, while components generated below should not be altered. Erb's point, scalp and neck potentials were recorded at C3/4, or over the spinous process C7, using an Fz reference. In 10 patients additional montages, including spinous process C2-Fz, a non-cephalic reference (Fz-contralateral shoulder) and a posterior to anterior neck montage (spinous process C7-jugulum) were used. The cephalic referenced N9 and N11 peaks remained unchanged until brain death. N9 and N11 decreased in parallel in amplitude and increased in latency after systemic effects like hypoxia or hypothermia occurred. The cephalic referenced 'N14' decreased in amplitude and increased in latency after the clinical brain death syndrome was observed, while N13 in the posterior to anterior neck montage remained unchanged. The alteration of 'N14' went parallel to the decrease of the P14 amplitude. The subcortical SEPs in the cephalic referenced lead are supposed to be a peak composed by a horizontally orientated dorsal horn generated N13 and a rostrally orientated P14 arising at the level of the foramen magnum. The deterioration of the non-cephalic referenced P14 and of its cephalic referenced reflection 'N14' seems to provide an additional objective criterion for the diagnosis of brain death.

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.

A common type system for clinical natural language processing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wu Stephen T

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background One challenge in reusing clinical data stored in electronic medical records is that these data are heterogenous. Clinical Natural Language Processing (NLP plays an important role in transforming information in clinical text to a standard representation that is comparable and interoperable. Information may be processed and shared when a type system specifies the allowable data structures. Therefore, we aim to define a common type system for clinical NLP that enables interoperability between structured and unstructured data generated in different clinical settings. Results We describe a common type system for clinical NLP that has an end target of deep semantics based on Clinical Element Models (CEMs, thus interoperating with structured data and accommodating diverse NLP approaches. The type system has been implemented in UIMA (Unstructured Information Management Architecture and is fully functional in a popular open-source clinical NLP system, cTAKES (clinical Text Analysis and Knowledge Extraction System versions 2.0 and later. Conclusions We have created a type system that targets deep semantics, thereby allowing for NLP systems to encapsulate knowledge from text and share it alongside heterogenous clinical data sources. Rather than surface semantics that are typically the end product of NLP algorithms, CEM-based semantics explicitly build in deep clinical semantics as the point of interoperability with more structured data types.

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…

Working memory deficits in developmental dyscalculia: The importance of serial order.

Science.gov (United States)

Attout, Lucie; Majerus, Steve

2015-01-01

Although a number of studies suggests a link between working memory (WM) storage capacity of short-term memory and calculation abilities, the nature of verbal WM deficits in children with developmental dyscalculia (DD) remains poorly understood. We explored verbal WM capacity in DD by focusing on the distinction between memory for item information (the items to be retained) and memory for order information (the order of the items within a list). We hypothesized that WM for order could be specifically related to impaired numerical abilities given that recent studies suggest close interactions between the representation of order information in WM and ordinal numerical processing. We investigated item and order WM abilities as well as basic numerical processing abilities in 16 children with DD (age: 8-11 years) and 16 typically developing children matched on age, IQ, and reading abilities. The DD group performed significantly poorer than controls in the order WM condition but not in the item WM condition. In addition, the DD group performed significantly slower than the control group on a numerical order judgment task. The present results show significantly reduced serial order WM abilities in DD coupled with less efficient numerical ordinal processing abilities, reflecting more general difficulties in explicit processing of ordinal information.

Longitudinal Regional Brain Development and Clinical Risk Factors in Extremely Preterm Infants.

Science.gov (United States)

Kersbergen, Karina J; Makropoulos, Antonios; Aljabar, Paul; Groenendaal, Floris; de Vries, Linda S; Counsell, Serena J; Benders, Manon J N L

2016-11-01

To investigate third-trimester extrauterine brain growth and correlate this with clinical risk factors in the neonatal period, using serially acquired brain tissue volumes in a large, unselected cohort of extremely preterm born infants. Preterm infants (gestational age regions covering the entire brain. Multivariable regression analysis was used to determine the influence of clinical variables on volumes at both scans, as well as on volumetric growth. MRIs at term equivalent age were available for 210 infants and serial data were available for 131 infants. Growth over these 10 weeks was greatest for the cerebellum, with an increase of 258%. Sex, birth weight z-score, and prolonged mechanical ventilation showed global effects on brain volumes on both scans. The effect of brain injury on ventricular size was already visible at 30 weeks, whereas growth data and volumes at term-equivalent age revealed the effect of brain injury on the cerebellum. This study provides data about third-trimester extrauterine volumetric brain growth in preterm infants. Both global and local effects of several common clinical risk factors were found to influence serial volumetric measurements, highlighting the vulnerability of the human brain, especially in the presence of brain injury, during this period. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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…

Undergraduate nursing students' experience related to their clinical learning environment and factors affecting to their clinical learning process.

Science.gov (United States)

Arkan, Burcu; Ordin, Yaprak; Yılmaz, Dilek

2018-03-01

Clinical education is an essential part of nursing education. The purpose of this study was to explore nurse students' experiences related to cinical learning environments, factors effecting to clinical learning process. Descriptive qualitative design was used in this study, and data were collected from 2nd class nursing student (n = 14). The study took the form of in-depth interviews between August-October 2015. The qualitative interviews were analyzed by using simple content analysis. Data were analyzed manually. Experiences nurse students are described five themes. The themes of the study are (1) effecting persons to clinical learning, (2) educational atmosphere, (3) students' personal charactering, (4) the impact of education in school, and (5) students' perceptions related to clinical learning. Participants stated that they experienced many difficulties during clinical learning process. All students importantly stated that nurse teacher is very effecting to clinical learning. This study contributes to the literature by providing data on beginner nursing student' experiences about clinical learning process. The data of this present study show to Turkish nursing student is affecting mostly from persons in clinical learning. The data of this present study will guide nurse teacher when they plan to interventions to be performed to support student during clinical learning process. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

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.

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.

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

Signs, symptoms, and treatment patterns across serial ambulatory cardiology visits in patients with heart failure: insights from the NCDR PINNACLE® registry.

Science.gov (United States)

Allen, Larry A; Tang, Fengming; Jones, Philip; Breeding, Tracie; Ponirakis, Angelo; Turner, Stuart J

2018-05-03

Due to a relative lack of outpatient heart failure (HF) clinical registries, we aimed to describe symptoms, signs, and medication treatment among ambulatory patients with heart failure (HF) over time. Using health records from 234 PINNACLE (Practice Innovation and Clinical Excellence) U.S. cardiology practices (2008-2014), serial visits for patients with HF were characterized. Symptoms, signs, and HF medications (angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors [ACEI], angiotensin receptor blockers [ARB], beta blockers [BB], and diuretics) were compared between visits. Among 763,331 patients with HF, 550,581 had ≥2 clinic visits < 1 year apart, with 2,998,444 visit pairs. In the 12 months following an index visit, patients had a mean of 2.5 ± 2.3 additional visits. Recorded index visit symptoms ranged from dyspnea (53.6%) to orthopnea (23.1%); signs ranged from peripheral edema (52.2%) to hepatomegaly (0.6%). Of those with ejection fraction < 40%, ACEI was prescribed in 58.6%, ARB in 18.5%, BB in 85.2%, and diuretics in 70.0%. Between-visit recorded changes were infrequent: dyspnea appeared in 3.8%, resolved in 2.7%; NYHA class increased in 2.9%, decreased in 2.9%; number of signs increased in 6.0%, decreased in 5.1%; ACEI/ARB or BB added in 6.4%, removed in 6.2%; diuretic added in 3.7%, removed in 3.8%. Changes in recorded symptoms were rarely associated with initiation or discontinuation in HF medication classes. Ambulatory HF care in U.S. cardiology practices seldom recorded changes in symptoms, signs, and medication class. Although templated medical records and absence of medication dosing likely underestimated the degree to which clinical changes occur over serial visits for HF, these PINNACLE data suggest opportunities for greater symptom-based and therapy-focused visits.

Cost Minimization Analysis of Different Strategies of Management of Clinically Significant Scorpion Envenomation Among Pediatric Patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Sinha, Madhumita; Quan, Dan; McDonald, Fred W; Valdez, André

2016-12-01

Scorpion antivenom was recently approved for use in patients with clinically significant scorpion envenomation in the United States; no formal economic analysis on its impact on cost of management has been performed. Three different strategies of management of scorpion envenomation with systemic neurotoxic symptoms in children were compared for cost minimization from a societal perspective. In strategy I, patients were managed with supportive care only without antivenom. In strategy II, an aggressive strategy of full-dose antivenom (initial dose of 3 vials with the use of additional vials administered 1 vial at a time) was considered. In strategy III, a single-vial serial antivenom dosing strategy titrated to clinical response was considered. Clinical probabilities for the different strategies were obtained from retrospective review of medical records of patients with scorpion envenomation over a 10-year period at our institution. Baseline cost values were obtained from patient reimbursement data from our institution. In baseline analysis, strategy I of supportive care only with no antivenom was least costly at US $3466.50/patient. Strategy III of single-vial serial dosing was intermediate but less expensive than strategy II of full-dose antivenom, with an incremental cost of US $3171.08 per patient. In a 1-way sensitivity analysis, at a threshold antivenom cost of US $1577.87, strategy III of single-vial serial dosing became the least costly strategy. For children with scorpion envenomation, use of a management strategy based on serial dosing of antivenom titrated to clinical response is less costly than a strategy of initial use of full-dose antivenom.

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

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.

Serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE) in rat liver regeneration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cimica, Velasco; Batusic, Danko; Haralanova-Ilieva, Borislava; Chen, Yonglong; Hollemann, Thomas; Pieler, Tomas; Ramadori, Giuliano

2007-01-01

We have applied serial analysis of gene expression for studying the molecular mechanism of the rat liver regeneration in the model of 70% partial hepatectomy. We generated three SAGE libraries from a normal control liver (NL library: 52,343 tags), from a sham control operated liver (Sham library: 51,028 tags), and from a regenerating liver (PH library: 53,061 tags). By SAGE bioinformatics analysis we identified 40 induced genes and 20 repressed genes during the liver regeneration. We verified temporal expression of such genes by real time PCR during the regeneration process and we characterized 13 induced genes and 3 repressed genes. We found connective tissue growth factor transcript and protein induced very early at 4 h after PH operation before hepatocytes proliferation is triggered. Our study suggests CTGF as a growth factor signaling mediator that could be involved directly in the mechanism of liver regeneration induction

Serialization and persistent objects turning data structures into efficient databases

CERN Document Server

Soukup, Jiri

2014-01-01

Recently, the pressure for fast processing and efficient storage of large data with complex?relations increased beyond the capability of traditional databases. Typical examples include iPhone applications, computer aided design - both electrical and mechanical, biochemistry applications, and incremental compilers. Serialization, which is sometimes used in such situations is notoriously tedious and error prone.In this book, Jiri Soukup and Petr Macha?ek show in detail how to write programs which store their internal data automatically and transparently to disk. Together with special data structure libraries which treat relations among objects as first-class entities, and with a UML class-diagram generator, the core application code is much simplified. The benchmark chapter shows a typical example where persistent data is faster by the order of magnitude than with a traditional database, in both traversing and accessing the data.The authors explore and exploit advanced features of object-oriented languages in a...

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. ...

Exercise electrocardiography and myocardial scintigraphy in the serial evaluation of the results of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schall, J.M.; Chaitman, B.R.; David, P.R.; Dupras, G.; Brevers, G; Val, P.G.; Crepeau, J.; Lesperance, J.; Bourassa, M.G.

1982-01-01

The diagnostic value of exercise electrocardiography using 14 leads and thallium-201 scintigraphy were evaluated in 54 of 70 patients who underwent percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA), both in the initial assessment and serial follow-up of patients after PTCA. Of the 45 patients who had successful PTCA, 36 had complete noninvasive studies performed before and 1 month after PTCA. The use of clinical symptoms in conjunction with the physiologic data, ECG and myocardial scintigram acquired during exercise provide important short-term data on the angiographic evolution of PTCA results. The noninvasive tests may be useful in determining guidelines for repeat angiography in patients who have had PTCA

Processes for Quality Improvements in Radiation Oncology Clinical Trials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

FitzGerald, T.J.; Urie, Marcia; Ulin, Kenneth; Laurie, Fran; Yorty, Jeffrey C.; Hanusik, Richard; Kessel, Sandy; Jodoin, Maryann Bishop; Osagie, Gani; Cicchetti, M. Giulia; Pieters, Richard; McCarten, Kathleen; Rosen, Nancy

2008-01-01

Quality assurance in radiotherapy (RT) has been an integral aspect of cooperative group clinical trials since 1970. In early clinical trials, data acquisition was nonuniform and inconsistent and computational models for radiation dose calculation varied significantly. Process improvements developed for data acquisition, credentialing, and data management have provided the necessary infrastructure for uniform data. With continued improvement in the technology and delivery of RT, evaluation processes for target definition, RT planning, and execution undergo constant review. As we move to multimodality image-based definitions of target volumes for protocols, future clinical trials will require near real-time image analysis and feedback to field investigators. The ability of quality assurance centers to meet these real-time challenges with robust electronic interaction platforms for imaging acquisition, review, archiving, and quantitative review of volumetric RT plans will be the primary challenge for future successful clinical trials

FPGA based fast synchronous serial multi-wire links synchronization

Science.gov (United States)

Pozniak, Krzysztof T.

2013-10-01

The paper debates synchronization method of multi-wire, serial link of constant latency, by means of pseudo-random numbers generators. The solution was designed for various families of FPGA circuits. There were debated synchronization algorithm and functional structure of parameterized transmitter and receiver modules. The modules were realized in VHDL language in a behavioral form.

Impaired visuospatial transformation but intact sequence processing in Parkinson disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Leek, E Charles; Kerai, Julie H; Johnston, Stephen J; Hindle, John V; Bracewell, R Martyn

2014-09-01

We examined whether visuospatial deficits in Parkinson disease (PD) can be explained by a domain-general, nonspatial impairment in the sequencing or serial chaining of mental operations. PD has been shown to be associated with impaired visuospatial processing, but the mechanisms of this impairment remain unclear. Thirteen patients with PD and 20 age-matched, neurologically normal controls performed a visuospatial grid navigation task requiring sequential spatial transformations. The participants also performed a control task of serial number subtraction designed to assess their nonvisuospatial sequencing. The tasks were matched in structure and difficulty. The patients were impaired on the visuospatial task but not in serial number subtraction. This finding suggests that visuospatial processing impairments in PD do not derive from a general impairment affecting sequencing or serial chaining. We argue that visuospatial deficits in PD result from impairments to spatial transformation routines involved in the computation of mappings between spatial locations. These routines are mediated by dopaminergic pathways linking the basal ganglia, prefrontal cortex, supplementary motor area, and parietal cortex.

The Process of Clinical Reasoning among Medical Students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Djon Machado Lopes

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Introduction: Research in the field of medical reasoning has shed light on the reasoning process used by medical students. The strategies in this process are related to the analytical [hypothetical-deductive (HD] and nonanalytic [scheme-inductive (SI] systems, and pattern recognition (PR]. Objective: To explore the clinical reasoning process of students from the fifth year of medical school at the end of the clinical cycle of medical internship, and to identify the strategies used in preparing diagnostic hypotheses, knowledge organization and content. Method: Qualitative research conducted in 2014 at a Brazilian public university with medical interns. Following Stamm's method, a case in internal medicine (IM was built based on the theory of prototypes (Group 1 = 47 interns, in which the interns listed, according to their own perceptions, the signs, symptoms, syndromes, and diseases typical of internal medicine. This case was used for evaluating the clinical reasoning process of Group 2 (30 students = simple random sample obtained with the "think aloud" process. The verbalizations were transcribed and evaluated by Bardin's thematic analysis. The content analysis were approved by two experts at the beginning and at the end of the analysis process. Results: The interns developed 164 primary and secondary hypotheses when solving the case. The SI strategy prevailed with 48.8%, followed by PR (35.4%, HD (12.2%, and mixed (1.8 % each: SI + HD and HD + PR. The students built 146 distinct semantic axes, resulting in an average of 4.8/ participant. During the analysis, 438 interpretation processes were executed (average of 14.6/participant, and 124 combination processes (average of 4.1/participant. Conclusions: The nonanalytic strategies prevailed with the PR being the most used in the development of primary hypotheses (46.8% and the SI in secondary hypotheses (93%. The interns showed a strong semantic network and did three and a half times more

[Description of the mental processes occurring during clinical reasoning].

Science.gov (United States)

Pottier, P; Planchon, B

2011-06-01

Clinical reasoning is a highly complex system with multiple inter-dependent mental activities. Gaining a better understanding of those cognitive processes has two practical implications: for physicians, being able to analyse their own reasoning method may prove to be helpful in diagnostic dead end; for medical teachers, identifying problem-solving strategies used by medical students may foster an appropriate individual feed-back aiming at improving their clinical reasoning skills. On the basis of a detailed literature review, the main diagnostic strategies and their related pattern of mental processes are described and illustrated with a concrete example, going from the patient's complaint to the chosen solution. Inductive, abductive and deductive diagnostic approaches are detailed. Different strategies for collecting data (exhaustive or oriented) and for problem-building are described. The place of problem solving strategies such as pattern-recognition, scheme inductive process, using of clinical script, syndrome grouping and mental hypotheses test is considered. This work aims at breaking up mental activities in process within clinical reasoning reminding that expert reasoning is characterised by the ability to use and structure the whole of these activities in a coherent system, using combined strategies in order to guarantee a better accuracy of their diagnosis. Copyright © 2010 Société nationale française de médecine interne (SNFMI). Published by Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.

Digit-color synaesthesia only enhances memory for colors in a specific context: A new method of duration thresholds to measure serial recall.

Science.gov (United States)

Teichmann, A Lina; Nieuwenstein, Mark R; Rich, Anina N

2017-08-01

For digit-color synaesthetes, digits elicit vivid experiences of color that are highly consistent for each individual. The conscious experience of synaesthesia is typically unidirectional: Digits evoke colors but not vice versa. There is an ongoing debate about whether synaesthetes have a memory advantage over non-synaesthetes. One key question in this debate is whether synaesthetes have a general superiority or whether any benefit is specific to a certain type of material. Here, we focus on immediate serial recall and ask digit-color synaesthetes and controls to memorize digit and color sequences. We developed a sensitive staircase method manipulating presentation duration to measure participants' serial recall of both overlearned and novel sequences. Our results show that synaesthetes can activate digit information to enhance serial memory for color sequences. When color sequences corresponded to ascending or descending digit sequences, synaesthetes encoded these sequences at a faster rate than their non-synaesthetes counterparts and faster than non-structured color sequences. However, encoding color sequences is approximately 200 ms slower than encoding digit sequences directly, independent of group and condition, which shows that the translation process is time consuming. These results suggest memory advantages in synaesthesia require a modified dual-coding account, in which secondary (synaesthetically linked) information is useful only if it is more memorable than the primary information to be recalled. Our study further shows that duration thresholds are a sensitive method to measure subtle differences in serial recall performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

The involvement of long-term serial-order memory in reading development: A longitudinal study.

Science.gov (United States)

Bogaerts, Louisa; Szmalec, Arnaud; De Maeyer, Marjolijn; Page, Mike P A; Duyck, Wouter

2016-05-01

Recent findings suggest that Hebb repetition learning-a paradigmatic example of long-term serial-order learning-is impaired in adults with dyslexia. The current study further investigated the link between serial-order learning and reading using a longitudinal developmental design. With this aim, verbal and visual Hebb repetition learning performance and reading skills were assessed in 96 Dutch-speaking children who we followed from first through second grade of primary school. We observed a positive association between order learning capacities and reading ability as well as weaker Hebb learning performance in early readers with poor reading skills even at the onset of reading instruction. Hebb learning further predicted individual differences in later (nonword) reading skills. Finally, Hebb learning was shown to explain a significant part of the variance in reading performance above and beyond phonological awareness. These findings highlight the role of serial-order memory in reading ability. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2014-10-01

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

Continuous path control of a 5-DOF parallel-serial hybrid robot

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Uchiyama, Takuma; Terada, Hidetsugu; Mitsuya, Hironori

2010-01-01

Using the 5-degree of freedom parallel-serial hybrid robot, to realize the de-burring, new forward and inverse kinematic calculation methods based on the 'off-line teaching' method are proposed. This hybrid robot consists of a parallel stage section and a serial stage section. Considering this point, each section is calculated individually. And the continuous path control algorithm of this hybrid robot is proposed. To verify the usefulness, a prototype robot is tested which is controlled based on the proposed methods. This verification includes a positioning test and a pose test. The positioning test evaluates the continuous path of the tool center point. The pose test evaluates the pose on the tool center point. As the result, it is confirmed that this hybrid robot moves correctly using the proposed methods

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

Science.gov (United States)

Torre, Kjerstin; Balasubramaniam, Ramesh; Delignières, Didier

2010-07-01

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

Effects of serial and concurrent training on receptive identification tasks: A Systematic replication.

Science.gov (United States)

Wunderlich, Kara L; Vollmer, Timothy R

2017-07-01

The current study compared the use of serial and concurrent methods to train multiple exemplars when teaching receptive language skills, providing a systematic replication of Wunderlich, Vollmer, Donaldson, and Phillips (2014). Five preschoolers diagnosed with developmental delays or autism spectrum disorders were taught to receptively identify letters or letter sounds. Subjects learned the target stimuli slightly faster in concurrent training and a high degree of generalization was obtained following both methods of training, indicating that both the serial and concurrent methods of training are efficient and effective instructional procedures. © 2017 Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

Quantitation of autoantibodies in systemic autoimmune diseases : clinically useful?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kallenberg, C. G. M.; Stegeman, C. A.; Bootsma, H.; Biji, M.; Limburg, P. C.

2006-01-01

Serial assessment of levels of autoantibodies has been proposed as being clinically useful in certain systemic autoimmune diseases. In particular, attention has been given to anti-dsDNA antibodies in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and ANCA in the ANCA-associated vasculitides (AAV). Much

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2017-03-01

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

The clinical reasoning process in randomized clinical trials with patients with non-specific neck pain is incomplete: A systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Maissan, Francois; Pool, Jan; de Raaij, Edwin; Mollema, Jürgen; Ostelo, Raymond; Wittink, Harriet

2018-06-01

Primarily to evaluate the completeness of the description of the clinical reasoning process in RCTs with patients with non-specific neck pain with an argued or diagnosed cause i.e. an impairment or activity limitation. Secondly, to determine the association between the completeness of the clinical reasoning process and the degree of risk of bias. Pubmed, Cinahl and PEDro were systematically searched from inception to July 2016. RCTs (n = 122) with patients with non-specific neck pain receiving physiotherapy treatment published in English were included. Data extraction included study characteristics and important features of the clinical reasoning process based on the Hypothesis-Oriented Algorithm for Clinicians II (HOAC II)]. Thirty-seven studies (30%) had a complete clinical reasoning process of which 8 (6%) had a 'diagnosed cause' and 29 (24%) had an 'argued cause'. The Spearmans rho association between the extent of the clinical reasoning process and the risk of bias was -0.2. In the majority of studies (70%) the described clinical reasoning process was incomplete. A very small proportion (6%) had a 'diagnosed cause'. Therefore, a better methodological quality does not necessarily imply a better described clinical reasoning process. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Microcontroller base process emulator

OpenAIRE

Jovrea Titus Claudiu

2009-01-01

This paper describes the design of a microcontroller base emulator for a conventional industrial process. The emulator is made with microcontroller and is used for testing and evaluating the performances of the industrial regulators. The parameters of the emulated process are fully customizable online and downloadable thru a serial communication from a personal computer.

Asymmetric binding in serial memory for verbal and spatial information

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Guerard, Katherine; Morey, Candice C.; Lagace, Sebastien; Tremblay, Sebastien

As the number of studies showing that items can be retained as bound representations in memory increases, researchers are beginning to investigate how the different features are bound together. In the present study, we examined the relative importances of the verbal and spatial features in serial

'American Psycho': a double portrait of serial yuppie Patrick Bateman

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kooijman, J.; Laine, T.

2003-01-01

Kooijman and Laine analyze Mary Harron's "American Psycho," a 2000 film adaptation of the 1980s satirical novel by Bret Easton Ellis in which Patrick Bateman, a narcissistic Wall Street young urban professional ("yuppie"), assumes an alternate identity as a serial killer. The authors examine the

The clinical nurse specialist as resuscitation process manager.

Science.gov (United States)

Schneiderhahn, Mary Elizabeth; Fish, Anne Folta

2014-01-01

The purpose of this article was to describe the history and leadership dimensions of the role of resuscitation process manager and provide specific examples of how this role is implemented at a Midwest medical center. In 1992, a medical center in the Midwest needed a nurse to manage resuscitation care. This role designation meant that this nurse became central to all quality improvement efforts in resuscitation care. The role expanded as clinical resuscitation guidelines were updated and as the medical center grew. The role became known as the critical care clinical nurse specialist as resuscitation process manager. This clinical care nurse specialist was called a manager, but she had no direct line authority, so she accomplished her objectives by forming a multitude of collaborative networks. Based on a framework by Finkelman, the manager role incorporated specific leadership abilities in quality improvement: (1) coordination of medical center-wide resuscitation, (2) use of interprofessional teams, (3) integration of evidence into practice, and (4) staff coaching to develop leadership. The manager coordinates resuscitation care with the goals of prevention of arrests if possible, efficient and effective implementation of resuscitation protocols, high quality of patient and family support during and after the resuscitation event, and creation or revision of resuscitation policies for in-hospital and for ambulatory care areas. The manager designs a comprehensive set of meaningful and measurable process and outcome indicators with input from interprofessional teams. The manager engages staff in learning, reflecting on care given, and using the evidence base for resuscitation care. Finally, the manager role is a balance between leading quality improvement efforts and coaching staff to implement and sustain these quality improvement initiatives. Revisions to clinical guidelines for resuscitation care since the 1990s have resulted in medical centers developing improved

An integrated model of clinical reasoning: dual-process theory of cognition and metacognition.

Science.gov (United States)

Marcum, James A

2012-10-01

Clinical reasoning is an important component for providing quality medical care. The aim of the present paper is to develop a model of clinical reasoning that integrates both the non-analytic and analytic processes of cognition, along with metacognition. The dual-process theory of cognition (system 1 non-analytic and system 2 analytic processes) and the metacognition theory are used to develop an integrated model of clinical reasoning. In the proposed model, clinical reasoning begins with system 1 processes in which the clinician assesses a patient's presenting symptoms, as well as other clinical evidence, to arrive at a differential diagnosis. Additional clinical evidence, if necessary, is acquired and analysed utilizing system 2 processes to assess the differential diagnosis, until a clinical decision is made diagnosing the patient's illness and then how best to proceed therapeutically. Importantly, the outcome of these processes feeds back, in terms of metacognition's monitoring function, either to reinforce or to alter cognitive processes, which, in turn, enhances synergistically the clinician's ability to reason quickly and accurately in future consultations. The proposed integrated model has distinct advantages over other models proposed in the literature for explicating clinical reasoning. Moreover, it has important implications for addressing the paradoxical relationship between experience and expertise, as well as for designing a curriculum to teach clinical reasoning skills. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

The communication process in clinical settings.

Science.gov (United States)

Mathews, J J

1983-01-01

The communication of information in clinical settings is fraught with problems despite avowed common aims of practitioners and patients. Some reasons for the problematic nature of clinical communication are incongruent frames of reference about what information ought to be shared, sociolinguistic differences and social distance between practitioners and patients. Communication between doctors and nurses is also problematic, largely due to differences in ideology between the professions about what ought to be communicated to patients about their illness and who is ratified to give such information. Recent social changes, such as the Patient Bill of Rights and informed consent which assure access to information, and new conceptualizations of the nurse's role, warrant continued study of the communication process especially in regard to what constitutes appropriate and acceptable information about a patient's illness and who ought to give such information to patients. The purpose of this paper is to outline characteristics of communication in clinical settings and to provide a literature review of patient and practitioner interaction studies in order to reflect on why information exchange is problematic in clinical settings. A framework for presentation of the problems employs principles from interaction and role theory to investigate clinical communication from three viewpoints: (1) the level of shared knowledge between participants; (2) the effect of status, role and ideology on transactions; and (3) the regulation of communication imposed by features of the institution.

Which serial killers commit suicide? An exploratory study.

Science.gov (United States)

Lester, David; White, John

2012-11-30

In a sample of 483 serial killers, 6.2% were documented to have committed suicide. Those who committed suicide were found to come from more dysfunctional homes characterized by more psychiatric disturbance in the parents. The sexual acts involved in the murders by the suicides seemed to be more deviant in some aspects, such as committing more bizarre sexual acts or more often taping the murder. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

Serial MRI findings of osteoporotic vertebral fractures in the thoracic and lumbar spine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hamada, Yoshitaka; Henmi, Tatsuhiko; Sakamoto, Rintaro; Hiasa, Masahiko

1998-01-01

The prognosis of osteoporotic vertebral fractures in the thoracic and lumbar spine was studied by serial MRI findings. This study covered 80 vertebrae in 69 patients treated conservatively and followed-up for more than six months (23 males and 46 females, average age 70 yrs). Group A, characterized by poor diagnostic imaging, consisted of patients who had both severely collapsed vertebra which was progressive in the lateral roentgenogram and delayed improvement in MRI signal intensities. Group B, consisting of poor clinical prognosis, comprised patients with persistent back pain. The predictive factors for Group A were found to be T 1 -low finding over the entire vertebra within one month after injury and fractures of Th 12 or L 1 vertebra. Areas of T 1 -low and T 2 -low intensity adjacent to the vertebral disc presented no improvement in signal intensity and often caused persistent back pain. (author)

Development of a serial order in speech constrained by articulatory coordination.

Science.gov (United States)

Oohashi, Hiroki; Watanabe, Hama; Taga, Gentaro

2013-01-01

Universal linguistic constraints seem to govern the organization of sound sequences in words. However, our understanding of the origin and development of these constraints is incomplete. One possibility is that the development of neuromuscular control of articulators acts as a constraint for the emergence of sequences in words. Repetitions of the same consonant observed in early infancy and an increase in variation of consonantal sequences over months of age have been interpreted as a consequence of the development of neuromuscular control. Yet, it is not clear how sequential coordination of articulators such as lips, tongue apex and tongue dorsum constrains sequences of labial, coronal and dorsal consonants in words over the course of development. We examined longitudinal development of consonant-vowel-consonant(-vowel) sequences produced by Japanese children between 7 and 60 months of age. The sequences were classified according to places of articulation for corresponding consonants. The analyses of individual and group data show that infants prefer repetitive and fronting articulations, as shown in previous studies. Furthermore, we reveal that serial order of different places of articulations within the same organ appears earlier and then gradually develops, whereas serial order of different articulatory organs appears later and then rapidly develops. In the same way, we also analyzed the sequences produced by English children and obtained similar developmental trends. These results suggest that the development of intra- and inter-articulator coordination constrains the acquisition of serial orders in speech with the complexity that characterizes adult language.

Phonological Similarity in Serial Recall: Constraints on Theories of Memory

Science.gov (United States)

Lewandowsky, Stephan; Farrell, Simon

2008-01-01

In short-term serial recall, similar-sounding items are remembered more poorly than items that do not sound alike. When lists mix similar and dissimilar items, performance on the dissimilar items is of considerable theoretical interest. Farrell and Lewandowsky [Farrell, S., & Lewandowsky, S. (2003). Dissimilar items benefit from phonological…

Power Efficient Design of Parallel/Serial FIR Filters in RNS

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Petricca, Massimo; Albicocco, Pietro; Cardarilli, Gian Carlo

2012-01-01

It is well known that the Residue Number System (RNS) provides an efficient implementation of parallel FIR filters especially when the filter order and the dynamic range are high. The two main drawbacks of RNS, need of converters and coding overhead, make a serialized implementation of the FIR...

A comparison of pecking generated by serial, delay, and trace autoshaping procedures1

Science.gov (United States)

Newlin, Robert J.; LoLordo, Vincent M.

1976-01-01

Pigeons were exposed to serial, delay, and trace autoshaping procedures. In Experiment I, all conditioned stimuli (CSs) were changes in illumination of the response key. The number of trials to acquisition of the keypeck increased from serial, to 4-sec delay, 8-sec delay, and 8-sec trace procedures, in that order. In Experiment II, which used a longer intertrial interval, trials to criterion increased from 8-sec delay, to 28-sec delay, 8-sec trace, and 28-sec trace procedures, in that order. In Experiment III, two groups received serial procedures in which the first CS was either a tone or a houselight, and the second was a keylight. The tone group acquired the key peck more rapidly than the houselight group. Early in conditioning in these experiments, and when the conditioned stimulus was a change in the keylight, there was a short latency to the onset of pecking and pecking was directed at the CS. After extensive conditioning, or when the CS was relatively diffuse, pecking still occurred, but had a longer latency and was not reliably directed toward the conditioned stimulus. PMID:16811907

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.

What serial homologs can tell us about the origin of insect wings [version 1; referees: 2 approved

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Yoshinori Tomoyasu

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Although the insect wing is a textbook example of morphological novelty, the origin of insect wings remains a mystery and is regarded as a chief conundrum in biology. Centuries of debates have culminated into two prominent hypotheses: the tergal origin hypothesis and the pleural origin hypothesis. However, between these two hypotheses, there is little consensus in regard to the origin tissue of the wing as well as the evolutionary route from the origin tissue to the functional flight device. Recent evolutionary developmental (evo-devo studies have shed new light on the origin of insect wings. A key concept in these studies is “serial homology”. In this review, we discuss how the wing serial homologs identified in recent evo-devo studies have provided a new angle through which this century-old conundrum can be explored. We also review what we have learned so far from wing serial homologs and discuss what we can do to go beyond simply identifying wing serial homologs and delve further into the developmental and genetic mechanisms that have facilitated the evolution of insect wings.

Environmental Burkholderia cenocepacia Strain Enhances Fitness by Serial Passages during Long-Term Chronic Airways Infection in Mice

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Alessandra Bragonzi

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Burkholderia cenocepacia is an important opportunistic pathogen in cystic fibrosis (CF patients, and has also been isolated from natural environments. In previous work, we explored the virulence and pathogenic potential of environmental B. cenocepacia strains and demonstrated that they do not differ from clinical strains in some pathogenic traits. Here, we investigated the ability of the environmental B. cenocepacia Mex1 strain, isolated from the maize rhizosphere, to persist and increase its virulence after serial passages in a mouse model of chronic infection. B. cenocepacia Mex1 strain, belonging to the recA lineage IIIA, was embedded in agar beads and challenged into the lung of C57Bl/6 mice. The mice were sacrificed after 28 days from infection and their lungs were tested for bacterial loads. Agar beads containing the pool of B. cenocepacia colonies from the four sequential passages were used to infect the mice. The environmental B. cenocepacia strain showed a low incidence of chronic infection after the first passage; after the second, third and fourth passages in mice, its ability to establish chronic infection increased significantly and progressively up to 100%. Colonial morphology analysis and genetic profiling of the Mex1-derived clones recovered after the fourth passage from infected mice revealed that they were indistinguishable from the challenged strain both at phenotypic and genetic level. By testing the virulence of single clones in the Galleria mellonella infection model, we found that two Mex1-derived clones significantly increased their pathogenicity compared to the parental Mex1 strain and behaved similarly to the clinical and epidemic B. cenocepacia LMG16656T. Our findings suggest that serial passages of the environmental B. cenocepacia Mex1 strain in mice resulted in an increased ability to determine chronic lung infection and the appearance of clonal variants with increased virulence in non-vertebrate hosts.

An FPGA-Based Quantum Computing Emulation Framework Based on Serial-Parallel Architecture

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Y. H. Lee

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Hardware emulation of quantum systems can mimic more efficiently the parallel behaviour of quantum computations, thus allowing higher processing speed-up than software simulations. In this paper, an efficient hardware emulation method that employs a serial-parallel hardware architecture targeted for field programmable gate array (FPGA is proposed. Quantum Fourier transform and Grover’s search are chosen as case studies in this work since they are the core of many useful quantum algorithms. Experimental work shows that, with the proposed emulation architecture, a linear reduction in resource utilization is attained against the pipeline implementations proposed in prior works. The proposed work contributes to the formulation of a proof-of-concept baseline FPGA emulation framework with optimization on datapath designs that can be extended to emulate practical large-scale quantum circuits.

Bit-Serial Adder Based on Quantum Dots

Science.gov (United States)

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

2003-01-01

A proposed integrated circuit based on quantum-dot cellular automata (QCA) would function as a bit-serial adder. This circuit would serve as a prototype building block for demonstrating the feasibility of quantum-dots computing and for the further development of increasingly complex and increasingly capable quantum-dots computing circuits. QCA-based bit-serial adders would be especially useful in that they would enable the development of highly parallel and systolic processors for implementing fast Fourier, cosine, Hartley, and wavelet transforms. The proposed circuit would complement the QCA-based circuits described in "Implementing Permutation Matrices by Use of Quantum Dots" (NPO-20801), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 25, No. 10 (October 2001), page 42 and "Compact Interconnection Networks Based on Quantum Dots" (NPO-20855), which appears elsewhere in this issue. Those articles described the limitations of very-large-scale-integrated (VLSI) circuitry and the major potential advantage afforded by QCA. To recapitulate: In a VLSI circuit, signal paths that are required not to interact with each other must not cross in the same plane. In contrast, for reasons too complex to describe in the limited space available for this article, suitably designed and operated QCA-based signal paths that are required not to interact with each other can nevertheless be allowed to cross each other in the same plane without adverse effect. In principle, this characteristic could be exploited to design compact, coplanar, simple (relative to VLSI) QCA-based networks to implement complex, advanced interconnection schemes. To enable a meaningful description of the proposed bit-serial adder, it is necessary to further recapitulate the description of a quantum-dot cellular automation from the first-mentioned prior article: A quantum-dot cellular automaton contains four quantum dots positioned at the corners of a square cell. The cell contains two extra mobile electrons that can tunnel (in the

Faculty Decisions on Serials Subscriptions Differ Significantly from Decisions Predicted by a Bibliometric Tool.

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Sue F. Phelps

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Objective – To compare faculty choices of serials subscription cancellations to the scores of a bibliometric tool. Design – Natural experiment. Data was collected about faculty valuations of serials. The California Digital Library Weighted Value Algorithm (CDL-WVA was used to measure the value of journals to a particular library. These two sets of scores were then compared. Setting – A public research university in the United States of America. Subjects – Teaching and research faculty, as well as serials data. Methods – Experimental methodology was used to compare faculty valuations of serials (based on their journal cancellation choices to bibliometric valuations of the same journal titles (determined by CDL-WVA scores to identify the match rate between the faculty choices and the bibliographic data. Faculty were asked to select titles to cancel that totaled approximately 30% of the budget for their disciplinary fund code. This “keep” or “cancel” choice was the binary variable for the study. Usage data was gathered for articles downloaded through the link resolver for titles in each disciplinary dataset, and the CDL-WVA scores were determined for each journal title based on utility, quality, and cost effectiveness. Titles within each dataset were ranked highest to lowest using the CDL-WVA scores within each fund code, and then by subscription cost for titles with the same CDL-WVA score. The journal titles selected for comparison were those that ranked above the approximate 30% of titles chosen for cancellation by faculty and CDL-WVA scores. Researchers estimated an odds ratio of faculty choosing to keep a title and a CDL-WVA score that indicated the title should be kept. The p-value for that result was less than 0.0001, indicating that there was a negligible probability that the results were by chance. They also applied logistic regression to quantify the association between the numeric score of CDL-WVA and the binary variable

Process control analysis of IMRT QA: implications for clinical trials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pawlicki, Todd; Rice, Roger K; Yoo, Sua; Court, Laurence E; McMillan, Sharon K; Russell, J Donald; Pacyniak, John M; Woo, Milton K; Basran, Parminder S; Boyer, Arthur L; Bonilla, Claribel

2008-01-01

The purpose of this study is two-fold: first is to investigate the process of IMRT QA using control charts and second is to compare control chart limits to limits calculated using the standard deviation (σ). Head and neck and prostate IMRT QA cases from seven institutions in both academic and community settings are considered. The percent difference between the point dose measurement in phantom and the corresponding result from the treatment planning system (TPS) is used for analysis. The average of the percent difference calculations defines the accuracy of the process and is called the process target. This represents the degree to which the process meets the clinical goal of 0% difference between the measurements and TPS. IMRT QA process ability defines the ability of the process to meet clinical specifications (e.g. 5% difference between the measurement and TPS). The process ability is defined in two ways: (1) the half-width of the control chart limits, and (2) the half-width of ±3σ limits. Process performance is characterized as being in one of four possible states that describes the stability of the process and its ability to meet clinical specifications. For the head and neck cases, the average process target across institutions was 0.3% (range: -1.5% to 2.9%). The average process ability using control chart limits was 7.2% (range: 5.3% to 9.8%) compared to 6.7% (range: 5.3% to 8.2%) using standard deviation limits. For the prostate cases, the average process target across the institutions was 0.2% (range: -1.8% to 1.4%). The average process ability using control chart limits was 4.4% (range: 1.3% to 9.4%) compared to 5.3% (range: 2.3% to 9.8%) using standard deviation limits. Using the standard deviation to characterize IMRT QA process performance resulted in processes being preferentially placed in one of the four states. This is in contrast to using control charts for process characterization where the IMRT QA processes were spread over three of the