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Sample records for silent object function

  1. Differences in autonomic nerve function in patients with silent and symptomatic myocardial ischaemia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shakespeare, C. F.; Katritsis, D.; Crowther, A.; Cooper, I. C.; Coltart, J. D.; Webb-Peploe, M. W.

    1994-01-01

    BACKGROUND--Autonomic neuropathy provides a mechanism for the absence of symptoms in silent myocardial ischaemia, but characterisation of the type of neuropathy is lacking. AIM--To characterise and compare autonomic nerve function in patients with silent and symptomatic myocardial ischaemia. METHODS AND RESULTS--The Valsalva manoeuvre, heart rate variation (HRV) in response to deep breathing and standing, lower body negative pressure, isometric handgrip, and the cold pressor test were performed by patients with silent (n = 25) and symptomatic (n = 25) ambulatory ischaemia and by controls (n = 21). No difference in parasympathetic efferent function between patients with silent and symptomatic ischaemia was recorded, but both had significantly less HRV in response to standing than the controls (p < 0.005 for silent and p < 0.01 for symptomatic). Patients with silent ischaemia showed an increased propensity for peripheral vasodilatation compared with symptomatic patients (p < 0.02) and controls (p < 0.04). Impaired sympathetic function was found in patients with pure silent ischaemia (n = 4) compared with the remaining patients with silent ischaemia whose pain pathways were presumed to be intact. CONCLUSIONS--Patients with silent ischaemia and pain pathways presumed to be intact have an enhanced peripheral vasodilator response, and if this applied to the coronary vasculature it could provide a mechanism for limiting ischaemia to below the pain threshold. Patients with pure silent ischaemia have evidence of sympathetic autonomic dysfunction. Images PMID:8297687

  2. Distinct transmitter release properties determine differences in short-term plasticity at functional and silent synapses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cabezas, Carolina; Buño, Washington

    2006-05-01

    Recent evidence suggests that functional and silent synapses are not only postsynaptically different but also presynaptically distinct. The presynaptic differences may be of functional importance in memory formation because a proposed mechanism for long-term potentiation is the conversion of silent synapses into functional ones. However, there is little direct experimentally evidence of these differences. We have investigated the transmitter release properties of functional and silent Schaffer collateral synapses and show that on the average functional synapses displayed a lower percentage of failures and higher excitatory postsynaptic current (EPSC) amplitudes than silent synapses at +60 mV. Moreover, functional but not silent synapses show paired-pulse facilitation (PPF) at +60 mV and thus presynaptic short-term plasticity will be distinct in the two types of synapse. We examined whether intraterminal endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ stores influenced the release properties of these synapses. Ryanodine (100 microM) and thapsigargin (1 microM) increased the percentage of failures and decreased both the EPSC amplitude and PPF in functional synapses. Caffeine (10 mM) had the opposite effects. In contrast, silent synapses were insensitive to both ryanodine and caffeine. Hence we have identified differences in the release properties of functional and silent synapses, suggesting that synaptic terminals of functional synapses express regulatory molecular mechanisms that are absent in silent synapses.

  3. Left ventricular function abnormalities as a manifestation of silent myocardial ischemia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lambert, C R; Conti, C R; Pepine, C J

    1986-11-01

    A large body of evidence exists indicating that left ventricular dysfunction is a common occurrence in patients with severe coronary artery disease and represents silent or asymptomatic myocardial ischemia. Such dysfunction probably occurs early in the time course of every ischemic episode in patients with coronary artery disease whether symptoms are eventually manifested or not. The pathophysiology of silent versus symptomatic left ventricular dysfunction due to ischemia appears to be identical. Silent ischemia-related left ventricular dysfunction can be documented during spontaneous or stress-induced perturbations in the myocardial oxygen supply/demand ratio. It also may be detected by nitroglycerin-induced improvement in ventricular function or by salutary changes in wall motion following revascularization. Silent left ventricular dysfunction is a very early occurrence during ischemia and precedes electrocardiographic abnormalities. In this light, its existence should always be kept in mind when dealing with patients with ischemic heart disease. It can be hypothesized that because silent ischemia appears to be identical to ischemia with symptoms in a pathophysiologic sense, prognosis and treatment in both cases should be the same.

  4. Functional magnetic resonance imaging of hippocampal activation during silent mantra meditation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Engström, Maria; Pihlsgård, Johan; Lundberg, Peter; Söderfeldt, Birgitta

    2010-12-01

    The objective of the present study was to investigate whether moderately experienced meditators activate hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex during silent mantra meditation, as has been observed in earlier studies on subjects with several years of practice. Subjects with less than 2 years of meditation practice according to the Kundalini yoga or Acem tradition were examined by functional magnetic resonance imaging during silent mantra meditation, using an on-off block design. Whole-brain as well as region-of-interest analyses were performed. The most significant activation was found in the bilateral hippocampus/parahippocampal formations. Other areas with significant activation were the bilateral middle cingulate cortex and the bilateral precentral cortex. No activation in the anterior cingulate cortex was found, and only small activation clusters were observed in the prefrontal cortex. In conclusion, the main finding in this study was the significant activation in the hippocampi, which also has been correlated with meditation in several previous studies on very experienced meditators. We propose that the hippocampus is activated already after moderate meditation practice and also during different modes of meditation, including relaxation. The role of hippocampal activity during meditation should be further clarified in future studies, especially by investigating whether the meditation-correlated hippocampal activity is related to memory consolidation.

  5. The prevalence and quality of silent, socially silent, and disclosed autobiographical memories across adulthood.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alea, Nicole

    2010-02-01

    Two separate studies examined the prevalence and quality of silent (infrequently recalled), socially silent (i.e., recalled but not shared), and disclosed autobiographical memories. In Study 1 young and older men and women remembered positive events. Positive memories were more likely to be disclosed than to be kept socially silent or completely silent. However, socially silent and disclosed memories did not differ in memory quality: the memories were equally vivid, significant, and emotional. Silent memories were less qualitatively rich. This pattern of results was generally replicated in Study 2 with a lifespan sample for both positive and negative memories, and with additional qualitative variables. The exception was that negative memories were kept silent more often. Age differences were minimal. Women disclosed their autobiographical memories more, but men told a greater variety of people. Results are discussed in terms of the functions that memory telling and silences might serve for individuals.

  6. Silent pituitary macroadenoma co-secreting growth hormone and thyroid stimulating hormone.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sen, Orhan; Ertorer, M Eda; Aydin, M Volkan; Erdogan, Bulent; Altinors, Nur; Zorludemir, Suzan; Guvener, Nilgun

    2005-04-01

    Silent pituitary adenomas are a group of tumors showing heterogenous morphological features with no hormonal function observed clinically. To date no explanation has been provided as to why these tumors remain "silent". We report a case of a silent macroadenoma with both growth hormone (GH) and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) staining and secretion but with no clinical manifestations, in particular, the absence of features of acromegaly or hyperthyroidism. The relevant literature is reviewed.

  7. 'Silent mentors'

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Douglas-Jones, Rachel

    2017-01-01

    Unlike cadaver donation in the West, which has to a large degree maintained the anonymity of the body used to teach medical students, the Taiwanese Tzu Chi Buddhist Silent Mentor programme at the centre of this article foregrounds the identity of the training cadaver as an essential element in me...... for medical pedagogy, body donation, and Buddhist practices prompted by this programme, putting the ‘Silent Mentors’ into conversation with the ‘new immortalities’ of this special issue....

  8. The threat of silent earthquakes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cervelli, Peter

    2004-01-01

    Not all earthquakes shake the ground. The so-called silent types are forcing scientists to rethink their understanding of the way quake-prone faults behave. In rare instances, silent earthquakes that occur along the flakes of seaside volcanoes may cascade into monstrous landslides that crash into the sea and trigger towering tsunamis. Silent earthquakes that take place within fault zones created by one tectonic plate diving under another may increase the chance of ground-shaking shocks. In other locations, however, silent slip may decrease the likelihood of destructive quakes, because they release stress along faults that might otherwise seem ready to snap.

  9. Silent ischaemia and hypertension

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Boon, D.; Piek, J. J.; van Montfrans, G. A.

    2000-01-01

    For many years now, silent ischaemia has been recognized as a distinct clinical entity, and its relevance in different patient groups has been established. However, a number of basic questions have not been answered. In explaining the pathophysiology of silent ischaemia, factors affecting both the

  10. Eye Movement during Silent and Oral Reading: How Can we Compensate the Loss of Multisensory Process during Silent Reading?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maiko Takahashi

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available While reading texts orally, we process the multisensory language information. Accordingly, in the context of reading aloud, we process the visually presented text and produce the auditory information of the text through articulatory movement. These multisensory processing activities are assumed to facilitate the memory and comprehension of textual information. Conversely, while reading silently, we process only the visual information of the text. Although we cannot use the multisensory language information while reading silently, several researchers have found that there is little difference between the degree of comprehension based on silent and oral reading for adult readers. The purpose of this study is to explain how we compensate the loss of multisensory process during silent reading by comparing the visual processing process during silent and oral reading. By conducting two experiments, we measured and compared the eye movement during silent and oral reading. The results showed that silent reading took shorter time for comprehension than oral reading, and readers had more visual fixation points and read back frequently during reading silently than orally. These reading strategies during silent reading seemed to compensate the loss of multisensory process and support the text comprehension.

  11. Evidence for presynaptically silent synapses in the immature hippocampus

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoon, Jae Young; Choi, Sukwoo

    2017-01-01

    Silent synapses show NMDA receptor (NMDAR)-mediated synaptic responses, but not AMPAR-mediated synaptic responses. A prevailing hypothesis states that silent synapses contain NMDARs, but not AMPARs. However, alternative presynaptic hypotheses, according to which AMPARs are present at silent synapses, have been proposed; silent synapses show slow glutamate release via a fusion pore, and glutamate spillover from the neighboring synaptic terminals. Consistent with these presynaptic hypotheses, the peak glutamate concentrations at silent synapses have been estimated to be ≪170 μM, much lower than those seen at functional synapses. Glutamate transients predicted based on the two presynaptic mechanisms have been shown to activate only high-affinity NMDARs, but not low-affinity AMPARs. Interestingly, a previous study has developed a new approach to distinguish between the two presynaptic mechanisms using dextran, an inert macromolecule that reduces the diffusivity of released glutamate: postsynaptic responses through the fusion pore mechanism, but not through the spillover mechanism, are potentiated by reduced glutamate diffusivity. Therefore, we reasoned that if the fusion pore mechanism underlies silent synapses, dextran application would reveal AMPAR-mediated synaptic responses at silent synapses. In the present study, we recorded AMPAR-mediated synaptic responses at the CA3-CA1 synapses in neonatal rats in the presence of blockers for NMDARs and GABAARs. Bath application of dextran revealed synaptic responses at silent synapses. GYKI53655, a selective AMPAR-antagonist, completely inhibited the unsilenced synaptic responses, indicating that the unsilenced synaptic responses are mediated by AMPARs. The dextran-mediated reduction in glutamate diffusivity would also lead to the activation of metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs), which might induce unsilencing via the activation of unknown intracellular signaling. Hence, we determined whether mGluR-blockers alter

  12. Monitoring Progress toward Independent Silent Reading.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Franc, Lillian H.; Hildebrandt, Jeannette

    1984-01-01

    Concludes, among other things, that fluent oral reading is an important step toward reading for meaning and independent silent reading and that silent reading should be encouraged from the beginning of reading instruction. (FL)

  13. “Silent” Diabetes and Clinical Outcome After Treatment With Contemporary Drug-Eluting Stents : The BIO-RESORT Silent Diabetes Study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    von Birgelen, Clemens; Kok, Marlies M.; Sattar, Naveed; Zocca, Paolo; Doelman, Cees; Kant, Gert D.; Löwik, Marije M.; van der Heijden, Liefke C.; Sen, Hanim; van Houwelingen, Gert K.; Stoel, Martin G.; Louwerenburg, J. (Hans) W.; Hartmann, Marc; de Man, Frits H.A.F.; Linssen, Gerard C.M.; Doggen, Carine J.M.; Tandjung, Kenneth

    2018-01-01

    Objectives: This study sought to assess the prevalence and clinical impact of silent diabetes and pre-diabetes in “nondiabetic” percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) all-comers. Background: Patients with undetected and thus untreated (silent) diabetes may have higher event risks after PCI with

  14. Characteristics of silent countingin synchronized swimmers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sergey V. Leonov

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available This article describes the temporal characteristics of silent counting as used duringa competition by the Russian youth team of synchronized swimmers. Theathletes listened to the music that accompanied their performance at the competition.Diff erent indices of silent counting were defi ned, such as the beginningand cessation of diff erent periods of counting, counting frequency, the stabilityof the temporal structure of silent counting, the degree of synchronization of silentcounting at diff erent moments during the sports program. We studied therelationship of these characteristics of counting with expert estimates of the athletes’sense of tempo, coordination of movements, and choreographic abilities.

  15. Myocardial perfusion in silent myocardial ischemia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Narita, Michihiro; Kurihara, Tadashi; Murano, Kenichi; Usami, Masahisa

    1989-01-01

    To investigate myocardial perfusion in silent myocardial ischemia, we performed exercise stress myocardial tomography with thallium-201 (Tl) in 85 patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Exercise stress myocardial tomography was obtained both immediately after exercise and three hours later. Patients were classified into two groups according to the presence (Symptomatic Group, n=36) or absence (Silent Group, n=49) of chest pain during exercise stress. Clinical features (age, gender and history of myocardial infarction) and arteriographically determined severity of CAD were the same in both groups. The extent of myocardial ischemia (% Ischemia) estimated by exercise stress myocardial tomography was the same in each group (30±10 % in Silent Group, 28±12 % in Symptomatic Group, NS). The severity of exercise-induced myocardial ischemia was expressed as a minimal value of myocardial Tl washout rate (minimal WOR) of each patient. Although exercise heart rate was identical in both groups, minimal WOR in Silent Group was significantly higher than that of Symptomatic Group (4±10% vs -16±14%, p<0.001). The study in patients who exhibited both silent and symptomatic ischemia showed the same results. These findings suggest that the severity of ischemia is a fundamental factor in determining the presence or absence of pain during exercise induced ischemia. (author)

  16. Functional Object Analysis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Raket, Lars Lau

    We propose a direction it the field of statistics which we will call functional object analysis. This subfields considers the analysis of functional objects defined on continuous domains. In this setting we will focus on model-based statistics, with a particularly emphasis on mixed......-effect formulations, where the observed functional signal is assumed to consist of both fixed and random functional effects. This thesis takes the initial steps toward the development of likelihood-based methodology for functional objects. We first consider analysis of functional data defined on high...

  17. Unusual ocular manifestations of silent sinus syndrome

    OpenAIRE

    Fonseca, Fabricio Lopes da; Mazoti, Luciana; Polati, Mariza

    2014-01-01

    Silent sinus syndrome is an acquired condition in which there is a gradual collapse of the orbital floor and inward retraction of the maxillary sinus (atelectasis of the maxillary sinus). This in turn may cause associated ocular occurrences of enophthalmos and hypotropia. This is a report of an 8 year-old boy with silent sinus syndrome and associated ocular motility disorders. The association between silent sinus syndrome and ocular motility disturbance has been recently described in the lite...

  18. Unusual ocular manifestations of silent sinus syndrome

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fabricio Lopes da Fonseca

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Silent sinus syndrome is an acquired condition in which there is a gradual collapse of the orbital floor and inward retraction of the maxillary sinus (atelectasis of the maxillary sinus. This in turn may cause associated ocular occurrences of enophthalmos and hypotropia. This is a report of an 8 year-old boy with silent sinus syndrome and associated ocular motility disorders. The association between silent sinus syndrome and ocular motility disturbance has been recently described in the literature. However, this is an infrequent association, mainly in childhood.

  19. Silent Synapse-Based Circuitry Remodeling in Drug Addiction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dong, Yan

    2016-05-01

    Exposure to cocaine, and likely other drugs of abuse, generates α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptor-silent glutamatergic synapses in the nucleus accumbens. These immature synaptic contacts evolve after drug withdrawal to redefine the neurocircuital properties. These results raise at least three critical questions: (1) what are the molecular and cellular mechanisms that mediate drug-induced generation of silent synapses; (2) how are neurocircuits remodeled upon generation and evolution of drug-generated silent synapses; and (3) what behavioral consequences are produced by silent synapse-based circuitry remodeling? This short review analyzes related experimental results, and extends them to some speculations. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of CINP.

  20. Underlying skills of oral and silent reading

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Van Den Boer, Madelon; van Bergen, Elsje; de Jong, Peter F.

    2014-01-01

    Many studies have examined reading and reading development. The majority of these studies, however, focused on oral reading rather than on the more dominant silent reading mode. Similarly, it is common practice to assess oral reading abilities rather than silent reading abilities in schools and in

  1. Modification of hormonal secretion in clinically silent pituitary adenomas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daems, Tania; Verhelst, Johan; Michotte, Alex; Abrams, Pascale; De Ridder, Dirk; Abs, Roger

    2009-01-01

    Silent pituitary adenomas are a subtype of adenomas characterized by positive immunoreactivity for one or more hormones classically secreted by normal pituitary cells but without clinical expression, although in some occasions enhanced or changed secretory activity can develop over time. Silent corticotroph adenomas are the classical example of this phenomenon. A series of about 500 pituitary adenomas seen over a period of 20 years were screened for modification in hormonal secretion. Biochemical and immunohistochemical data were reviewed. Two cases were retrieved, one silent somatotroph adenoma and one thyrotroph adenoma, both without specific clinical features or biochemical abnormalities, which presented 20 years after initial surgery with evidence of acromegaly and hyperthyroidism, respectively. While the acromegaly was controlled by a combination of somatostatin analogs and growth hormone (GH) receptor antagonist therapy, neurosurgery was necessary to manage the thyrotroph adenoma. Immunohistochemical examination demonstrated an increase in the number of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH)-immunoreactive cells compared to the first tissue. Apparently, the mechanisms responsible for the secretory modifications are different, being a change in secretory capacity in the silent somatotroph adenoma and a quantitative change in the silent thyrotroph adenoma. These two cases, one somatotroph and one thyrotroph adenoma, are an illustration that clinically silent pituitary adenomas may in rare circumstances evolve over time and become active, as previously demonstrated in silent corticotroph adenomas.

  2. Reasoning about Function Objects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nordio, Martin; Calcagno, Cristiano; Meyer, Bertrand; Müller, Peter; Tschannen, Julian

    Modern object-oriented languages support higher-order implementations through function objects such as delegates in C#, agents in Eiffel, or closures in Scala. Function objects bring a new level of abstraction to the object-oriented programming model, and require a comparable extension to specification and verification techniques. We introduce a verification methodology that extends function objects with auxiliary side-effect free (pure) methods to model logical artifacts: preconditions, postconditions and modifies clauses. These pure methods can be used to specify client code abstractly, that is, independently from specific instantiations of the function objects. To demonstrate the feasibility of our approach, we have implemented an automatic prover, which verifies several non-trivial examples.

  3. Silent store detection and recording in memory storage

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bose, Pradip; Cher, Chen-Yong; Nair, Ravi

    2017-03-14

    An aspect includes receiving a write request that includes a memory address and write data. Stored data is read from a memory location at the memory address. Based on determining that the memory location was not previously modified, the stored data is compared to the write data. Based on the stored data matching the write data, the write request is completed without writing the write data to the memory and a corresponding silent store bit, in a silent store bitmap is set. Based on the stored data not matching the write data, the write data is written to the memory location, the silent store bit is reset and a corresponding modified bit is set. At least one of an application and an operating system is provided access to the silent store bitmap.

  4. Silent store detection and recording in memory storage

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bose, Pradip; Cher, Chen-Yong; Nair, Ravi

    2017-03-07

    An aspect includes receiving a write request that includes a memory address and write data. Stored data is read from a memory location at the memory address. Based on determining that the memory location was not previously modified, the stored data is compared to the write data. Based on the stored data matching the write data, the write request is completed without writing the write data to the memory and a corresponding silent store bit, in a silent store bitmap is set. Based on the stored data not matching the write data, the write data is written to the memory location, the silent store bit is reset and a corresponding modified bit is set. At least one of an application and an operating system is provided access to the silent store bitmap.

  5. Recurrent Silent Thyroiditis as a Sequela of Postpartum Thyroiditis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Paul

    2014-01-01

    Thyroiditis encompasses a group of disorders characterized by thyroid inflammation. Though clinically indistinguishable from silent thyroiditis, postpartum thyroiditis occurs in women within 12 months after delivery. Recurrent postpartum thyroiditis in subsequent pregnancies is common, but recurrent silent thyroiditis is rare. We reported a case of patient with recurrent episodes of thyroiditis, unrelated to pregnancy, after an episode of postpartum thyroiditis. It is of interest that postpartum thyroiditis and silent thyroiditis could occur closely to each other; however, the link between these disorders is not well established. This report is to remind physicians of the possibility of recurrent silent thyroiditis in women with a history of postpartum thyroiditis. PMID:24987536

  6. Assessment of Silent T1-weighted head imaging at 7 T

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Costagli, Mauro; Tiberi, Gianluigi; Tosetti, Michela [Imago7 Foundation, Pisa (Italy); IRCCS Stella Maris, Laboratory of Medical Physics and Biotechnologies for Magnetic Resonance, Pisa (Italy); Symms, Mark R. [GE Applied Science Laboratory, Pisa (Italy); Angeli, Lorenzo [University of Pisa, Department of Translational Research and New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, Pisa (Italy); Kelley, Douglas A.C. [GE Healthcare Technologies, San Francisco, CA (United States); Biagi, Laura [IRCCS Stella Maris, Laboratory of Medical Physics and Biotechnologies for Magnetic Resonance, Pisa (Italy); Farnetani, Andrea [University of Ferrara, Engineering Department, Ferrara (Italy); Materiacustica s.r.l., Ferrara (Italy); Rua, Catarina [University of Pisa, Department of Physics, Pisa (Italy); Donatelli, Graziella [Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Pisana (AOUP), Neuroradiology Unit, Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Pisa (Italy); Cosottini, Mirco [Imago7 Foundation, Pisa (Italy); University of Pisa, Department of Translational Research and New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, Pisa (Italy)

    2016-06-15

    This study aimed to assess the performance of a ''Silent'' zero time of echo (ZTE) sequence for T1-weighted brain imaging using a 7 T MRI system. The Silent sequence was evaluated qualitatively by two neuroradiologists, as well as quantitatively in terms of tissue contrast, homogeneity, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and acoustic noise. It was compared to conventional T1-weighted imaging (FSPGR). Adequacy for automated segmentation was evaluated in comparison with FSPGR acquired at 7 T and 1.5 T. Specific absorption rate (SAR) was also measured. Tissue contrast and homogeneity in Silent were remarkable in deep brain structures and in the occipital and temporal lobes. Mean tissue contrast was significantly (p < 0.002) higher in Silent (0.25) than in FSPGR (0.11), which favoured automated tissue segmentation. On the other hand, Silent images had lower SNR with respect to conventional imaging: average SNR of FSPGR was 2.66 times that of Silent. Silent images were affected by artefacts related to projection reconstruction, which nevertheless did not compromise the depiction of brain tissues. Silent acquisition was 35 dB(A) quieter than FSPGR and less than 2.5 dB(A) louder than ambient noise. Six-minute average SAR was <2 W/kg. The ZTE Silent sequence provides high-contrast T1-weighted imaging with low acoustic noise at 7 T. (orig.)

  7. Incidence and implications of silent hydronephrosis following percutaneous nephrolithotomy
.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dagrosa, Lawrence; Moses, Rachel; Pais, Vernon M

    2017-01-01

    While routine renal imaging following ureteroscopy for urinary calculi has been recommended to screen for asymptomatic "silent" obstruction, the rate of silent obstruction following percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) remains poorly defined, and no consensus recommendations exist on routine postoperative imaging. At our institution, we sought to assess the incidence of silent hydronephrosis (SH), as a screen for obstruction, following PCNL. The records of all 162 patients who met study inclusion criteria were reviewed. Of this group, 112 patients presented for their scheduled renal ultrasonography 4 - 6 weeks following stent removal to screen for SH. Asymptomatic patients found to have ultrasonographic evidence of hydronephrosis were further analyzed. SH was noted in 16% (18/112) of patients. Two required subsequent ureteroscopic stone extraction (1.8%), one of which also underwent endoureterotomy for a ureteral stricture. Four patients (22%) had stable hydronephrosis and declined functional imaging, 2 patients (11%) had a known partial ureteropelvic junction obstruction and declined intervention. SH resolved spontaneously in 50% (9/18) with a mean time to resolution of 6.3 months. There was no difference in stone complexity based on Guy's stone score between groups, 2.8 (± 0.92) vs. 2.4 (± 1.03), p = 0.34. Although not statistically significant, patients with SH were more likely to have had residual stone fragments postoperatively, 39% (7/18) vs. 19% (18/94), p = 0.067. SH following, PCNL was identified in 16% of this screened population, with the majority requiring no intervention. However, SH may be attributed to residual stone or stricture, which may have been otherwise unrecognized in up to 2% of patients undergoing PCNL. Consideration should be given for routine postoperative ultrasound to screen for silent obstruction following PCNL.
.

  8. Usefulness of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty in silent myocardial ischemia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hou, Mami

    1996-01-01

    The usefulness of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) was assessed in patients with exercise-induced asymptomatic myocardial ischemia (silent ischemia) and compared with exercise-induced symptomatic myocardial ischemia (symptomatic ischemia). Patients with single vessel coronary artery disease (51 with angina pectoris, 40 with old myocardial infarction) and evidence of stress-induced ischemia on thallium-201 single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) underwent successful PTCA. Thirty-seven percent of angina patients and 60% of infarction patients showed asymptomatic exercise-induced ischemia. There was no significant difference in population characteristics between silent and symptomatic patients. Patients with silent angina had significantly higher percentage thallium uptake and washout rate than symptomatic patients. After PTCA, both percentage diameter stenosis and percentage thallium uptake were improved in all patients with angina irrespective of the presence or absence of symptoms. There were no significant differences in percentage thallium uptake and washout rate between patients with silent and symptomatic infarction. After PTCA, percentage diameter stenosis, percentage thallium uptake, and washout rate improved in all infarction patients irrespective of the symptoms. Zero percent of silent angina patients, 12% of symptomatic angina patients, 12% of silent infarction patients, 19% of symptomatic infarction patients had cardiac events during about 4.5 years after PTCA. The incidence of cardiac events did not significantly differ in any patient group. PTCA improved myocardial perfusion in all patients, and the incidence of cardiac events did not differ between the silent and symptomatic groups. Revascularization with PTCA is suitable for patients with silent as well as symptomatic ischemia. (author)

  9. Neural responses to silent lipreading in normal hearing male and female subjects

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ruytjens, Liesbet; Albers, Frans; van Dijk, Pim; Wit, Hero; Willemsen, Antoon

    In the past, researchers investigated silent lipreading in normal hearing subjects with functional neuroimaging tools and showed how the brain processes visual stimuli that are normally accompanied by an auditory counterpart. Previously, we showed activation differences between males and females in

  10. Origin of the low-level EMG during the silent period following transcranial magnetic stimulation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Butler, Jane E; Petersen, Nicolas C; Herbert, Robert D

    2012-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: The cortical silent period refers to a period of near silence in the electromyogram (EMG) after transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) of the motor cortex during contraction. However, low-level EMG of unknown origin is often present. We hypothesised that it arises through spinal...

  11. Relativistic numerical cosmology with silent universes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bolejko, Krzysztof

    2018-01-01

    Relativistic numerical cosmology is most often based either on the exact solutions of the Einstein equations, or perturbation theory, or weak-field limit, or the BSSN formalism. The silent universe provides an alternative approach to investigate relativistic evolution of cosmological systems. The silent universe is based on the solution of the Einstein equations in 1  +  3 comoving coordinates with additional constraints imposed. These constraints include: the gravitational field is sourced by dust and cosmological constant only, both rotation and magnetic part of the Weyl tensor vanish, and the shear is diagnosable. This paper describes the code simsilun (free software distributed under the terms of the reposi General Public License), which implements the equations of the silent universe. The paper also discusses applications of the silent universe and it uses the Millennium simulation to set up the initial conditions for the code simsilun. The simulation obtained this way consists of 16 777 216 worldlines, which are evolved from z  =  80 to z  =  0. Initially, the mean evolution (averaged over the whole domain) follows the evolution of the background ΛCDM model. However, once the evolution of cosmic structures becomes nonlinear, the spatial curvature evolves from ΩK =0 to ΩK ≈ 0.1 at the present day. The emergence of the spatial curvature is associated with ΩM and Ω_Λ being smaller by approximately 0.05 compared to the ΛCDM.

  12. Silent Flange Coupling Design Used for the Schenck Eddy Current Dynamometer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schinteie, D.; Croitorescu, V.

    2016-11-01

    The silent flange used for coupling different machines/systems to an eddy current dynamometer represents one of the modular components each test-bench should use. By introducing a silent flange into a dynamometer, the coupling steps are easier and faster. For an appropriate design, the silent flange was analyzed using dedicated software during different operation procedures and scenarios, for materials that allow easy manufacturing. This study shows that the design for this silent flange model has no danger of failure due to the small deformation and the values for the equivalent stresses. The silent flange coupling is suitable for the dynamometer for his high positioning accuracy, the zero backlash and the fact that there is no motion between the shafts.

  13. Multiple Silent Lacunes Are Associated with Recurrent Ischemic Stroke

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Søren Due; Skjøth, Flemming; Yavarian, Yousef

    2016-01-01

    ackground: Silent lacunes are a common finding on brain imaging in ischemic stroke patients, but the prognostic significance of these lesions is uncertain. We aimed at investigating the association of silent lacunes and the risk of ischemic stroke recurrence, death, and cardiovascular events...... in a cohort of patients with incident ischemic stroke and no atrial fibrillation (AF). Methods: We included 786 patients (mean age 59.5 (SD 14.0); 42.9% females) in a registry-based, observational cohort study on patients with first-ever ischemic stroke. On brain MRI we assessed the number of silent lacunes...... as none, single, or multiple and we calculated stratified incidence rates of the outcomes. Cox proportional hazard ratios (HRs) adjusted for age, gender, congestive heart failure, hypertension, diabetes, and vascular disease were calculated with no silent lacunes as reference. In additional analyses, we...

  14. Ventricular Fibrillation Associated With Dynamic Changes in J-Point Elevation in a Patient With Silent Thyroiditis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karashima, Shigehiro; Tsuda, Toyonobu; Wakabayashi, Yusuke; Kometani, Mitsuhiro; Demura, Masashi; Ichise, Taro; Kawashiri, Masa-Aki; Takeda, Yoshiyu; Hayashi, Kenshi; Yoneda, Takashi

    2018-02-01

    A J wave is a common electrocardiographic finding in the general population. Individuals with prominent J waves in multiple electrocardiogram (ECG) leads have a higher risk of lethal arrhythmias than those with low-amplitude J waves. There are few reports about the relationship between thyroid function and J-wave amplitude. We report the case of a 45-year-old man who had unexpected ventricular fibrillation (VF). He had dynamic J-point elevation in multiple ECG leads. Possible early repolarization syndrome was diagnosed. He also had thyrotoxicosis caused by silent thyroiditis, and his J-wave amplitude decreased according to changes in thyroid function because of spontaneous remission of silent thyroiditis. There was a positive correlation between serum triiodothyronine levels and J-wave amplitudes. The findings in case suggested silent thyroiditis may contribute to the occurrence of VF in a patient with dynamic changes in J-point elevation in multiple ECG leads. Thyrotoxicosis is a relatively common endocrine disease; therefore, clinicians should pay attention to J-wave amplitude in the ECG of patients with thyrotoxicosis.

  15. Ventricular Fibrillation Associated With Dynamic Changes in J-Point Elevation in a Patient With Silent Thyroiditis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsuda, Toyonobu; Wakabayashi, Yusuke; Kometani, Mitsuhiro; Demura, Masashi; Ichise, Taro; Kawashiri, Masa-aki; Takeda, Yoshiyu; Hayashi, Kenshi; Yoneda, Takashi

    2018-01-01

    A J wave is a common electrocardiographic finding in the general population. Individuals with prominent J waves in multiple electrocardiogram (ECG) leads have a higher risk of lethal arrhythmias than those with low-amplitude J waves. There are few reports about the relationship between thyroid function and J-wave amplitude. We report the case of a 45-year-old man who had unexpected ventricular fibrillation (VF). He had dynamic J-point elevation in multiple ECG leads. Possible early repolarization syndrome was diagnosed. He also had thyrotoxicosis caused by silent thyroiditis, and his J-wave amplitude decreased according to changes in thyroid function because of spontaneous remission of silent thyroiditis. There was a positive correlation between serum triiodothyronine levels and J-wave amplitudes. The findings in case suggested silent thyroiditis may contribute to the occurrence of VF in a patient with dynamic changes in J-point elevation in multiple ECG leads. Thyrotoxicosis is a relatively common endocrine disease; therefore, clinicians should pay attention to J-wave amplitude in the ECG of patients with thyrotoxicosis. PMID:29383332

  16. Using Early Silent Film to Teach French: The Language of "Cinema Muet."

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bloom, Michelle E.

    1995-01-01

    Discusses the use of early silent films in second-language classrooms, focusing on the experiences of one instructor in using early French silents in elementary and intermediate French courses. Sample lesson plans and information on the availability of French silents are also provided. (Contains 17 references.) (MDM)

  17. Current practice for diagnosis and management of silent atrial fibrillation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dobreanu, Dan; Svendsen, Jesper Hastrup; Lewalter, Thorsten

    2013-01-01

    for the diagnosis and management of silent AF. This survey is based on an electronic questionnaire sent to the European Heart Rhythm Association Research Network partners. Responses were received from 33 centres in 16 countries. The preferred screening methods for silent AF in patients with rhythm control...... for such patients. Most responders preferred rate control over rhythm control in patients with silent AF, although some favoured pulmonary vein isolation in young patients. However, oral anticoagulant therapy in patients at high thromboembolic risk was considered mandatory by most, provided that at least one......Although it is well known that silent atrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with morbidity and mortality rates similar to those of symptomatic AF, no specific strategy for screening and management of this form of AF has been advocated. The purpose of this survey was to identify current practices...

  18. Dynamic wind turbine models in power system simulation tool DIgSILENT

    OpenAIRE

    Hansen, A.D.; Jauch, C.; Sørensen, Poul Ejnar; Iov, F.; Blaabjerg, F.

    2004-01-01

    The present report describes the dynamic wind turbine models implemented in the power system simulation tool DIgSILENT (Version 12.0). The developed models are a part of the results of a national research project, whose overall objective is to create amodel database in different simulation tools. This model database should be able to support the analysis of the interaction between the mechanical structure of the wind turbine and the electrical grid during different operational modes. The repo...

  19. Effect of objective function on multi-objective inverse planning of radiation therapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Guoli; Wu Yican; Song Gang; Wang Shifang

    2006-01-01

    There are two kinds of objective functions in radiotherapy inverse planning: dose distribution-based and Dose-Volume Histogram (DVH)-based functions. The treatment planning in our days is still a trial and error process because the multi-objective problem is solved by transforming it into a single objective problem using a specific set of weights for each object. This work investigates the problem of objective function setting based on Pareto multi-optimization theory, and compares the effect on multi-objective inverse planning of those two kinds of objective functions including calculation time, converge speed, etc. The basis of objective function setting on inverse planning is discussed. (authors)

  20. Silent stroke and advance in neuroimaging

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Okada, Yasushi; Sadoshima, Seizo; Hasuo, Kanehiro; Saku, Yoshisuke; Fujishima, Masatoshi (Kyushu Univ., Fukuoka (Japan). Faculty of Medicine)

    1990-10-01

    Recently, silent strokes are more frequently demonstrated by CT and MRI with the advance of neuroimaging. The infarcted lesions unrelated to the neurological symptoms were detected in 8, 30, 28, 34, 60, 63% of the patients with cerebral infarction in 1977-78, 1982, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, respectively, by CT and/or MRI, and the asymptomatic patients with incidentally diagnosed cerebral infarction were amounted to 16% (8 of 51 cases) in 1988. Of the recent 50 patients with cerebral infarction examined by CT and MRI, asymptomatic cerebrovascular lesions were detected in 25 (50%) by CT and in 35 (70%) by MRI. MRI also revealed asymptomatic old hemorrhage in 7 (14%). The clinical significance of silent stroke was discussed. (author).

  1. Altered Modulation of Silent Period in Tongue Motor Cortex of Persistent Developmental Stuttering in Relation to Stuttering Severity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Busan, Pierpaolo; Del Ben, Giovanni; Bernardini, Simona; Natarelli, Giulia; Bencich, Marco; Monti, Fabrizio; Manganotti, Paolo; Battaglini, Piero Paolo

    2016-01-01

    Motor balance in developmental stuttering (DS) was investigated with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), with the aim to define novel neural markers of persistent DS in adulthood. Eleven DS adult males were evaluated with TMS on tongue primary motor cortex, compared to 15 matched fluent speakers, in a "state" condition (i.e. stutterers vs. fluent speakers, no overt stuttering). Motor and silent period thresholds (SPT), recruitment curves, and silent period durations were acquired by recording tongue motor evoked potentials. Tongue silent period duration was increased in DS, especially in the left hemisphere (Pstuttering severity. Pre-TMS electromyography data gave overlapping evidence. Findings suggest the existence of a complex intracortical balance in DS tongue primary motor cortex, with a particular interplay between excitatory and inhibitory mechanisms, also in neural substrates related to silent periods. Findings are discussed with respect to functional and structural impairments in stuttering, and are also proposed as novel neural markers of a stuttering "state" in persistent DS, helping to define more focused treatments (e.g. neuro-modulation).

  2. EFFICACY OF METOPROLOL AND DILTIAZEM IN TREATING SILENT-MYOCARDIAL-ISCHEMIA

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    PORTEGIES, MCM; SIJBRING, P; GOBEL, JAM; VIERSMA, JW; LIE, KI

    1994-01-01

    Recent studies strongly support the prognostic importance of transient silent ischemia. Because patients with silent ischemia are at higher risk of a cardiac event, they are likely to benefit not only from control of symptoms, but also from treatment directed at prevention of ischemia. The efficacy

  3. (In-)Secure messaging with the Silent Circle instant messaging protocol

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Verschoor, S.R.; Lange, T.

    2016-01-01

    Silent Text, the instant messaging application by the company Silent Circle, provides its users with end-to-end encrypted communication on the Blackphone and other smartphones. The underlying protocol, SCimp, has received many extensions during the update to version 2, but has not been subjected to

  4. Silent synapses in neuromuscular junction development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tomàs, Josep; Santafé, Manel M; Lanuza, Maria A; García, Neus; Besalduch, Nuria; Tomàs, Marta

    2011-01-01

    In the last few years, evidence has been found to suggest that some synaptic contacts become silent but can be functionally recruited before they completely retract during postnatal synapse elimination in muscle. The physiological mechanism of developmental synapse elimination may be better understood by studying this synapse recruitment. This Mini-Review collects previously published data and new results to propose a molecular mechanism for axonal disconnection. The mechanism is based on protein kinase C (PKC)-dependent inhibition of acetylcholine (ACh) release. PKC activity may be stimulated by a methoctramine-sensitive M2-type muscarinic receptor and by calcium inflow though P/Q- and L-type voltage-dependent calcium channels. In addition, tropomyosin-related tyrosine kinase B (trkB) receptor-mediated brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) activity may oppose the PKC-mediated ACh release depression. Thus, a balance between trkB and muscarinic pathways may contribute to the final functional suppression of some neuromuscular synapses during development. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  5. The diagnosis of silent myocardial ischemia. Motion-Frozen (or morphing) myocardial perfusion imaging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chang, Cheng; Ye, Bo; Xie, Wenhui; Zhang, Daoliang; Lei, Bei; Ye, Xiaodan

    2016-01-01

    Silent myocardial ischemia is typically defined as objective evidence of myocardial ischemia in patients without subjective ischemia symptoms. Currently, coronary artery angiography is the gold standard for diagnosis of asymptomatic coronary artery disease (CAD). Computed tomography coronary angiography (CTCA) can visually demonstrate the morphology, trend and extent of coronary stenosis and is commonly used in clinical screening of CAD. Myocardial perfusion imaging can be used not only to identify whether anatomical stenosis causes myocardial dysfunction, but to also assess the risk stratification and prognosis of myocardial disease (MD). Myocardial perfusion imaging using morphing combined with CTCA can simultaneously show the relationship between CAD and myocardial ischemia from an anatomical and functional aspect. This allows earlier diagnosis of asymptomatic CAD myocardial ischemia, accurate identification of the culprit vessels, and could prevent unnecessary interventional therapy. The 1-day dobutamine stress/resting met-hod is also one of the methods used. The combination of CTCA and the morphing technique can provide anatomical and functional information on coronary arteries at the same time, significantly improving the diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of MD.

  6. Recurrent Silent Thyroiditis as a Sequela of Postpartum Thyroiditis

    OpenAIRE

    Hanseree, Preaw; Salvador, Vincent Bryan; Sachmechi, Issac; Kim, Paul

    2014-01-01

    Thyroiditis encompasses a group of disorders characterized by thyroid inflammation. Though clinically indistinguishable from silent thyroiditis, postpartum thyroiditis occurs in women within 12 months after delivery. Recurrent postpartum thyroiditis in subsequent pregnancies is common, but recurrent silent thyroiditis is rare. We reported a case of patient with recurrent episodes of thyroiditis, unrelated to pregnancy, after an episode of postpartum thyroiditis. It is of interest that postpar...

  7. Saccharomyces cerevisiae Linker Histone Hho1p Functionally Interacts with Core Histone H4 and Negatively Regulates the Establishment of Transcriptionally Silent Chromatin*

    OpenAIRE

    Yu, Qun; Kuzmiak, Holly; Zou, Yanfei; Olsen, Lars; Defossez, Pierre-Antoine; Bi, Xin

    2009-01-01

    Saccharomyces cerevisiae linker histone Hho1p is not essential for cell viability, and very little is known about its function in vivo. We show that deletion of HHO1 (hho1Δ) suppresses the defect in transcriptional silencing caused by a mutation in the globular domain of histone H4. hho1Δ also suppresses the reduction in HML silencing by the deletion of SIR1 that is involved in the establishment of silent chromatin at HML. We further show that hho1Δ suppresses chan...

  8. Towards Contactless Silent Speech Recognition Based on Detection of Active and Visible Articulators Using IR-UWB Radar.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shin, Young Hoon; Seo, Jiwon

    2016-10-29

    People with hearing or speaking disabilities are deprived of the benefits of conventional speech recognition technology because it is based on acoustic signals. Recent research has focused on silent speech recognition systems that are based on the motions of a speaker's vocal tract and articulators. Because most silent speech recognition systems use contact sensors that are very inconvenient to users or optical systems that are susceptible to environmental interference, a contactless and robust solution is hence required. Toward this objective, this paper presents a series of signal processing algorithms for a contactless silent speech recognition system using an impulse radio ultra-wide band (IR-UWB) radar. The IR-UWB radar is used to remotely and wirelessly detect motions of the lips and jaw. In order to extract the necessary features of lip and jaw motions from the received radar signals, we propose a feature extraction algorithm. The proposed algorithm noticeably improved speech recognition performance compared to the existing algorithm during our word recognition test with five speakers. We also propose a speech activity detection algorithm to automatically select speech segments from continuous input signals. Thus, speech recognition processing is performed only when speech segments are detected. Our testbed consists of commercial off-the-shelf radar products, and the proposed algorithms are readily applicable without designing specialized radar hardware for silent speech processing.

  9. Silent Conversations in the Labyrinth of Artistic Research and Practice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eis, Andrea

    2013-01-01

    This essay explores silent conversations with the past, but also navigates through the labyrinth of artistic process, with its manifold passages of research, chance occurrence and aesthetic experimentation. The double metaphors of silent conversations and labyrinths apply to the essay and the artwork within it, to the research and to the practice.…

  10. Correlation between increased platelet ADP aggregability and silent brain infarcts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ono, Kenichiro; Arimoto, Hirohiko; Shirotani, Toshiki

    2012-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation between platelet aggregability and silent brain infarcts. The study subjects were 445 people (264 men, 181 women; mean age, 53±14 years) with no neurologic signs, history of brain tumor, trauma, cerebrovascular disease, or antiplatelet medications. Adenosine diphosphate (ADP)-induced platelet aggregation was measured by the aggregation-size analytic method. Platelet aggregability was classified into 9 classes. The presence of headache/vertigo, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, or smoking was elicited by questioning or blood sampling. A head MRI scan was performed, and if marked atherosclerosis or obvious stenosis in the intracranial vessels was detected, it was defined as a positive MR angiography (MRA) finding. Silent brain infarcts were detected in 26.3% of subjects. Hyperaggregability defined as that above class 6, 7, and 8 was present in 43.8%, 30.8%, and 15.7% of subjects, respectively. The risk factors for silent brain infarcts by multiple logistic regression analysis were aging, hypertension, positive MRA findings, and hyperaggregability. Platelet ADP hyperaggregability might be a risk factor for silent brain infarcts. (author)

  11. Silent (painless) thyroiditis. Evidence of a geographic variation in frequency

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vitug, A.C.; Goldman, J.M.

    1985-03-01

    Recent reports suggest that 14% to 23% of thyrotoxic patients have silent (painless) thyroiditis, a newly described syndrome characterized by transient thyrotoxicosis with a low radioactive iodine uptake. A three-year review at a Brooklyn (NY) hospital showed only one definite and three possible cases of silent thyroiditis among 86 thyrotoxic patients. At most, 4% to 5% of thyrotoxic patients had silent thyroiditis. The authors suggest a geographic variation in this syndrome. Most cases and the largest series are from Japan and the Great Lakes area of North America. The latter may be related to increased iodine intake over many years in a previously endemic area of hypoiodidism and goiter, although other local factors may also be involved.

  12. Silent (painless) thyroiditis. Evidence of a geographic variation in frequency

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vitug, A.C.; Goldman, J.M.

    1985-01-01

    Recent reports suggest that 14% to 23% of thyrotoxic patients have silent (painless) thyroiditis, a newly described syndrome characterized by transient thyrotoxicosis with a low radioactive iodine uptake. A three-year review at a Brooklyn (NY) hospital showed only one definite and three possible cases of silent thyroiditis among 86 thyrotoxic patients. At most, 4% to 5% of thyrotoxic patients had silent thyroiditis. The authors suggest a geographic variation in this syndrome. Most cases and the largest series are from Japan and the Great Lakes area of North America. The latter may be related to increased iodine intake over many years in a previously endemic area of hypoiodidism and goiter, although other local factors may also be involved

  13. Dynamic wind turbine models in power system simulation tool DIgSILENT

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hansen, A.C.; Jauch, C.; Soerensen, P.; Iov, F.; Blaabjerg, F.

    2003-12-01

    The present report describes the dynamic wind turbine models implemented in the power system simulation tool DIgSILENT (Version 12.0). The developed models are a part of the results of a national research project, whose overall objective is to create a model database in different simulation tools. This model database should be able to support the analysis of the interaction between the mechanical structure of the wind turbine and the electrical grid during different operational modes. The report provides a description of the wind turbines modelling, both at a component level and at a system level. The report contains both the description of DIgSILENT built-in models for the electrical components of a grid connected wind turbine (e.g. induction generators, power converters, transformers) and the models developed by the user, in the dynamic simulation language DSL of DIgSILENT, for the non-electrical components of the wind turbine (wind model, aerodynamic model, mechanical model). The initialisation issues on the wind turbine models into the power system simulation are also presented. However, the main attention in this report is drawn to the modelling at the system level of two wind turbine concepts: 1. Active stall wind turbine with induction generator 2. Variable speed, variable pitch wind turbine with doubly fed induction generator. These wind turbine concept models can be used and even extended for the study of different aspects, e.g. the assessment of power quality, control strategies, connection of the wind turbine at different types of grid and storage systems. For both these two concepts, control strategies are developed and implemented, their performance assessed and discussed by means of simulations. (au)

  14. Migraine with aura and silent brain infarcts lack of mediation of patent foramen ovale.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Calviere, L; Tall, P; Massabuau, P; Bonneville, F; Larrue, V

    2013-12-01

    Population-based studies have shown a heightened prevalence of clinically silent brain infarcts in subjects who have migraine with aura (MA). We sought to determine whether this association could be confirmed in young patients with cryptogenic ischemic stroke, and explored the role of patent foramen ovale (PFO) as a potential underlying mechanism. Patients were selected from a registry of young patients consecutively treated for ischemic stroke in a tertiary university hospital among those without definite cause of stroke. Patients with PFO were matched for age and gender with patients with normal atrial septum. Migraine and MA were evaluated after patient selection and matching. Silent brain infarcts were independently evaluated on MRI. We included 100 patients [60 men; mean age (SD), 44.8 years (8.3)], 50 patients with PFO. We found silent brain infarcts in 36 patients and MA in 13 patients. MA was more frequent in patients with silent brain infarcts than in patients without silent brain infarcts (25.0% vs. 6.3%; OR, 5; 95% CI, 1.4-17.6; P = 0.01). Traditional cardiovascular risk factors were not associated with silent brain infarcts. PFO was neither associated with MA (OR, 1.7; 95% CI, 0.5-5.3) nor silent brain infarcts (OR, 0.7; 95% CI, 0.3-1.5). The association of MA with silent brain infarcts was not altered after adjustment for PFO. Findings suggest that silent brain infarcts in young patients with cryptogenic stroke is associated with MA. We found no evidence for a mediating effect of PFO on this association. © 2013 The Author(s) European Journal of Neurology © 2013 EFNS.

  15. IMRT optimization with pseudo-biologic objective function

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yi, B. Y.; Ahn, S. D.; Kim, J. H.; Lee, S. W.; Choi, E. K.

    2002-01-01

    The pseudo-biologic objective function has been proposed for the IMRT optimization. It is similar to the biological objective function in mathematical shape, but uses physical parameters. The pseudo-biologic objective function concept is consisted of the target coverage index (TCI) and the organ score index (OSI), was introduced. The TCI was expressed as the sum of all of the weighted bins of target dose volume histogram (DVH). The weights were given as the normal distribution of which the average is 100 % and the standard deviation is ±. The OSI was expressed as similar way. The average of the normal distribution was 0% of the dose and that of standard deviation was selected as a function of limiting dose and its importance. The objective function could be calculated as the product of the TCI and OSI's. The RTP Tool Box (RTB) was used for this study. The constraints applied in the optimization was intuitively clinical experience based numbers, while the physical objective function asks just numbers which are not necessarily based on the clinic, and the parameters for the biologic objective functions are uncertain. The OSI's from the pseudo-biological function showed better results than from the physical functions, while TCI's showed similar tendency. We could show that the pseudo-biologic function can be used for an IMRT objective function on behalf of the biological objective function

  16. Isquemia miocárdica silente en diabéticos tipo 2 Silent myocardial ischemia in type 2 diabetes patients

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yordanka Piña Rivera

    2012-08-01

    con los niveles patológicos de colesterol y el mal control glucémico.Objectives: to determine the frequency of silent myocardial infarction in type 2 diabetes patients and its relation with the metabolic control. Methods: a cross-sectional descriptive study of 79 asymptomatic patients suffering type 2 diabetes mellitus and without a history of ischemic cardiopathy, blood hypertension or smoking. These patients were seen at the endocrinology service of "Dr Carlos J. Finlay" from February 2009 to February 2011. They underwent Doppler tissue imaging echocardiography and their levels of glycemia on fasting, pospandrial glycemia, glycated haemoglobin, cholesterol and triglycerides were determined. The analyzed clinical variables lfor the silent myocardial ischemia were age, sex, time of evolution of diabetes and body mass index. Frequency distributions and percentage estimations were used for the qualitative variables whereas the Chi square test served to establish relationships among variables. Results: the average age of the patients was 54 years, 69.1 % were males and 31.9 % females. The Doppler tissue imaging echocardiography showed signs of myocardial ischemia in 20 % of these patients, and 75 % had pathological levels of total cholesterol with statistically significant relation (p=0.01 and their relative risk of developing myocardial ischemia was 4.4 times higher than the rest of patients with normal cholesterol. The values of glycemia on fasting, pospandrial glycemia and glycated haemoglobin were significantly higher than in the ischemic group. The patients having significantly higher values of glycemia on fasting exhibited a risk of myocardial ischemia that was 10.5 times higher than that of the patients with adequate values for this variable. Likewise, the risk of getting sick was 12 times higher in those cases with high values of pospandrial glycemia. Conclusions: silent myocardial ischemia is frequent in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients and is associated with

  17. Cultural function and psychological transformation in psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic psychotherapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ronningstam, Elsa

    2006-10-01

    Cultural experience of silence and individual vicissitudes between talking and being silent influence the way individuals form an alliance and pursue the analytic process. This is of relevance both for the patient and for the psychoanalyst/therapist. The author describes a patient, whose silent phase occurred in the fifth and sixth year of intensive psychoanalytic psychotherapy. She suggests that a) the silence functioned as a protection of a space for the core self and promoted inner transformation and psychological development; b) the silence involved a transference-countertransference matrix with projective identifications of the patient's internalized mother- and father-related objects that caused a tenuous balance between maintaining and erasing the relationship between the patient and the author; c) the silence phase was highly influenced by the author's own cultural background and what she brought into the relationship of tolerance of being silent in the presence of another, and understanding of the many complex functions of silence. During the silent phase the patient moved from simply describing and naming her affects and inner experiences or expressing them as somatic processes, to being able to internally access and verbally convey her own affects and experiences in the therapeutic alliance. This process involved both affect desomatization, affect differentiation, and affect verbalization.

  18. The written voice: implicit memory effects of voice characteristics following silent reading and auditory presentation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abramson, Marianne

    2007-12-01

    After being familiarized with two voices, either implicit (auditory lexical decision) or explicit memory (auditory recognition) for words from silently read sentences was assessed among 32 men and 32 women volunteers. In the silently read sentences, the sex of speaker was implied in the initial words, e.g., "He said, ..." or "She said...". Tone in question versus statement was also manipulated by appropriate punctuation. Auditory lexical decision priming was found for sex- and tone-consistent items following silent reading, but only up to 5 min. after silent reading. In a second study, similar lexical decision priming was found following listening to the sentences, although these effects remained reliable after a 2-day delay. The effect sizes for lexical decision priming showed that tone-consistency and sex-consistency were strong following both silent reading and listening 5 min. after studying. These results suggest that readers create episodic traces of text from auditory images of silently read sentences as they do during listening.

  19. Silent and a audible stereotypes: The constitution of "ethnic character" in Serbian epic poetry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Đerić Gordana

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available The article deals with the explanatory relevance of the concept of stereotype in one of its original meanings - as a "mental image". This meaning of the term is the starting point for further differentiations, such as: between linguistic and behavioral stereotypes (in the sense of nonverbal, expected responses; universal and particular stereotypes; self representative and introspective stereotypes; permanent and contemporary stereotypes; and finally, what is most important for our purposes, the difference between silent and audible stereotypes. These distinctions, along with the functions of stereotype, are discussed in the first part of the paper. In the second part, the relations of silent and audible stereotypes are tested against the introduction of "innovative vocabularies" in popular lore. In other words, the explanatory power of this differentiation is checked through an analysis of unconventional motives in Serbian epic poems. The goal of the argument is to clarify the procedure of self creation of masculinity as a relevant feature of the "national character" through "tactic games" of silent and audible stereotypes. The examination of these "poetic strategies" serves a twofold purpose: to illustrate the process of constructing particular features of the "ethno type", on one hand, and to check hypotheses and models which are taken as frameworks in analyzing stereotypes, on the other.

  20. Sound effects: Multimodal input helps infants find displaced objects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shinskey, Jeanne L

    2017-09-01

    Before 9 months, infants use sound to retrieve a stationary object hidden by darkness but not one hidden by occlusion, suggesting auditory input is more salient in the absence of visual input. This article addresses how audiovisual input affects 10-month-olds' search for displaced objects. In AB tasks, infants who previously retrieved an object at A subsequently fail to find it after it is displaced to B, especially following a delay between hiding and retrieval. Experiment 1 manipulated auditory input by keeping the hidden object audible versus silent, and visual input by presenting the delay in the light versus dark. Infants succeeded more at B with audible than silent objects and, unexpectedly, more after delays in the light than dark. Experiment 2 presented both the delay and search phases in darkness. The unexpected light-dark difference disappeared. Across experiments, the presence of auditory input helped infants find displaced objects, whereas the absence of visual input did not. Sound might help by strengthening object representation, reducing memory load, or focusing attention. This work provides new evidence on when bimodal input aids object processing, corroborates claims that audiovisual processing improves over the first year of life, and contributes to multisensory approaches to studying cognition. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject Before 9 months, infants use sound to retrieve a stationary object hidden by darkness but not one hidden by occlusion. This suggests they find auditory input more salient in the absence of visual input in simple search tasks. After 9 months, infants' object processing appears more sensitive to multimodal (e.g., audiovisual) input. What does this study add? This study tested how audiovisual input affects 10-month-olds' search for an object displaced in an AB task. Sound helped infants find displaced objects in both the presence and absence of visual input. Object processing becomes more

  1. Oral Reading Fluency as a Predictor of Silent Reading Fluency at Secondary and Postsecondary Levels

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seok, Soonhwa; DaCosta, Boaventura

    2014-01-01

    This research investigated oral reading fluency as a predictor of silent reading fluency at the secondary and postsecondary levels. Several measures were used, including the Gray Oral Reading Test, the Test of Silent Word Reading Fluency, the Test of Silent Contextual Reading Fluency, and the Reading Observation Scale. A total of 223 students…

  2. The clinical dilemma of "silent desensitization" in aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    White, Andrew A; Bosso, John V; Stevenson, Donald D

    2013-01-01

    Aspirin desensitization is a treatment option for patients with aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease (AERD). Some patients with an excellent history of aspirin or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) reactions have negative aspirin challenges/desensitization. This study discusses the clinical entity of silent desensitization in AERD and the dilemma that this presents to the practicing allergist/immunologist. We discuss a series of patients with a strong history of NSAID reactions who initially underwent a negative challenge/silent desensitization. These patients were subsequently proven to have AERD after a second positive aspirin challenge. Silent desensitization is an uncommon but important outcome to recognize in AERD. Clinicians performing aspirin desensitization should understand that this can occur and consider a second confirmatory aspirin challenge in some patients.

  3. From Functions to Object-Orientation by Abstraction

    OpenAIRE

    Diertens, Bob

    2012-01-01

    In previous work we developed a framework of computational models for function and object execution. The models on an higher level of abstraction in this framework allow for concurrent execution of functions and objects. We show that the computational model for object execution complies with the fundamentals of object-orientation.

  4. The Silent Spring of Rachel Carson.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kerstetter, Ned

    1996-01-01

    Presents a lesson plan examining Rachel Carson's call to arms concerning the harmful consequences of pesticides. Students view a video documentary on Carson's work and read a synopsis of her book, "Silent Spring." Assessment is provided by various activities including writing assignments, creating posters, and editorial cartoons. (MJP)

  5. Silent method for mathematics instruction: An overview of teaching subsets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sugiman, Apino, Ezi

    2017-05-01

    Generally, teachers use oral communication for teaching mathematics. Taking an opposite perspective, this paper describes how instructional practices for mathematics can be carried out namely a silent method. Silent method uses body language, written, and oral communication for classroom interaction. This research uses a design research approach consisting of four phases: preliminary, prototyping and developing the instruction, and assessment. There are four stages of silent method. The first stage is conditioning stage in which the teacher introduces the method and makes agreement about the `rule of the game'. It is followed by the second one, elaborating stage, where students guess and explore alternative answers. The third stage is developing mathematical thinking by structuring and symbolizing. Finally, the method is ended by reinforcing stage which aims at strengthening and reflecting student's understanding. In this paper, every stage is described on the basis of practical experiences in a real mathematics classroom setting.

  6. Screening for silent myocardial ischemia caseof diabetics : interest of myocardial perfusion scintigraphy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bahri, Haifa

    2007-01-01

    Silent myocardial ischemia is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in diabetic patients. Its diagnosis by noninvasive means such as myocardial SPECT would improve the management of these patients. The purpose of this study is to assess the frequency of silent myocardial ischemia in asymptomatic diabetics and their evolution. As a result, the myocardial SPECT is a reliable tool for screening for silent myocardial ischemia in diabetic patients. Its prognostic value allows to stratify the cardiac risk and guide therapeutic management. Its integration into a screening strategy in Tunisia seems limited by its low availability and cost. The latter could be reduced by better patient selection.

  7. Silent ischemic brain lesions after transcatheter aortic valve replacement : lesion distribution and predictors

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Samim, Mariam; Hendrikse, Jeroen; van der Worp, H. Bart; Agostoni, Pierfrancesco; Nijhoff, Freek; Doevendans, Pieter A.; Stella, Pieter R.

    Silent ischemic brain lesions and ischemic stroke are known complications of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). We aimed to investigate the occurrence and distribution of TAVR-related silent ischemic brain lesions using diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI). Consecutive

  8. The Keefe Inventory of Silent Reading: A Window into the Reading Process.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keefe, Donald

    1993-01-01

    Contains part of the Keefe Inventory of Silent Reading, a silent informal reading inventory. Presents a case study of a student to whom it was administered, including analysis of this individual's reading ability and description of the specific strategies used with this individual on the basis of the results of the inventory. (RS)

  9. Soundless Speech/ Wordless Writing: Language and German Silent Cinema

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marc Silberman

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available Speech / Wordless Writing: Language and German Silent Cinema Marc Silberman If language loses its communicative and interpretative functions in direct proportion to the loss of its referential grounding, then the modernist crisis is simultaneously a crisis of its signifying practices. This means that the evolution of the silent cinema is a particularly rich site to examine the problematic relationship of language and image. This essay presents several expressionist films as a specific response to this crisis in order to describe the diverse cinematic forms of resistance to the word, to articulated speech. While some film makers developed the silence of the silent film into a “gestural language” that dramatized light and movement, others reproduced the film figures’ silent speech by means of graphically stylized intertitles. My thesis is that the expressionist cinema maintained an idealistic notion of the film as a pure work of art that aimed at a unified composition of all elements and missed the opportunity to explore the rich semiotic possibilities of the new technological medium with its hybrid, synergetic forms and provocative force. Hence, the expressionist cinema marks a transition or even the endpoint of a long process of reflection about the communicative possibilities of language that shifted to a fundamentally new level with the invention of sound cinema at the end of the 1920s. Parole muette / écriture sans mot: Le langage et le cinéma allemand muet Marc Silberman Le langage, dit-on, perd de ses functions communicatrices et interpretatives en proportion directe à la perte de sa force référentielle. On dira que la crise moderniste est également une crise des pratiques signifiantes. Ce qui revient à dire aussi que l’évolution du cinéma muet serait une site particulièrement riche pour examiner les problématiques du langage vs. l’image. Cet essai présente quelques films expressionnistes comme réactions à la crise

  10. Purely Magnetic Silent Universes do not Exist

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vu, K. T.; Carminati, J.

    2008-09-01

    We present a new Maple package called STeM (Symbolic Tetrad Manipulation). Using STeM, we outline, using a formalism which is a hybrid of the NP and Orthonormal ones, the proof of the nonexistence of purely magnetic silent universes.

  11. Silent communication: toward using brain signals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pei, Xiaomei; Hill, Jeremy; Schalk, Gerwin

    2012-01-01

    From the 1980s movie Firefox to the more recent Avatar, popular science fiction has speculated about the possibility of a persons thoughts being read directly from his or her brain. Such braincomputer interfaces (BCIs) might allow people who are paralyzed to communicate with and control their environment, and there might also be applications in military situations wherever silent user-to-user communication is desirable. Previous studies have shown that BCI systems can use brain signals related to movements and movement imagery or attention-based character selection. Although these systems have successfully demonstrated the possibility to control devices using brain function, directly inferring which word a person intends to communicate has been elusive. A BCI using imagined speech might provide such a practical, intuitive device. Toward this goal, our studies to date addressed two scientific questions: (1) Can brain signals accurately characterize different aspects of speech? (2) Is it possible to predict spoken or imagined words or their components using brain signals?

  12. Silent Thyroiditis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walker, Peter

    1984-01-01

    Silent or painless thyroiditis is a frequent cause of transient hyperthyroidism, which is characterized by recent onset of symptoms in a patient with a normal to modestly enlarged and firm thyroid gland. The hallmarks of the disease are the absence of thyroidal pain or tenderness and a markedly reduced radioiodine uptake. Histologically, the gland is characterized by an important lymphocytic infiltration, occasionally to the point of lymphoid follicle formation. However, other indices of an autoimmune cause are usually absent. The disease appears to have a predilection for the postpartum period. Relapses may occur with subsequent pregnancies. Otherwise, the course is usually benign and transient, requiring moderate doses of β-adrenergic blocking agents for symptomatic relief. No pathogenetic factors are known, but the disease may conceivably have an autoimmune basis, particularly in the postpartum patient. PMID:21278944

  13. Silent Sinus Syndrome: A Retrospective Review of 11 Cases

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karima DARGHAL

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Objective: The purpose of this study is to describe the clinical and radiological features of SSS, and to review therapeutic possibilities and their outcomes.Patients and Methods: Retrospective observational case series in the department of Arthur Vernes Institute between Mars 2007 and  Novembre 2012. Clinical records, including ophthalmology and otolaryngology evaluations as well as computed tomography scans and operative reports, were carefully examined. A literature review for relevant studies was performed to examine similar cases.Results: Eleven cases of  SSS were identified. Nine men and two women (sex ratio 4.5, aged between 23 and 54 years (mean, 30 years. there was 3 to 4 mm enophthalmos in 10 cases (90.9%, and hypoglobus in all cases, with no effect on visual function. In all 11 cases, the maxillary roof (orbital floor was drawn downwards, and the one or more walls of the maxilla were concave. In 4 cases septal deviation was present. 8 patients (72.7% underwent endoscopic sinus surgery, while 3 refused it. Septoplasty was performed in 4 cases (36.3%.Conclusion: The silent sinus syndrome is a rare entity. It mainly presents as unilateral enophthalmos in younger people and has very characteristic clinical and radiologic signs.This case series reports our diagnostic and therapeutic experience with this syndrome.

  14. Transluminal coronary angioplasty in the treatment of silent ischemia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bergin, P.; Myler, R.K.; Shaw, R.E.; Stertzer, S.H.; Clark, D.A.; Ryan, C.; Murphy, M.C.

    1988-01-01

    Fifty-four asymptomatic patients with positive thallium exercise tests underwent coronary angiography followed by coronary angioplasty (PTCA), as the primary therapy for silent ischemia. The procedure was technically successful in 89% of these patients. Emergency bypass graft surgery was necessary in 2 (3.6%) and q-wave myocardial infarction occurred in 1 (1.8%) of these. All fifty-four patients have been followed for a mean of 35 months since angioplasty. Of the 48 patients with initially successful PTCA, 12 had either clinical restenosis (9/14 or 19%) or a new lesion (3/48 or 6%) during follow-up, which required a repeat PTCA. At the longest follow-up, 46 (85%) had been successfully treated with on or more PTCA procedures. Two patients (3.6%) had sustained late q-wave myocardial infarction and two additional patients reported angina pectoris. There were no deaths. Angioplasty as a primary therapy for silent ischemia appears efficacious, with success and restenosis rates comparable to those in the symptomatic population. Event-free survival is improved, compared with natural history data for patients with silent ischemia from other studies. Prudent risk/benefit analysis may help to define subgroups most likely to benefit from this intervention

  15. Silent Film in the German Classroom.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caldwell, David

    In addition to using films in the German classroom to introduce students to German culture and history, it is important to show and study the film as film. This procedure emphasizes the importance of the film as a part of creative arts in Germany and demands student participation in observation and discussion. Many German silent films are…

  16. Silent Corticotroph Adenomas After Stereotactic Radiosurgery: A Case–Control Study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xu, Zhiyuan; Ellis, Scott; Lee, Cheng-Chia; Starke, Robert M.; Schlesinger, David; Lee Vance, Mary; Lopes, M. Beatriz; Sheehan, Jason

    2014-01-01

    Purpose: To investigate the safety and effectiveness of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) in patients with a silent corticotroph adenoma (SCA) compared with patients with other subtypes of non–adrenocorticotropic hormone staining nonfunctioning pituitary adenoma (NFA). Methods and Materials: The clinical features and outcomes of 104 NFA patients treated with SRS in our center between September 1994 and August 2012 were evaluated. Among them, 34 consecutive patients with a confirmatory SCA were identified. A control group of 70 patients with other subtypes of NFA were selected for review based on comparable baseline features, including sex, age at the time of SRS, tumor size, margin radiation dose to the tumor, and duration of follow-up. Results: The median follow-up after SRS was 56 months (range, 6-200 months). No patients with an SCA developed Cushing disease during the follow-up. Tumor control was achieved in 21 of 34 patients (62%) in the SCA group, compared with 65 of 70 patients (93%) in the NFA group. The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 58 months in the SCA group. The actuarial PFS was 73%, 46%, and 31% in the SCA group and was 94%, 87%, and 87% in the NFA group at 3, 5, and 8 years, respectively. Silent corticotroph adenomas treated with a dose of ≥17 Gy exhibited improved PFS. New-onset loss of pituitary function developed in 10 patients (29%) in the SCA group, whereas it occurred in 18 patients (26%) in the NFA group. Eight patients (24%) in the SCA group experienced worsening of a visual field deficit or visual acuity attributed to the tumor progression, as did 6 patients (9%) in the NFA group. Conclusion: Silent corticotroph adenomas exhibited a more aggressive course with a higher progression rate than other subtypes of NFAs. Stereotactic radiosurgery is an important adjuvant treatment for control of tumor growth. Increased radiation dose may lead to improved tumor control in SCA patients

  17. Silent Corticotroph Adenomas After Stereotactic Radiosurgery: A Case–Control Study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Xu, Zhiyuan; Ellis, Scott; Lee, Cheng-Chia; Starke, Robert M. [Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia (United States); Schlesinger, David [Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia (United States); Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia (United States); Lee Vance, Mary [Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia (United States); Department of Internal Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia (United States); Lopes, M. Beatriz [Division of Neuropathology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia (United States); Sheehan, Jason, E-mail: jsheehan@virginia.edu [Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia (United States); Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia (United States)

    2014-11-15

    Purpose: To investigate the safety and effectiveness of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) in patients with a silent corticotroph adenoma (SCA) compared with patients with other subtypes of non–adrenocorticotropic hormone staining nonfunctioning pituitary adenoma (NFA). Methods and Materials: The clinical features and outcomes of 104 NFA patients treated with SRS in our center between September 1994 and August 2012 were evaluated. Among them, 34 consecutive patients with a confirmatory SCA were identified. A control group of 70 patients with other subtypes of NFA were selected for review based on comparable baseline features, including sex, age at the time of SRS, tumor size, margin radiation dose to the tumor, and duration of follow-up. Results: The median follow-up after SRS was 56 months (range, 6-200 months). No patients with an SCA developed Cushing disease during the follow-up. Tumor control was achieved in 21 of 34 patients (62%) in the SCA group, compared with 65 of 70 patients (93%) in the NFA group. The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 58 months in the SCA group. The actuarial PFS was 73%, 46%, and 31% in the SCA group and was 94%, 87%, and 87% in the NFA group at 3, 5, and 8 years, respectively. Silent corticotroph adenomas treated with a dose of ≥17 Gy exhibited improved PFS. New-onset loss of pituitary function developed in 10 patients (29%) in the SCA group, whereas it occurred in 18 patients (26%) in the NFA group. Eight patients (24%) in the SCA group experienced worsening of a visual field deficit or visual acuity attributed to the tumor progression, as did 6 patients (9%) in the NFA group. Conclusion: Silent corticotroph adenomas exhibited a more aggressive course with a higher progression rate than other subtypes of NFAs. Stereotactic radiosurgery is an important adjuvant treatment for control of tumor growth. Increased radiation dose may lead to improved tumor control in SCA patients.

  18. STUDY OF IMMUNITY TO POLIOVIRUSES ON CERTAIN "SILENT" TERRITORIES OF RUSSIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N. I. Romanenkova

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract. The degree of immunity to polioviruses of three serotypes among children of different ages was analysed on certain "controlled" and "silent" territories of Russia in different periods of Polio Eradication Initiative. It was shown that the levels of immunity of children’s population to polioviruses on "controlled" and "silent" territories had no significant difference. It was stated that on the phase which preceded the certification for the absence of circulation of wild polioviruses, when the National Immunisation Days were conducted in the country, the percentage of eronegative children to polioviruses of different serotypes was low on all the territories of Russia. After Russia as a part of the WHO European region was certified as a polio free country and mass immunisation was stopped thepercentage of seronegative children increased, especially to poliovirus of serotype 3, both on the "controlled" and on the "silent" territories.

  19. Does phonological recoding occur during silent reading and is it necessary for orthographic learning?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Jong, P.F.; Bitter, D.J.L.; van Setten, M.; Marinus, E.

    2009-01-01

    Two studies were conducted to test the central claim of the self-teaching hypothesis (i.e., phonological recoding is necessary for orthographic learning) in silent reading. The first study aimed to demonstrate the use of phonological recoding during silent reading. Texts containing pseudowords were

  20. Improvement of ozone yield by a multi-discharge type ozonizer using superposition of silent discharge plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Song, Hyun-Jig; Chun, Byung-Joon; Lee, Kwang-Sik

    2004-01-01

    In order to improve ozone generation, we experimentally investigated the silent discharge plasma and ozone generation characteristics of a multi-discharge type ozonizer. Ozone in a multi-discharge type ozonizer is generated by superposition of a silent discharge plasma, which is simultaneously generated in separated discharge spaces. A multi-discharge type ozonizer is composed of three different kinds of superposed silent discharge type ozonizers, depending on the method of applying power to each electrode. We observed that the discharge period of the current pulse for a multi discharge type ozonizer can be longer than that of silent discharge type ozonizer with two electrodes and one gap. Hence, ozone generation is improved up to 17185 ppm and 783 g/kwh in the case of the superposed silent discharge type ozonizer for which an AC high voltages with a 180 .deg. phase difference were applied to the internal electrode and the external electrode, respectively, with the central electrode being grounded.

  1. Assessing reading fluency in Kenya: Oral or silent assessment?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Piper, Benjamin; Zuilkowski, Stephanie Simmons

    2015-04-01

    In recent years, the Education for All movement has focused more intensely on the quality of education, rather than simply provision. Many recent and current education quality interventions focus on literacy, which is the core skill required for further academic success. Despite this focus on the quality of literacy instruction in developing countries, little rigorous research has been conducted on critical issues of assessment. This analysis, which uses data from the Primary Math and Reading Initiative (PRIMR) in Kenya, aims to begin filling this gap by addressing a key assessment issue - should literacy assessments in Kenya be administered orally or silently? The authors compared second-grade students' scores on oral and silent reading tasks of the Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) in Kiswahili and English, and found no statistically significant differences in either language. They did, however, find oral reading rates to be more strongly related to reading comprehension scores. Oral assessment has another benefit for programme evaluators - it allows for the collection of data on student errors, and therefore the calculation of words read correctly per minute, as opposed to simply words read per minute. The authors therefore recommend that, in Kenya and in similar contexts, student reading fluency be assessed via oral rather than silent assessment.

  2. Treatment of hazardous organic wastes using silent discharge plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rosocha, L.A.; Anderson, G.K.; Bechtold, L.A.; Coogan, J.J.; Heck, H.G.; Kang, M.; McCulla, W.H.; Tennant, R.A.; Wantuck, P.J.

    1992-01-01

    During the past two decades, interest in applying non-equilibrium plasmas to the removal of hazardous chemicals from gaseous media has been growing, in particular from heightened concerns over the pollution of our environment and a growing body of environmental regulations. At the Los Alamos National Laboratory, we are currently engaged in a project to develop non-equilibrium plasma technology for hazardous waste treatment. Our present focus is on dielectric-barrier discharges, which are historically called silent electrical discharges. This type of plasma is also named a silent discharge plasma (SDP). We have chosen this method due to its potential for high energy efficiency, its scientific and technological maturity, and its scalability. The SDP process has been demonstrated to be reliable and economical for the industrial-scale synthesis of ozone, where municipal water treatment plants frequently require the on-site generation of thousands of kilograins per day (Eliasson ampersand Kogelschatz). The related methods of corona processing are presently the focus of work at other institutions, particularly for flue gas processing. Both SDP and corona processes are characterized by the production of large quantities of highly reactive free radicals, especially atomic oxygen O(3P) and the hydroxyl OH, in the gaseous medium and their subsequent reaction with contaminants. Our primary objective is to convert hazardous or toxic chemicals into non-hazardous compounds or into materials which are more amenable to treatment. In the ideal case, the hazardous wastes are destructively oxidized to simpler, non-hazardous compounds plus CO2 and H2O. Sometimes the reaction products are still potentially hazardous, but are easily treated by conventional methods to yield non-hazardous products

  3. Silent Atrial Fibrillation in Elderly Pacemaker Users: A Randomized Trial Using Home Monitoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lima, Ceb; Martinelli, M; Peixoto, G L; Siqueira, S F; Wajngarten, Maurício; Silva, Rodrigo Tavares; Costa, Roberto; Filho, Roberto; Ramires, José Antônio Franchini

    2016-05-01

    Pacemaker with remote monitoring (PRM) may be useful for silent atrial fibrillation (AF) detection. The aims of this study were to evaluate the incidence of silent AF, the role of PRM, and to determine predictors of silent AF occurrence. Three hundred elderly patients with permanent pacemaker (PPM) were randomly assigned to the remote group (RG) or control group (CG). All patients received PPM with remote monitoring capabilities. Primary end point was AF occurrence rate and the secondary end points were time to AF detection and number of days with AF. During the average follow-up of 15.7±7.7 months, AF episodes were detected in 21.6% (RG = 24% vs CG = 19.3%, P = 0.36]. There was no difference in the time to detect the first AF episode. However, the median time to detect AF recurrence in the RG was lower than that in the CG (54 days vs 100 days, P = 0.004). The average number of days with AF was 16.0 and 51.2 in the RG and CG, respectively (P = 0.028). Predictors of silent AF were left atrial diameter (odds ratio [OR] 1.2; 95% CI = 1.1-1.3; P pacemaker; left atrial diameter and diastolic dysfunction were predictors of its occurrence. AF monitoring by means of pacemaker is a valuable tool for silent AF detection and continuous remote monitoring allows early AF recurrence detection and reduces the number of days with AF. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  4. Neuroimaging of language processes: fMRI of silent and overt lexical processing and the promise of multiple process imaging in single brain studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Borowsky, R.; Owen, W.J.; Wile, T.L.; Friesen, C.K.; Martin, J.L.; Sarty, G.E.

    2005-01-01

    To implement and evaluate a multiple-process functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) paradigm designed to effectively and efficiently activate several language-related regions for use with neurosurgical patients. Both overt and covert response conditions were examined. The fMRI experiments compared the traditional silent word-generation condition versus an overt one as they engage frontal language regions (Experiment 1) and silent versus overt semantic association conditions as they engage multiple language processing regions (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1 the overt condition yielded greater magnitude of activation, but not volume of activation, in the left inferior frontal and insular cortices than did the silent condition for most, but not all, participants. Experiment 2 demonstrated that the activation of multiple established language processing regions (ie, orthographic, phonological and semantic) can be achieved in a significant number of participants, particularly under overt semantic association conditions and that such activation varies in predictable ways. The traditional silent response condition cannot be considered as equivalent to the overt response condition during word generation or semantic association. The multiple-process imaging method introduced here was sensitive to processing robust orthographic, phonological, and semantic regions, particularly under the overt response condition. (author)

  5. Linear regression methods a ccording to objective functions

    OpenAIRE

    Yasemin Sisman; Sebahattin Bektas

    2012-01-01

    The aim of the study is to explain the parameter estimation methods and the regression analysis. The simple linear regressionmethods grouped according to the objective function are introduced. The numerical solution is achieved for the simple linear regressionmethods according to objective function of Least Squares and theLeast Absolute Value adjustment methods. The success of the appliedmethods is analyzed using their objective function values.

  6. Neocortical inhibitory activities and long-range afferents contribute to the synchronous onset of silent states of the neocortical slow oscillation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lemieux, Maxime; Chauvette, Sylvain; Timofeev, Igor

    2015-02-01

    During slow-wave sleep, neurons of the thalamocortical network are engaged in a slow oscillation (<1 Hz), which consists of an alternation between the active and the silent states. Several studies have provided insights on the transition from the silent, which are essentially periods of disfacilitation, to the active states. However, the conditions leading to the synchronous onset of the silent state remain elusive. We hypothesized that a synchronous input to local inhibitory neurons could contribute to the transition to the silent state in the cat suprasylvian gyrus during natural sleep and under ketamine-xylazine anesthesia. After partial and complete deafferentation of the cortex, we found that the silent state onset was more variable among remote sites. We found that the transition to the silent state was preceded by a reduction in excitatory postsynaptic potentials and firing probability in cortical neurons. We tested the impact of chloride-mediated inhibition in the silent-state onset. We uncovered a long-duration (100-300 ms) inhibitory barrage occurring about 250 ms before the silent state onset in 3-6% of neurons during anesthesia and in 12-15% of cases during natural sleep. These inhibitory activities caused a decrease in cortical firing that reduced the excitatory drive in the neocortical network. That chain reaction of disfacilitation ends up on the silent state. Electrical stimuli could trigger a network silent state with a maximal efficacy in deep cortical layers. We conclude that long-range afferents to the neocortex and chloride-mediated inhibition play a role in the initiation of the silent state. Copyright © 2015 the American Physiological Society.

  7. The Effect of Background Music While Silent Reading on EFL Learners’ Reading Comprehension

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    sakineh sahebdel

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available This study attempted to determine the effect of background music while silent reading on Iranian EFL learners’ reading comprehension. The participants were 57 Iranian EFL learners between the ages of 14 and 16 in two 3rd grade high schoolclasses at pre-intermediate proficiency level. Before treatment,both experimental and control groups took a reading comprehension pretest. In the experimental group, the researchers played Mozart sonatas as background music and asked them to read the passage silently and then answer the reading comprehension questions. In the control group, the procedure was the same, but no music was played while silent reading by the students. After ten sessions, the students of both groups were asked to answer another independent but parallel form of reading section of PET as their post-test. The independent samples t-testresultsindicated that the experimental group outperformed the control group in reading comprehension posttest, and listening to background music while silent reading had a significantly positive effect on Iranian EFL learners’ reading comprehension. The results of the present study have implications for EFL students, teachers, and teacher educators as well as syllabus designers and materials developers.

  8. Malaria - Africa's silent tsunami | IDRC - International Development ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    2011-01-12

    Jan 12, 2011 ... Less well known is the continuous “silent tsunami” of malaria in Africa ... This means almost 3 lives per minute lost from an easily preventable and treatable disease. It was gratifying to see the beginnings of similar passion to deal with ... often in shapes, sizes, and colours unpopular in African households.

  9. Morphology and Spelling in French Students with Dyslexia: The Case of Silent Final Letters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quémart, Pauline; Casalis, Séverine

    2017-01-01

    Spelling is a challenge for individuals with dyslexia. Phoneme-to-grapheme correspondence rules are highly inconsistent in French, which make them very difficult to master, in particular for dyslexics. One recurrent manifestation of this inconsistency is the presence of silent letters at the end of words. Many of these silent letters perform a…

  10. Measuring theory of mind across middle childhood: Reliability and validity of the Silent Films and Strange Stories tasks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Devine, Rory T; Hughes, Claire

    2016-09-01

    Recent years have seen a growth of research on the development of children's ability to reason about others' mental states (or "theory of mind") beyond the narrow confines of the preschool period. The overall aim of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of a task battery composed of items from Happé's Strange Stories task and Devine and Hughes' Silent Film task. A sample of 460 ethnically and socially diverse children (211 boys) between 7 and 13years of age completed the task battery at two time points separated by 1month. The Strange Stories and Silent Film tasks were strongly correlated even when verbal ability and narrative comprehension were taken into account, and all items loaded onto a single theory-of-mind latent factor. The theory-of-mind latent factor provided reliable estimates of performance across a wide range of theory-of-mind ability and showed no evidence of differential item functioning across gender, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. The theory-of-mind latent factor also exhibited strong 1-month test-retest reliability, and this stability did not vary as a function of child characteristics. Taken together, these findings provide evidence for the validity and reliability of the Strange Stories and Silent Film task battery as a measure of individual differences in theory of mind suitable for use across middle childhood. We consider the methodological and conceptual implications of these findings for research on theory of mind beyond the preschool years. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. Non invasive evaluation of the coronary atherosclerosis illness in patients with silent ischemia: utility of the SPECT of myocardial perfusion. Electric, angiographic and image correlation; Valoracion no invasiva de la enfermedad ateroesclerosa coronaria en pacientes con isquemia silente: utilidad del SPECT de perfusion miocardica. Correlacion electrica, angiografica y de imagen

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Puente B, A.; Roffe G, F.; Aceves C, J.; Gomez A, E. [Hospital Centro Medico Nacional 20 de Noviembre, ISSSTE, Mexico D.F. (Mexico)

    2005-07-01

    The objective of the work was to determine the utility of the SPECT (Single Photon Emission Computerized Tomography) of myocardial perfusion for the ischemia detection in asymptomatic patients with Coronary Atherosclerosis Illness. It was concluded that the SPECT of myocardial perfusion has a high sensitivity (97%) for the silent ischemia diagnosis.

  12. Prevalence of silent gastrointestinal complications in maintenance renal transplant population

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Teplitsky Susan

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available This study aims to determine the prevalence of silent GI complications within a stable renal transplant population and to investigate whether the conversion to enteric-coated myco-phenolate sodium (EC-MPS, Myfortic; would improve symptom scores. This was a single-center, open-label, non-randomized, prospective study. Patients without any history of GI com-plaints were evaluated by means of the gastrointestinal symptom rating scale (GSRS, with subse-quent switch to EC-MPS in a group of patients. Silent complications were defined as patients who voiced no GI complaints at clinic visits despite a score of ≥ 2 on GSRS scale. A total of 236 stable patients participated in the trial. The prevalence of baseline scores ≥ 2 was relatively high with abdominal pain 29.66%, reflux 37.28%, indigestion 50%, constipation 58.47% and diarrhea 33.4%. Of 236 patients, 80 were converted to EC-MPS. There was statistically significant improvement on all scales in the subgroup of patients with GSRS score ≥ 2 (P< 0.05. In conclusion, the GSRS scale identified a high percentage of silent gastrointestinal complications in this renal transplant population. The converted patients with higher GSRS scores reported a sustained improvement.

  13. Using Vocal and Silent Reading Approaches for the Enhancement ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Nekky Umera

    An International Multi-Disciplinary Journal. Vol. 3 (1) ... expresses his thoughts and feelings in such a way that the person can be ... creative, critical and evaluative. .... In the first week, the research assistants taught the oral and silent reading.

  14. Silent Circulation of Ross River Virus in French Polynesia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maite Aubry

    2015-08-01

    Discussion: Our results support the existence of autochthonous RRV transmission and suggest that this pathogen has silently circulated in French Polynesia. These findings raise the question of possible undetected circulation of RRV in other Pacific Island Countries and Territories.

  15. Silent Bodies: Japanese taciturnity and image thinking

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ana Došen

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available A nonverbal transmission and an implicit way of communication are highly encouraged in Japanese society. The reason for this “silence prerogative” is often found in historical facts of lengthy feudal era or in ancient philosophies and religions such as Buddhism and Confucianism and their various concepts which privilege taciturn way of communication. Moreover, the unspoken comprehension is often complemented by the attitude which equates truthfulness with silence. This paper explores the silence as a communicative act in the domain of Japanese art, where the body takes over the place of the language. In traditional Japanese theatrical performance, such as noh, words are often inadequate to convey emotion and therefore the aesthetics of emptiness, understatement and abstraction is transcended by the masks with "nonmoving lips". Drawing on theoretical perspectives from both East and West, I argue that the silent bodies operate as deliberate and integral determinants of Japanese non-silent art forms – especially in cinema and theatre. In the Eastern thought, visual perception is fundamental in cognition of the world, whereas auditory discernment is secondary to "image-thinking" (Yuasa. Accustomed to taciturnity, Japanese audience effectively corresponds to the performance and "completes" it in silence.

  16. Silent ischemia and beta-blockade

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Egstrup, K

    1991-01-01

    and should also be directed at the other coronary artery risk factors of the patients. The effects of beta-blockers, which reduce the duration and frequency of silent ischemic episodes, is well described. The effect is most pronounced in the morning, when the frequency of ischemia is highest......, and the mechanism of action seems mainly mediated through a reduction in myocardial oxygen demand. beta-Blockers have shown effectiveness in both effort-induced angina and mixed angina, and increased anti-ischemic potency may be achieved by combination therapy with a calcium antagonist. Abrupt withdrawal of beta-blockers...

  17. Low-Boom and Low-Drag Optimization of the Twin Engine Version of Silent Supersonic Business Jet

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sato, Koma; Kumano, Takayasu; Yonezawa, Masahito; Yamashita, Hiroshi; Jeong, Shinkyu; Obayashi, Shigeru

    Multi-Objective Optimization has been applied to a design problem of the twin engine concept for Silent Supersonic Business Jet (SSBJ). This problem aims to find main wing, body, tail wing and engine nacelle configurations, which can minimize both sonic boom and drag in a supersonic cruising flight. The multi-objective genetic algorithm (MOGA) coupled with the Kriging model has been used to globally and effectively search for optimal design candidates in the multi-objective problem. The drag and the sonic boom have been evaluated by the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation and the waveform parameter method. As a result, the present optimization has successfully obtained low-boom and low-drag design candidates, which are better than the baseline design by more than 40% regarding each performance. Moreover, the structure of design space has been visualized by the self-organizing map (SOM).

  18. Scoring an Abstract Contemporary Silent Film

    OpenAIRE

    Frost, Crystal

    2014-01-01

    I composed an original digital audio film score with full sound design for a contemporary silent film called Apple Tree. The film is highly conceptual and interpretive and required a very involved, intricate score to successfully tell the story. In the process of scoring this film, I learned new ways to convey an array of contrasting emotions through music and sound. After analyzing the film's emotional journey, I determined that six defining emotions were the foundation on which to build an ...

  19. Low fetal hemoglobin percentage is associated with silent brain lesions in adults with homozygous sickle cell disease

    OpenAIRE

    Calvet, David; Tuilier, Titien; Mélé, Nicolas; Turc, Guillaume; Habibi, Anoosha; Abdallah, Nassim Ait; Majhadi, Loubna; Hemery, François; Edjlali, Myriam; Galacteros, Frédéric; Bartolucci, Pablo

    2017-01-01

    Low %HbF is independently associated with silent WMCs on brain imaging in adults with SCD.Our results highlight the potential use of therapeutic strategies inducing HbF expression in SCD patients with silent white matter changes.

  20. Anamnesis and the Silent Narrator in Plato and John

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    George L. Parsenios

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available The Gospel of John is often compared to the dialogues of Plato by those who connect Johannine theology and Platonic philosophy. The comparison operates on the level of ideas. The present paper does not ignore issues of theology and philosophy but grounds a comparison of John and Plato first and foremost on the literary level. In several key places in John 1, 3, and 14, the Johannine narrator recedes from view and is unexpectedly silent where one would expect a narrator’s comment to organize the conversations and interactions between characters in John. Plato also renders the voice of the narrator silent in a dialogue like the Theaetetus. This paper argues that John and Plato both suppress the narrator’s voice in order to further their anamnetic efforts and to make later generations not only readers but participants in their original conversations.

  1. Functional activation of the infant cortex during object processing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilcox, Teresa; Stubbs, Jessica; Hirshkowitz, Amy; Boas, David A

    2012-09-01

    A great deal is known about the functional organization of the neural structures that mediate visual object processing in the adult observer. These findings have contributed significantly to our conceptual models of object recognition and identification and provided unique insight into the nature of object representations extracted from visual input. In contrast, little is known about the neural basis of object processing in the infant. The current research used near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) as a neuroimaging tool to investigate functional activation of the infant cortex during an object processing task that has been used extensively with infants. The neuroimaging data revealed that the infant cortex is functionally specialized for object processing (i.e., individuation-by-feature) early in the first year but that patterns of activation also change between 3 and 12 months. These changes may reflect functional reorganization of the immature cortex or age-related differences in the cognitive processes engaged during the task. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. Clinical study of correlation of pre-senile and senile depressive stage with silent cerebral infarction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fujikawa, Tokumi; Yamawaki, Shigeto; Fujita, Yasunobu; Shibata, Youko; Touhouda, Yoshikuni.

    1992-01-01

    The relationship between the pre-senile/senile depressive state and silent cerebral infarction was examined by MRI. Consecutive 56 depressive patients aged 50 years or older underwnt MRI. MRI revealed silent cerebral infarction in 60.3% of patients in whom depression occurred at the age of less than 65 years. The complication rate was significantly higher in these patients than the younger patients (60.9% vs 20%). Complications of silent cerebral infarction were found in 53.6% for patients in whom depression occurred at the age of less than 65 years and symptoms were deteriorated at the age of 65 years or older and in 100% for patients in whom it occurred at the age of 65 years or older and hospitalization was simultaneously required. These figures were remarkably higher than the age-related complication rate of silent cerebral infarction in non-depressive normal persons. This suggested that approximately half of depressive patients of pre-senile onset and majority of depressive patients of senile onset might have parenchymal involvement due to silent cerebral infarction. Both perforating-type and cortical-type infarcts were found. This has a implication for the involvement of multiple infarct-related foci in depressive state. For cortical-type infarcts, partial lesions were predominant, followed by frontal and temporal lesions. The incidence of left frontal infarcts was significanly higher than that of right frontal infarcts. Infarcts in both the parietal and left frontal lobes may be responsible for depressive state. (N.K.)

  3. Conflict between object structural and functional affordances in peripersonal space.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kalénine, Solène; Wamain, Yannick; Decroix, Jérémy; Coello, Yann

    2016-10-01

    Recent studies indicate that competition between conflicting action representations slows down planning of object-directed actions. The present study aims to assess whether similar conflict effects exist during manipulable object perception. Twenty-six young adults performed reach-to-grasp and semantic judgements on conflictual objects (with competing structural and functional gestures) and non-conflictual objects (with similar structural and functional gestures) presented at difference distances in a 3D virtual environment. Results highlight a space-dependent conflict between structural and functional affordances. Perceptual judgments on conflictual objects were slower that perceptual judgments on non-conflictual objects, but only when objects were presented within reach. Findings demonstrate that competition between structural and functional affordances during object perception induces a processing cost, and further show that object position in space can bias affordance competition. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  4. Non invasive evaluation of the coronary atherosclerosis illness in patients with silent ischemia: utility of the SPECT of myocardial perfusion. Electric, angiographic and image correlation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Puente B, A.; Roffe G, F.; Aceves C, J.; Gomez A, E.

    2005-01-01

    The objective of the work was to determine the utility of the SPECT (Single Photon Emission Computerized Tomography) of myocardial perfusion for the ischemia detection in asymptomatic patients with Coronary Atherosclerosis Illness. It was concluded that the SPECT of myocardial perfusion has a high sensitivity (97%) for the silent ischemia diagnosis

  5. The "Silent Dog" Method: Analyzing the Impact of Self-Generated Rules when Teaching Different Computer Chains to Boys with Autism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arntzen, Erik; Halstadtro, Lill-Beathe; Halstadtro, Monica

    2009-01-01

    The purpose of the study was to extend the literature on verbal self-regulation by using the "silent dog" method to evaluate the role of verbal regulation over nonverbal behavior in 2 individuals with autism. Participants were required to talk-aloud while performing functional computer tasks.Then the effects of distracters with increasing demands…

  6. Dynamic wind turbine models in power system simulation tool DIgSILENT

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hansen, A.D.; Iov, F.; Soerensen, Poul.; Cutululis, N.; Jauch, C.; Blaabjerg, F.

    2007-08-15

    This report presents a collection of models and control strategies developed and implemented in the power system simulation tool PowerFactory DIgSILENT for different wind turbine concepts. It is the second edition of Risoe-R-1400(EN) and it gathers and describes a whole wind turbine model database built-op and developed during several national research projects, carried out at Risoe DTU National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy and Aalborg University, in the period 2001-2007. The overall objective of these projects was to create a wind turbine model database able to support the analysis of the interaction between the mechanical structure of the wind turbine and the electrical grid during different operational modes. The report provides thus a description of the wind turbines modelling, both at a component level and at a system level. The report contains both the description of DIgSILENT built-in models for the electrical components of a grid connected wind turbine (e.g. induction generators, power converters, transformers) and the models developed by the user, in the dynamic simulation language DSL of DIgSILENT, for the non-electrical components of the wind turbine (wind model, aerodynamic model, mechanical model). The initialisation issues on the wind turbine models into the power system simulation are also presented. The main attention in the report is drawn to the modelling at the system level of the following wind turbine concepts: (1) Fixed speed active stall wind turbine concept (2) Variable speed doubly-fed induction generator wind turbine concept (3) Variable speed multi-pole permanent magnet synchronous generator wind turbine concept These wind turbine concept models can be used and even extended for the study of different aspects, e.g. the assessment of power quality, control strategies, connection of the wind turbine at different types of grid and storage systems. Different control strategies have been developed and implemented for these wind turbine

  7. Detecting Silent Data Corruption for Extreme-Scale Applications through Data Mining

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bautista-Gomez, Leonardo [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Cappello, Franck [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

    2014-01-16

    Supercomputers allow scientists to study natural phenomena by means of computer simulations. Next-generation machines are expected to have more components and, at the same time, consume several times less energy per operation. These trends are pushing supercomputer construction to the limits of miniaturization and energy-saving strategies. Consequently, the number of soft errors is expected to increase dramatically in the coming years. While mechanisms are in place to correct or at least detect some soft errors, a significant percentage of those errors pass unnoticed by the hardware. Such silent errors are extremely damaging because they can make applications silently produce wrong results. In this work we propose a technique that leverages certain properties of high-performance computing applications in order to detect silent errors at the application level. Our technique detects corruption solely based on the behavior of the application datasets and is completely application-agnostic. We propose multiple corruption detectors, and we couple them to work together in a fashion transparent to the user. We demonstrate that this strategy can detect the majority of the corruptions, while incurring negligible overhead. We show that with the help of these detectors, applications can have up to 80% of coverage against data corruption.

  8. Modularity-like objective function in annotated networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xie, Jia-Rong; Wang, Bing-Hong

    2017-12-01

    We ascertain the modularity-like objective function whose optimization is equivalent to the maximum likelihood in annotated networks. We demonstrate that the modularity-like objective function is a linear combination of modularity and conditional entropy. In contrast with statistical inference methods, in our method, the influence of the metadata is adjustable; when its influence is strong enough, the metadata can be recovered. Conversely, when it is weak, the detection may correspond to another partition. Between the two, there is a transition. This paper provides a concept for expanding the scope of modularity methods.

  9. Agreement of the silent partnership – tax and legal consequences of its conclusion and execution

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Monika Zieniewicz

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The institution of the silent partnership is not currently regulated by any legal act in the Polish legal system, although its importance in practice is not in doubt. As every action made in the economic sphere and economic execution of the contract is associated with specific effects on the basis of the tax laws. However, due to the lack of statutory regulation of the institution of silent partnership problematic is the question of determining the effects of tax legislation. Therefore, special attention is needed to determine the issue of these effects on the basis of income tax, tax on goods and services, transfer tax and the tax on inheritance and donations, as well as the question of liability for the tax liabilities of the silent partnership.

  10. silent no more: sexual violence in conflict as a challenge

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Rights (FIDH), Violence Against Women in Syria: Breaking the Silence, Briefing. Paper Based on an .... not perceived as the church's concern”, Silent No More, p. 8. .... travel all night to retrieve the bodies and bury them with dignity.23 In the.

  11. Compositionality for Markov reward chains with fast and silent transitions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Markovski, J.; Sokolova, A.; Trcka, N.; Vink, de E.P.

    2009-01-01

    A parallel composition is defined for Markov reward chains with stochastic discontinuity, and with fast and silent transitions. In this setting, compositionality with respect to the relevant aggregation preorders is established. For Markov reward chains with fast transitions the preorders are

  12. Measuring the prevalence of regional mutation rates: an analysis of silent substitutions in mammals, fungi, and insects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tuch Brian B

    2008-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The patterns of mutation vary both within and across genomes. It has been shown for a few mammals that mutation rates vary within the genome, while for unknown reasons, the sensu stricto yeasts have uniform rates instead. The generality of these observations has been unknown. Here we examine silent site substitutions in a more expansive set (20 mammals, 27 fungi, 4 insects to determine why some genomes demonstrate this mosaic distribution and why others are uniform. Results We applied several intragene and intergene correlation tests to measure regional substitution patterns. Assuming that silent sites are a reasonable approximation to neutrally mutating sequence, our results show that all multicellular eukaryotes exhibit mutational heterogeneity. In striking contrast, all fungi are mutationally uniform – with the exception of three Candida species: C. albicans, C. dubliniensis, and C. tropicalis. We speculate that aspects of replication timing may be responsible for distinguishing these species. Our analysis also reveals classes of genes whose silent sites behave anomalously with respect to the mutational background in many species, indicating prevalent selective pressures. Genes associated with nucleotide binding or gene regulation have consistently low silent substitution rates in every mammalian species, as well as multiple fungi. On the other hand, receptor genes repeatedly exhibit high silent substitution rates, suggesting they have been influenced by diversifying selection. Conclusion Our findings provide a framework for understanding the regional mutational properties of eukaryotes, revealing a sharp difference between fungi and multicellular species. They also elucidate common selective pressures acting on eukaryotic silent sites, with frequent evidence for both purifying and diversifying selection.

  13. Teen Depression and Suicide, A SILENT CRISIS.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kroning, Maureen; Kroning, Kayla

    2016-01-01

    Adolescent depression is a serious problem affecting 10.7% of all teens and 29.9% of high school students; 17% of high school students have contemplated suicide. Yet, depression in teens is often unrecognized. This article relays the tragic death of a 17-year-old, along with symptoms of depression and suicide in adolescents; DSM-5 criteria for depression; treatments including protective factors, psychotherapy, and medications; and imparts interventions for addressing this huge but silent crisis.

  14. Risk factors associated with the occurrence of silent pulmonary embolism in patients with deep venous thrombosis of the lower limb.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Fenghe; Wang, Xuehu; Huang, Wen; Ren, Wei; Cheng, Jun; Zhang, Mao; Zhao, Yu

    2014-08-01

    The aim of our study is to investigate the prevalence of silent pulmonary embolism in patients with deep venous thrombosis in the lower limbs and to evaluate the associated risk factors. A total of 322 patients with acute deep venous thrombosis confirmed by CT venography or Doppler ultrasonography were studied. The diagnosis of silent pulmonary embolism was established by computed tomography pulmonary arteriography (CTPA). The association between covariates and the prevalence of silent pulmonary embolism in patients with deep venous thrombosis in lower limbs were assessed using chi-square test and multivariable regression. The incidence of silent pulmonary embolism was 33.5% (108 in 322 patients) in all patients with deep venous thrombosis in lower limbs. Chi-square test showed male gender, the right lower limb, proximal location of the thrombus, unprovoked venous thrombosis and coexisting heart diseases were related to a higher incidence of silent pulmonary embolism in patients with deep venous thrombosis in lower limbs. The multivariate regression analysis confirmed that the risk factors associated with silent pulmonary embolism in deep venous thrombosis patients included the right side and proximal location of the thrombus (odds ratio: 2.023, 95% CI: 1.215-3.368; odds ratio: 3.610, 95% CI: 1.772-7.354), unprovoked venous thrombosis (odds ratio: 2.037, 95% CI: 1.188-3.493), coexisting heart diseases (odds ratio: 4.507, 95% CI: 2.667-7.618). Silent pulmonary embolism occurred frequently in patients with deep venous thrombosis in lower limbs. The right side, the proximal location of the thrombus, unprovoked venous thrombosis and coexisting heart diseases increased the risk for the occurrence of silent pulmonary embolism. © The Author(s) 2013 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav.

  15. Harmony hurts: participation and silent conflict at an Indonesian fish pond.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tam, Chui-Ling

    2006-07-01

    Participatory environmental and resource management is premised on open communication to reach consensus. However, deliberate and open communication cannot adequately address silent conflict. This begs two questions. First, how is the existence of covert communication and silent conflict to be recognized and addressed? Second, how are the wider social relations and traditions that encompass communication and conflict to be described and explained? These questions revolve around communicative power. Communication of environmental knowledge is deeply embedded in social power structures, with direct implications for participatory resource planning and implementation. Ethnographic research conducted at a failed community-managed fish farming project in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia shows that a culture of harmony and respect for authority can silence environmental conflict in the hierarchical "community." Three propositions are offered. First, communication amnesia and exclusion jeopardize participation. Second, cultures of harmony and silent conflict shape planning processes and outcomes. Third, the weak use manipulation and communication strategy to acquire a "voice" while preserving harmony. These propositions address five unresolved issues in participatory resource management: analysis of groups, contextuality, social relationships, nonparticipants, and informal communication. Power, tradition, and social networks affect the valuing of knowledge relative to the power of different individuals and institutions to communicate priorities, values, and needs. These factors are critical to the inclusion of both participants and nonparticipants.

  16. Monotone Approximations of Minimum and Maximum Functions and Multi-objective Problems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stipanović, Dušan M.; Tomlin, Claire J.; Leitmann, George

    2012-01-01

    In this paper the problem of accomplishing multiple objectives by a number of agents represented as dynamic systems is considered. Each agent is assumed to have a goal which is to accomplish one or more objectives where each objective is mathematically formulated using an appropriate objective function. Sufficient conditions for accomplishing objectives are derived using particular convergent approximations of minimum and maximum functions depending on the formulation of the goals and objectives. These approximations are differentiable functions and they monotonically converge to the corresponding minimum or maximum function. Finally, an illustrative pursuit-evasion game example with two evaders and two pursuers is provided.

  17. Monotone Approximations of Minimum and Maximum Functions and Multi-objective Problems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stipanovic, Dusan M., E-mail: dusan@illinois.edu [University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Coordinated Science Laboratory, Department of Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering (United States); Tomlin, Claire J., E-mail: tomlin@eecs.berkeley.edu [University of California at Berkeley, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (United States); Leitmann, George, E-mail: gleit@berkeley.edu [University of California at Berkeley, College of Engineering (United States)

    2012-12-15

    In this paper the problem of accomplishing multiple objectives by a number of agents represented as dynamic systems is considered. Each agent is assumed to have a goal which is to accomplish one or more objectives where each objective is mathematically formulated using an appropriate objective function. Sufficient conditions for accomplishing objectives are derived using particular convergent approximations of minimum and maximum functions depending on the formulation of the goals and objectives. These approximations are differentiable functions and they monotonically converge to the corresponding minimum or maximum function. Finally, an illustrative pursuit-evasion game example with two evaders and two pursuers is provided.

  18. Rtt107/Esc4 binds silent chromatin and DNA repair proteins using different BRCT motifs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jockusch Rebecca A

    2006-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background By screening a plasmid library for proteins that could cause silencing when targeted to the HMR locus in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, we previously reported the identification of Rtt107/Esc4 based on its ability to establish silent chromatin. In this study we aimed to determine the mechanism of Rtt107/Esc4 targeted silencing and also learn more about its biological functions. Results Targeted silencing by Rtt107/Esc4 was dependent on the SIR genes, which encode obligatory structural and enzymatic components of yeast silent chromatin. Based on its sequence, Rtt107/Esc4 was predicted to contain six BRCT motifs. This motif, originally identified in the human breast tumor suppressor gene BRCA1, is a protein interaction domain. The targeted silencing activity of Rtt107/Esc4 resided within the C-terminal two BRCT motifs, and this region of the protein bound to Sir3 in two-hybrid tests. Deletion of RTT107/ESC4 caused sensitivity to the DNA damaging agent MMS as well as to hydroxyurea. A two-hybrid screen showed that the N-terminal BRCT motifs of Rtt107/Esc4 bound to Slx4, a protein previously shown to be involved in DNA repair and required for viability in a strain lacking the DNA helicase Sgs1. Like SLX genes, RTT107ESC4 interacted genetically with SGS1; esc4Δ sgs1Δ mutants were viable, but exhibited a slow-growth phenotype and also a synergistic DNA repair defect. Conclusion Rtt107/Esc4 binds to the silencing protein Sir3 and the DNA repair protein Slx4 via different BRCT motifs, thus providing a bridge linking silent chromatin to DNA repair enzymes.

  19. Silent Warning: Understanding the National Terrorism Advisory System

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-12-01

    NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA THESIS Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited SILENT WARNING...PERFORMING OR GANIZATION NA:i\\ti E (S) AND ADDRESS(ES) Naval Postgraduate School Monterey, CA 93943-5000 9. SP ONSORING /MONIT ORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND...Homeland Sectu’ity Advisory System, Boston Marathon bombing, Christmas Day bomber, tmderwear bomber, hum cane , cotmteiteiTO!’ism, CT AB

  20. A Comparison of Reading Rates, Comprehension, and Stamina in Oral and Silent Reading of Fourth-Grade Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trainin, Guy; Hiebert, Elfrieda H.; Wilson, Kathleen M.

    2015-01-01

    This study examined the relationships between silent and oral reading fluency and comprehension. Findings indicated that fourth grade students had consistent levels of comprehension in both reading modes. Students of all reading levels showed a similar pattern across the segments of a text set in both oral and silent reading--a gradual increase in…

  1. Electrocardiographically and symptomatically silent myocardial ischemia during exercise testing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kurata, Chinori; Tawarahara, Kei; Sakata, Kazuyuki; Taguchi, Takahisa; Fukumoto, Yoshihiro; Kobayashi, Akira; Yamazaki, Noboru; Tanaka, Hiroshi

    1991-01-01

    Certain patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) may have neither ST depression nor chest pain during exercise despite the presence of myocardial ischemia. The frequency and characteristics of such electrocardiographically and symptomatically silent ischemia were studied in 171 patients with both angiographically documented CAD and scintigraphically documented ischemia. Fifty-six (33%) of 171 patients had neither ST depression nor chest pain (Group N), and 115 (67%) had ST depression and/or chest pain (Group P). The two groups were similar with respect to age, gender, the prevalence of prior infarction, and peak systolic blood pressure. Group N patients, however, had a higher mean peak heart rate and rate-pressure product, less severe scintigraphic ischemia, a lower lung thallium-201 uptake, and a smaller number of diseased vessels. Stepwise discriminant analysis showed a history of effort angina, lung thallium-201 uptake, and scintigraphic severity of ischemia to be significant discriminators between Groups N and P. In conclusion, electrocardiographically and symptomatically silent ischemia may be common during exercise in patients with CAD, and less severe ischemia may be one of important determinants. (author)

  2. Characterisation of silent and active genes for a variable large protein of Borrelia recurrentis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Scragg Ian G

    2002-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background We report the characterisation of the variable large protein (vlp gene expressed by clinical isolate A1 of Borrelia recurrentis; the agent of the life-threatening disease louse-borne relapsing fever. Methods The major vlp protein of this isolate was characterised and a DNA probe created. Use of this together with standard molecular methods was used to determine the location of the vlp1B. recurrentis A1 gene in both this and other isolates. Results This isolate was found to carry silent and expressed copies of the vlp1B. recurrentis A1 gene on plasmids of 54 kbp and 24 kbp respectively, whereas a different isolate, A17, had only the silent vlp1B. recurrentis A17 on a 54 kbp plasmid. Silent and expressed vlp1 have identical mature protein coding regions but have different 5' regions, both containing different potential lipoprotein leader sequences. Only one form of vlp1 is transcribed in the A1 isolate of B. recurrentis, yet both 5' upstream sequences of this vlp1 gene possess features of bacterial promoters. Conclusion Taken together these results suggest that antigenic variation in B. recurrentis may result from recombination of variable large and small protein genes at the junction between lipoprotein leader sequence and mature protein coding region. However, this hypothetical model needs to be validated by further identification of expressed and silent variant protein genes in other B. recurrentis isolates.

  3. Accuracy of Ultrasonography and Rectal Palpation in the Diagnosis of Silent Heat in Cows Compared to Plasma Progesterone Concentration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zdunczyk, S.; Janowski, T.; Ras, A.; Baranski, W.

    2009-01-01

    The study was carried out on five dairy herds in the North-East Poland. The cows, which showed no visible oestrus signs until day 60 postpartum, were examined by ultrasonography and rectal palpation twice, at a 10-d interval. A real-time, B-mode scanner with a 5 MHz probe was used. The plasma progesterone concentration was determined using RIA. A high progesterone level on the first examination, but low on the second, or low on the first and high on the second examination were interpreted as a silent heat. Based on the progesterone values, silent heat was diagnosed in 145 anoestrous cows, whereas ultrasonographically, 106 cows were found to have silent heat. The accuracy of the ultrasonography and rectal palpation in the diagnosis of silent heat in cows was 89.0 % and 69.7 %, respectively (P ≤ 0.05). For the diagnosis of the corpus luteum, the sensitivity and specificity of the ultrasonography was 94.7 % and 84.0 %, and for rectal palpation 86.2 % and 70.3 %, respectively (P ≤ 0.05). Our results showed that ultrasonography is a useful tool in the diagnosis of silent heat in cows. (authors)

  4. Scintigraphic diagnosis of silent aspiration following double-sided lung transplantation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Toenshoff, G.; Stock, U.; Bohuslavizki, K.H.; Brenner, W.; Costard-Jaeckle, A.; Cremer, J.; Clausen, M.

    1996-01-01

    We present a case of a 25 year old patient who underwent double-sided lung transplantation and suffered from recurrent pneumonia. Silent aspiration was suspected clinically. Aspiration was proved by scintigraphy enabling to discriminate between direct oro-pulmonal aspiration and aspiration after gastro-esophageal reflux. (orig.) [de

  5. Direct speech quotations promote low relative-clause attachment in silent reading of English.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yao, Bo; Scheepers, Christoph

    2018-07-01

    The implicit prosody hypothesis (Fodor, 1998, 2002) proposes that silent reading coincides with a default, implicit form of prosody to facilitate sentence processing. Recent research demonstrated that a more vivid form of implicit prosody is mentally simulated during silent reading of direct speech quotations (e.g., Mary said, "This dress is beautiful"), with neural and behavioural consequences (e.g., Yao, Belin, & Scheepers, 2011; Yao & Scheepers, 2011). Here, we explored the relation between 'default' and 'simulated' implicit prosody in the context of relative-clause (RC) attachment in English. Apart from confirming a general low RC-attachment preference in both production (Experiment 1) and comprehension (Experiments 2 and 3), we found that during written sentence completion (Experiment 1) or when reading silently (Experiment 2), the low RC-attachment preference was reliably enhanced when the critical sentences were embedded in direct speech quotations as compared to indirect speech or narrative sentences. However, when reading aloud (Experiment 3), direct speech did not enhance the general low RC-attachment preference. The results from Experiments 1 and 2 suggest a quantitative boost to implicit prosody (via auditory perceptual simulation) during silent production/comprehension of direct speech. By contrast, when reading aloud (Experiment 3), prosody becomes equally salient across conditions due to its explicit nature; indirect speech and narrative sentences thus become as susceptible to prosody-induced syntactic biases as direct speech. The present findings suggest a shared cognitive basis between default implicit prosody and simulated implicit prosody, providing a new platform for studying the effects of implicit prosody on sentence processing. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. Gated single photon emission computer tomography for the detection of silent myocardial ischemia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pena Q, Yamile; Coca P, Marco Antonio; Batista C, Juan Felipe; Fernandez-Britto, Jose; Quesada P, Rodobaldo; Pena C; Andria

    2009-01-01

    Background: Asymptomatic patients with severe coronary atherosclerosis may have a normal resting electrocardiogram and stress test. Aim: To assess the yield of Gated Single Photon Emission Computer Tomography (SPECT) for the screening of silent myocardial ischemia in type 2 diabetic patients. Material and methods: Electrocardiogram, stress test and gated-SPECT were performed on 102 type 2 diabetic patients aged 60 ± 8 years without cardiovascular symptoms. All subjects were also subjected to a coronary angiography, whose results were used as gold standard. Results: Gated-SPECT showed myocardial ischemia on 26.5% of studied patients. The sensibility, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value and negative predictive value were 92.3%, 96%, 95%, 88.8%, 97.3%, respectively. In four and six patients ischemia was detected on resting electrocardiogram and stress test, respectively. Eighty percent of patients with doubtful resting electrocardiogram results and 70% with a doubtful stress test had a silent myocardial ischemia detected by gated-SPECT. There was a good agreement between the results of gated-SPECT and coronary angiography (k =0.873). Conclusions: Gated-SPECT was an useful tool for the screening of silent myocardial ischemia

  7. Agreement of the silent partnership – tax and legal consequences of its conclusion and execution

    OpenAIRE

    Monika Zieniewicz

    2016-01-01

    The institution of the silent partnership is not currently regulated by any legal act in the Polish legal system, although its importance in practice is not in doubt. As every action made in the economic sphere and economic execution of the contract is associated with specific effects on the basis of the tax laws. However, due to the lack of statutory regulation of the institution of silent partnership problematic is the question of determining the effects of tax legislation. Therefore, speci...

  8. Silent, indirect strategic processes in small and medium sized enterprises

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larsen, Mette Vinther; Madsen, Charlotte Øland; Rasmussen, Jørgen Gulddahl

    Based on empirical data we in this paper explore day-to-day strategising with an emphasis on phronesis. This way we shed some light on the nearly silent, quiet, indirect strategic change processes as they are practiced and reflected upon by leaders in small companies in their daily practice...

  9. Perspectives on the "Silent Period" for Emergent Bilinguals in England

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bligh, Caroline; Drury, Rose

    2015-01-01

    This article draws together the research findings from two ethnographic studies as a means to problematize the "silent period" as experienced by young bilingual learners in two English speaking early-years settings in England. Most teachers and senior early-years practitioners in England are monolingual English speakers. The children…

  10. The Rachel Carson Letters and the Making of Silent Spring

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John Paull

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available Environment, conservation, green, and kindred movements look back to Rachel Carson’s 1962 book Silent Spring as a milestone. The impact of the book, including on government, industry, and civil society, was immediate and substantial, and has been extensively described; however, the provenance of the book has been less thoroughly examined. Using Carson’s personal correspondence, this paper reveals that the primary source for Carson’s book was the extensive evidence and contacts compiled by two biodynamic farmers, Marjorie Spock and Mary T. Richards, of Long Island, New York. Their evidence was compiled for a suite of legal actions (1957-1960 against the U.S. Government and that contested the aerial spraying of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT. During Rudolf Steiner’s lifetime, Spock and Richards both studied at Steiner’s Goetheanum, the headquarters of Anthroposophy, located in Dornach, Switzerland. Spock and Richards were prominent U.S. anthroposophists, and established a biodynamic farm under the tutelage of the leading biodynamics exponent of the time, Dr. Ehrenfried Pfeiffer. When their property was under threat from a government program of DDT spraying, they brought their case, eventually lost it, in the process spent US$100,000, and compiled the evidence that they then shared with Carson, who used it, and their extensive contacts and the trial transcripts, as the primary input for Silent Spring. Carson attributed to Spock, Richards, and Pfeiffer, no credit whatsoever in her book. As a consequence, the organics movement has not received the recognition, that is its due, as the primary impulse for Silent Spring, and it is, itself, unaware of this provenance.

  11. Estimation of cortical silent period following transcranial magnetic stimulation using a computerised cumulative sum method.

    Science.gov (United States)

    King, Nicolas K K; Kuppuswamy, Annapoorna; Strutton, Paul H; Davey, Nick J

    2006-01-15

    The cortical silent period (CSP) following transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) of the motor cortex can be used to measure intra-cortical inhibition and changes in a number of important pathologies affecting the central nervous system. The main drawback of this technique has been the difficulty in accurately identifying the onset and offset of the cortical silent period leading to inter-observer variability. We developed an automated method based on the cumulative sum (Cusum) technique to improve the determination of the duration and area of the cortical silent period. This was compared with experienced raters and two other automated methods. We showed that the automated Cusum method reliably correlated with the experienced raters for both duration and area of CSP. Compared with the automated methods, the Cusum also showed the strongest correlation with the experienced raters. Our results show the Cusum method to be a simple, graphical and powerful method of detecting low-intensity CSP that can be easily automated using standard software.

  12. Diagnosis of silent myocardial ischemia in type 2 diabetic patients by electrocardiogram, ergometry and Gated-SPECT

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Penna Quian, Yamile; Fernandez-Britto Rodriguez, Jose; Bacallao Gallestey, Jorge; Batista Cuellar, Juan Felipe; Coca Perez, Marco Antonio; Toirac Garcia, Noresma; Penna Coego, Andria

    2008-01-01

    31 asymptomatic type 2 diabetic patients were studied by lab tests, electrocardiogram, ergometry, Gated-SPECT and coronariography to determine the relation between the atherosclerotic risk factors and the silent myocardial ischemia. Patients were classified into two groups: positive SPECT and negative SPECT. Association tests were made for each variable and ROC curves were constructed to identify risk markers. In 35.5% of the patients silent myocardial ischemia was detected with a good angiographic correlation. A significant association was evidenced between positive SPECT and the atherosclerotic risk factors, namely, low values of HDLc, family pathological history of ischemic heart disease and peripheral vascular disease. The logistic regression models showed that low values of HDLc together with family pathological history of ischemic heart disease may be strong predictors of silent myocardial ischemia in asymptomatic type 2 diabetic patients

  13. From tomography to FWI with a single objective function

    KAUST Repository

    Alkhalifah, Tariq Ali

    2013-06-10

    Reflections in our seismic data induce serious nonlinear behavior in the objective function of full waveform inversion (FWI). Thus, without a good initial velocity model, that can produce the reflections within a cycle of the frequency used in the inversion, convergence to the solution becomes hard. Such velocity models are usually extracted from migration velocity analysis or traveltime tomography, among other means, that are not guaranteed to adhere to the FWI requirements. As such, we promote an objective function based on the misfit in the instantaneous traveltime between the observed and modeled data. This phase based attribute of the wavefield, along with its phase unwrapping features, provide a frequency dependent traveltime function. With strong damping of the of the synthetic, potentially low frequency, data, this attribute admits first arrival traveltime that could be compared with picked ones from the observed data, like in wave equation tomography. As we relax the damping on the synthetic and observed data, the objective function measures the misfit in the phase, however unwrapped in an FWI type inversion. It, thus, provides a single objective function and a natural transition from traveltime tomography to full waveform inversion. A Marmousi example demonstrates the effectiveness of the approach.

  14. Functional imaging of human crossmodal identification and object recognition

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Amedi, A; von Kriegstein, K; van Atteveldt, N M; Beauchamp, M S; Naumer, M J

    2005-01-01

    The perception of objects is a cognitive function of prime importance. In everyday life, object perception benefits from the coordinated interplay of vision, audition, and touch. The different sensory modalities provide both complementary and redundant information about objects, which may improve

  15. An introduction to silent speech interfaces

    CERN Document Server

    Freitas, João; Dias, Miguel Sales; Silva, Samuel

    2017-01-01

    This book provides a broad and comprehensive overview of the existing technical approaches in the area of silent speech interfaces (SSI), both in theory and in application. Each technique is described in the context of the human speech production process, allowing the reader to clearly understand the principles behind SSI in general and across different methods. Additionally, the book explores the combined use of different data sources, collected from various sensors, in order to tackle the limitations of simpler SSI approaches, addressing current challenges of this field. The book also provides information about existing SSI applications, resources and a simple tutorial on how to build an SSI.

  16. Silent infarction on a second CT scan in 91 patients without manifest stroke in the Dutch TIA trial

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Herderscheê, D.; Hijdra, A.; Algra, A.; Kappelle, L. J.; Koudstaal, P. J.; van Gijn, J.

    1994-01-01

    The frequency of silent infarction is an important issue because it is a marker of vascular disease. We studied the occurrence of silent infarction in a sample of patients from the Dutch TIA trial, in which patients were randomized between 30 and 283 mg of aspirin. A total of 91 patients with TIA or

  17. Dynamic wind turbine models in power system simulation tool DIgSILENT

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Anca Daniela; Iov, F.; Sørensen, Poul Ejnar

    , connection of the wind turbine at different types of grid and storage systems. Different control strategies have been developed and implemented for these wind turbine concepts, their performance in normal or fault operation being assessed and discussed by means of simulations. The described control......This report presents a collection of models and control strategies developed and implemented in the power system simulation tool PowerFactory DIgSILENT for different wind turbine concepts. It is the second edition of Risø-R-1400(EN) and it gathers and describes a whole wind turbine model database...... of the interaction between the mechanical structure of the wind turbine and the electrical grid during different operational modes. The report provides thus a description of the wind turbines modelling, both at a component level and at a system level. The report contains both the description of DIgSILENT built...

  18. Human Schedule Performance, Protocol Analysis, and the "Silent Dog" Methodology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cabello, Francisco; Luciano, Carmen; Gomez, Inmaculada; Barnes-Holmes, Dermot

    2004-01-01

    The purpose of the current experiment was to investigate the role of private verbal behavior on the operant performances of human adults, using a protocol analysis procedure with additional methodological controls (the "silent dog" method). Twelve subjects were exposed to fixed ratio 8 and differential reinforcement of low rate 3-s schedules. For…

  19. Effect of object functions on tomographic reconstruction a numerical study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Babu Rao, C.; Baldev Raj; Ravichandran, V.S.; Munshi, P.

    1996-01-01

    Convolution back projection is the most widely used algorithm of computed tomography (CT). Theoretical studies show that under ideal conditions, the error in the reconstruction can be correlated with the second fourier space derivative of filter function and with the Laplacian of the object function. This paper looks into the second aspect of the error function. In this paper a systematic numerical study is presented on the effect to object functions on global and local errors. (author)

  20. Stopping the Silent Killer: Hepatitis B Among Asian Americans

    Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Podcasts

    This podcast discusses an underappreciated health threat to many Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States: chronic infection with the hepatitis B virus. Dr. John Ward, director of CDC's Division of Viral Hepatitis, and Dr. Sam So, founder of the Asian Liver Center at Stanford University, address the importance of testing, vaccination, and care to prevent serious health consequences from this "silent" disease.

  1. Robust Optimization Using Supremum of the Objective Function for Nonlinear Programming Problems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Se Jung; Park, Gyung Jin

    2014-01-01

    In the robust optimization field, the robustness of the objective function emphasizes an insensitive design. In general, the robustness of the objective function can be achieved by reducing the change of the objective function with respect to the variation of the design variables and parameters. However, in conventional methods, when an insensitive design is emphasized, the performance of the objective function can be deteriorated. Besides, if the numbers of the design variables are increased, the numerical cost is quite high in robust optimization for nonlinear programming problems. In this research, the robustness index for the objective function and a process of robust optimization are proposed. Moreover, a method using the supremum of linearized functions is also proposed to reduce the computational cost. Mathematical examples are solved for the verification of the proposed method and the results are compared with those from the conventional methods. The proposed approach improves the performance of the objective function and its efficiency

  2. Hydrocoele: A Silent Disability Affecting Quality of Life in Katakwi ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Background: Katakwi district is one of the rural districts in eastern Uganda in Teso Sub Region. The district is heavily infested with filarial worms a major cause for hydrocoele and elephantiasis if the infection is left untreated. Hydrocoele in Katakwi district are still a big cause of silent morbidity though it's an operable ...

  3. Handling of micro objects: investigation of mechanical gripper functional surfaces

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gegeckaite, Asta; Hansen, Hans Nørgaard; De Chiffre, Leonardo

    2007-01-01

    between the micro object and the gripper do not allow simple picking and releasing of the object. This effect can be overcome by modifying the functional surface of the gripper. The functional surface of the gripper was modified by different machining techniques. The results of this investigation...

  4. Lithium toxicity precipitated by thyrotoxicosis due to silent thyroiditis: cardiac arrest, quadriplegia, and coma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sato, Yoshinori; Taki, Katsumi; Honda, Yuki; Takahashi, Shoichiro; Yoshimura, Ashio

    2013-06-01

    Lithium is widely used to treat bipolar disorders. Lithium toxicity is generally caused by inappropriately high doses of lithium or impaired lithium excretion. Most lithium is eliminated via the kidneys and, since thyroid hormone increases tubular reabsorption of lithium, thyrotoxicosis could contribute to the development of lithium toxicity. We report a case of severe lithium toxicity that was apparently precipitated by the onset of thyrotoxicosis resulting from silent thyroiditis and dehydration. The patient was a 64-year-old woman who was admitted for muscle weakness in the lower extremities, diarrhea, and palpitations. She had bipolar disorder and was being treated with lithium carbonate, which she discontinued one week before admission. Her circulating lithium levels had been monitored yearly. Early in her admission she was dehydrated and had febrile episodes, paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, and muscle weakness. Initially, fluid therapy was started, but she lost consciousness and had a cardiac arrest for 2 minutes due to prolonged sinus arrest. Chest compression and manual artificial ventilation were performed, and body surface pacing was started. Serum lithium was markedly elevated to 3.81 mEq/L (therapeutic range, 0.4-1.0 mEq/L), and thyroid hormone levels were increased (free triiodothyronine, 8.12 pg/mL; free thyroxine, 4.45 ng/dL), while thyrotropin (TSH) was suppressed (quadriplegia and deep coma. She gradually recovered. On day 36, she was discharged without any neurological symptoms or thyrotoxicosis. A 64-year-old woman taking lithium for bipolar disorder developed lithium toxicity in the setting of what seemed likely to be a recent onset of thyrotoxicosis due to silent thyroiditis. Thyrotoxicosis may be a contributing cause of lithium toxicity, particularly if it is abrupt in onset and even with cessation of lithium therapy if renal function is compromised. Thyroid function should be assessed immediately in patients with suspected lithium

  5. Silent reading of direct versus indirect speech activates voice-selective areas in the auditory cortex.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yao, Bo; Belin, Pascal; Scheepers, Christoph

    2011-10-01

    In human communication, direct speech (e.g., Mary said: "I'm hungry") is perceived to be more vivid than indirect speech (e.g., Mary said [that] she was hungry). However, for silent reading, the representational consequences of this distinction are still unclear. Although many of us share the intuition of an "inner voice," particularly during silent reading of direct speech statements in text, there has been little direct empirical confirmation of this experience so far. Combining fMRI with eye tracking in human volunteers, we show that silent reading of direct versus indirect speech engenders differential brain activation in voice-selective areas of the auditory cortex. This suggests that readers are indeed more likely to engage in perceptual simulations (or spontaneous imagery) of the reported speaker's voice when reading direct speech as opposed to meaning-equivalent indirect speech statements as part of a more vivid representation of the former. Our results may be interpreted in line with embodied cognition and form a starting point for more sophisticated interdisciplinary research on the nature of auditory mental simulation during reading.

  6. Veratridine activates a silent sodium-channel in rat isolated aorta

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    WERMELSKIRCHEN, D; WILFFERT, B; NEBEL, U; LEIDIG, A; WIRTH, A; Peters, Thies

    1992-01-01

    To investigate the existence of silent Na+ channels, isolated rat aorta was treated with veratridine (0.1 mM) and the resulting Ca2+ uptake was determined. After 30-min incubation the total tissue uptake of Ca2+ and Ca2+ uptake increased from 2.325 +/- 0.017 to 2.614 +/- 0.080 nmol/mg wet weight

  7. Health Education Films of the Silent Era: A Historical Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sofalvi, Alan

    2011-01-01

    Films have been used to present health messages throughout the history of the medium. The purpose of this article is to describe pictures from the silent film era that were designed to educate people about health issues. Films still available in at least one format were reviewed. Published reviews were also used to obtain information about these…

  8. THE EFFECT OF USING SHORT SILENT ANIMATIONS ON EFL LEARNERS WRITING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hamid Marashi

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available This study investigated the effect of short silent animations on pre-intermediate EFL learners writing. A homogenized group of 60 participants was non-randomly chosen and assigned as the control and experimental groups. Those in the control group watched five short animations with dialogue, while those in the experimental group had five short animations which were silent. The procedure lasted 10 sessions. In both groups, the participants were asked to write five writings regarding the subjects of the animations during the term and each of the writings should have contained a minimum of 90 and maximum of 140 words. The participants were provided both oral and written feedback. At the end of the instruction, a sample PET writing posttest was administered to both groups, an independent samples t-test was run on the mean scores of the two groups, and the results (t = -2.02, p = 0.037˂0.05 revealed that the experimental group outperformed the control group.

  9. Typical and atypical (silent) subacute thyroiditis in a wife and husband

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Morrison, J.; Caplan, R.H.

    1978-01-01

    Typical subacute thyroiditis was diagnosed in a woman. Three weeks later, signs and symptoms of hyperthyroidism developed in her husband. Although the right lobe of his thyroid gland was slightly enlarged, pain and tenderness were absent throughout the course of his illness. The free thyroxine equivalent (FTE) value and the sedimentation rate were elevated; the low uptake of radioactive iodine by the thyroid gland was consistent with ''silent'' subacute thyroiditis. We postulate that a common etiology, probably viral, was operative in both cases. Nine additional cases of hyperthyroidism with low levels of thyroidal uptake of radioactive iodine are described. The thyroid glands of these patients were normal or slightly enlarged. Antithyroglobulin antibody levels determined in seven patients were not substantially elevated. The clinical course of these patients was characteristic of ''silent'' subacute thyroiditis. Although the origin of the syndrome remains unclear, the disease is self-limited and therapy, if any, is supportive

  10. Typical and atypical (silent) subacute thyroiditis in a wife and husband

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Morrison, J.; Caplan, R.H.

    1978-01-01

    Typical subacute thyroiditis was diagnosed in a woman. Three weeks later, signs and symptoms of hyperthyroidism developed in her husband. Although the right lobe of his thyroid gland was slightly enlarged, pain and tenderness were absent throughout the course of his illness. The free thyroxine equivalent (FTE) value and the sedimentation rate were elevated; the low uptake of radioactive iodine by the thyroid gland was consistent with ''silent'' subacute thyroiditis. We postulate that a common etiology, probably viral, was operative in both cases. Nine additional cases of hyperthyroidism with low levels of thyroidal uptake of radioactive iodine are described. The thyroid glands of these patients were normal or slightly enlarged. Antithyroglobulin antibody levels determined in seven patients were not substantially elevated. The clinical course of these patients was characteristic of ''silent'' subacute thyroiditis. Although the origin of the syndrome remains unclear, the disease is self-limited and therapy, if any, is supportive.

  11. Detection of silent cells, synchronization and modulatory activity in developing cellular networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hjorth, Johannes J J; Dawitz, Julia; Kroon, Tim; Pires, Johny; Dassen, Valerie J; Berkhout, Janna A; Emperador Melero, Javier; Nadadhur, Aish G; Alevra, Mihai; Toonen, Ruud F; Heine, Vivi M; Mansvelder, Huibert D; Meredith, Rhiannon M

    2016-04-01

    Developing networks in the immature nervous system and in cellular cultures are characterized by waves of synchronous activity in restricted clusters of cells. Synchronized activity in immature networks is proposed to regulate many different developmental processes, from neuron growth and cell migration, to the refinement of synapses, topographic maps, and the mature composition of ion channels. These emergent activity patterns are not present in all cells simultaneously within the network and more immature "silent" cells, potentially correlated with the presence of silent synapses, are prominent in different networks during early developmental periods. Many current network analyses for detection of synchronous cellular activity utilize activity-based pixel correlations to identify cellular-based regions of interest (ROIs) and coincident cell activity. However, using activity-based correlations, these methods first underestimate or ignore the inactive silent cells within the developing network and second, are difficult to apply within cell-dense regions commonly found in developing brain networks. In addition, previous methods may ignore ROIs within a network that shows transient activity patterns comprising both inactive and active periods. We developed analysis software to semi-automatically detect cells within developing neuronal networks that were imaged using calcium-sensitive reporter dyes. Using an iterative threshold, modulation of activity was tracked within individual cells across the network. The distribution pattern of both inactive and active, including synchronous cells, could be determined based on distance measures to neighboring cells and according to different anatomical layers. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  12. Silent Patent Ductus Arteriosus Aneurysm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aline Medeiros Botta

    2002-09-01

    Full Text Available Ductus arteriosus aneurysm, a rare and potentially fatal condition, has been reported as a complication after surgical ductus arteriosus closure. Its spontaneous appearance as a septic complication, which was common in the presurgical and preantibiotic era, has been rarely reported in the contemporary literature. Persistence of silent ductus arteriosus in healthy children and adults is a frequent condition that currently has an increasing diagnostic possibility due to the availability of more accurate investigative methods, especially echocardiography. We report the case of a 1-year-old child, in whom no previous heart disease was known, who developed a giant aneurysm of the ductus arteriosus during a staphylococcal infection. This complication appeared after craniotomy for emptying an accidental subdural hematoma. This report associates the persistence of ductus arteriosus with a complication considered rare, which has a rapidly fatal evolution.

  13. Mapping and Visiting in Functional and Object-oriented Programming

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nørmark, Kurt; Thomsen, Bent; Thomsen, Lone Leth

    2008-01-01

    Mapping and visiting represent different programming styles for traversals of collections of data.  Mapping is rooted in the functional programming paradigm, and visiting is rooted in the object-oriented programming paradigm.  This paper explores the similarities and differences between mapping...... and visiting, seen across the traditions in the two different programming paradigms. The paper is concluded with recommendations for mapping and visiting in programming languages that support both the functional and the object-oriented paradigms....

  14. Selection of Objective Function For Imbalanced Classification: An Industrial Case Study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Khan, Abdul Rauf; Schiøler, Henrik; Kulahci, Murat

    2017-01-01

    In this article we discuss the issue of selecting suitable objective function for Genetic Algorithm to solve an imbalanced classification problem. More precisely, first we discuss the need of specialized objective function to solve a real classification problem from our industrial partner and the...... and then we compare the results of our proposed objective function with commonly used candidates to serve this purpose. Our comparison is based on the analysis of real data collected during the quality control stages of the manufacturing process....

  15. When Spiders Bite: The Use, Misuse, and Unintended Consequences of ``Silent Information''

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keenan, Thomas P.

    Spiders are the workhorses of the Internet, silently (and almost invisibly) traversing the online world, 24 hours a day, looking for information that may be of interest to someone. It is being archived, organized, and sold, usually without the knowledge or consent of the subject of the information. Serious consequences are starting to appear, such as the withdrawal of three candidates from the October 2008 Canadian Federal election because of previous online indiscretions. While these were intentional if mis-guided postings, information made available without our consent can have equally devastating effects. Advances in artificial intelligence, as well as the increasing tendency to post more and more information, such as videos, will make the gathering, aggregation, and republishing of this “silent information” an increasingly important issue that must be addressed from the technical, social, ethical and legal perspectives, and sooner rather than later.

  16. A functional near-infrared spectroscopic investigation of speech production during reading.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wan, Nick; Hancock, Allison S; Moon, Todd K; Gillam, Ronald B

    2018-03-01

    This study was designed to test the extent to which speaking processes related to articulation and voicing influence Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) measures of cortical hemodynamics and functional connectivity. Participants read passages in three conditions (oral reading, silent mouthing, and silent reading) while undergoing fNIRS imaging. Area under the curve (AUC) analyses of the oxygenated and deoxygenated hemodynamic response function concentration values were compared for each task across five regions of interest. There were significant region main effects for both oxy and deoxy AUC analyses, and a significant region × task interaction for deoxy AUC favoring the oral reading condition over the silent reading condition for two nonmotor regions. Assessment of functional connectivity using Granger Causality revealed stronger networks between motor areas during oral reading and stronger networks between language areas during silent reading. There was no evidence that the hemodynamic flow from motor areas during oral reading compromised measures of language-related neural activity in nonmotor areas. However, speech movements had small, but measurable effects on fNIRS measures of neural connections between motor and nonmotor brain areas across the perisylvian region, even after wavelet filtering. Therefore, researchers studying speech processes with fNIRS should use wavelet filtering during preprocessing to reduce speech motion artifacts, incorporate a nonspeech communication or language control task into the research design, and conduct a connectivity analysis to adequately assess the impact of functional speech on the hemodynamic response across the perisylvian region. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  17. Automatic processing of unattended object features by functional connectivity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Katja Martina Mayer

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available Observers can selectively attend to object features that are relevant for a task. However, unattended task-irrelevant features may still be processed and possibly integrated with the attended features. This study investigated the neural mechanisms for processing both task-relevant (attended and task-irrelevant (unattended object features. The Garner paradigm was adapted for functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI to test whether specific brain areas process the conjunction of features or whether multiple interacting areas are involved in this form of feature integration. Observers attended to shape, colour, or non-rigid motion of novel objects while unattended features changed from trial to trial (change blocks or remained constant (no-change blocks during a given block. This block manipulation allowed us to measure the extent to which unattended features affected neural responses which would reflect the extent to which multiple object features are automatically processed. We did not find Garner interference at the behavioural level. However, we designed the experiment to equate performance across block types so that any fMRI results could not be due solely to differences in task difficulty between change and no-change blocks. Attention to specific features localised several areas known to be involved in object processing. No area showed larger responses on change blocks compared to no-change blocks. However, psychophysiological interaction analyses revealed that several functionally-localised areas showed significant positive interactions with areas in occipito-temporal and frontal areas that depended on block type. Overall, these findings suggest that both regional responses and functional connectivity are crucial for processing multi-featured objects.

  18. Cardiovascular risk evaluation and prevalence of silent myocardial ischemia in subjects with asymptomatic carotid artery disease

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ciccone M

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available Marco Matteo Ciccone1, Artor Niccoli-Asabella2, Pietro Scicchitano1, Michele Gesualdo1, Antonio Notaristefano2, Domenico Chieppa1, Santa Carbonara1, Gabriella Ricci1, Marco Sassara1, Corinna Altini2, Giovanni Quistelli1, Mario Erminio Lepera1, Stefano Favale1, Giuseppe Rubini21Cardiovascular Diseases Section, Department of Emergency and Organ Transplantation (DETO, 2Nuclear Medicine Unit, Department of Internal Medicine and of Public Medicine, University of Bari, Bari, ItalyIntroduction: Silent ischemia is an asymptomatic form of myocardial ischemia, not associated with angina or anginal equivalent symptoms, which can be demonstrated by changes in ECG, left ventricular function, myocardial perfusion, and metabolism. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of silent myocardial ischemia in a group of patients with asymptomatic carotid stenosis.Methods: A total of 37 patients with asymptomatic carotid plaques, without chest pain or dyspnea, was investigated. These patients were studied for age, sex, hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, smoking, and family history of cardiac disease, and underwent technetium-99 m sestamibi myocardial stress-rest scintigraphy and echo-color Doppler examination of carotid arteries.Results: A statistically significant relationship (P = 0.023 was shown between positive responders and negative responders to scintigraphy test when both were tested for degree of stenosis. This relationship is surprising in view of the small number of patients in our sample. Individuals who had a positive scintigraphy test had a mean stenosis degree of 35% ± 7% compared with a mean of 44% ± 13% for those with a negative test. Specificity of our detection was 81%, with positive and negative predictive values of 60% and 63%, respectively.Conclusion: The present study confirms that carotid atherosclerosis is associated with coronary atherosclerosis and highlights the importance of screening for ischemic heart disease in

  19. The prevalence and the clinical characteristics of silent myocardial ischemia detected by stress thallium scintigraphy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matsuo, Hitoshi; Watanabe, Sachiro; Nishida, Yoshio

    1992-01-01

    The prevalence of silent myocardial ischemia was retrospectively assessed in a group of 100 consecutive patients with angiographically proved coronary artery disease, and diagnostic ECG, by symptom-limited exercise thallium-201 scintigraphy. Twenty-four patients had no evidence of ischemia despite adequate exercise level. So among 76 patients with exercise induced ischemia, only 33 patients (43%) stopped exercise due to anginal pain (symptomatic ischemia: Group 3). And 43 patients with asymptomatic ischemia composed of 23 patients (30%) with ECG change (Group 2B) and 20 patients (26%) without ECG change (Group 2A). Patients background including the history of old myocardial infarction and diabetes mellitus, were similar among Group 2A, 2B, and Group 3. Our Major observation was that the extent and severity of quantified SPECT perfusion defects was nearly identified between 3 groups. Thus in this study group, there was a rather high prevalence rate of silent ischemia (57%) by exercise thallium-201 criteria. Patients with silent ischemia, associated with positive and negative exercise ECG findings, and those with exercise angina had similar background and comparable amount of jeopardized myocardium. (author)

  20. Studies on combined model based on functional objectives of large scale complex engineering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yuting, Wang; Jingchun, Feng; Jiabao, Sun

    2018-03-01

    As various functions were included in large scale complex engineering, and each function would be conducted with completion of one or more projects, combined projects affecting their functions should be located. Based on the types of project portfolio, the relationship of projects and their functional objectives were analyzed. On that premise, portfolio projects-technics based on their functional objectives were introduced, then we studied and raised the principles of portfolio projects-technics based on the functional objectives of projects. In addition, The processes of combined projects were also constructed. With the help of portfolio projects-technics based on the functional objectives of projects, our research findings laid a good foundation for management of large scale complex engineering portfolio management.

  1. Semantic and functional relationships among objects increase the capacity of visual working memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Donnell, Ryan E; Clement, Andrew; Brockmole, James R

    2018-04-12

    Visual working memory (VWM) has a limited capacity of approximately 3-4 visual objects. Current theories of VWM propose that a limited pool of resources can be flexibly allocated to objects, allowing them to be represented at varying levels of precision. Factors that influence the allocation of these resources, such as the complexity and perceptual grouping of objects, can thus affect the capacity of VWM. We sought to identify whether semantic and functional relationships between objects could influence the grouping of objects, thereby increasing the functional capacity of VWM. Observers viewed arrays of 8 to-be-remembered objects arranged into 4 pairs. We manipulated both the semantic association and functional interaction between the objects, then probed participants' memory for the arrays. When objects were semantically related, participants' memory for the arrays improved. Participants' memory further improved when semantically related objects were positioned to interact with each other. However, when we increased the spacing between the objects in each pair, the benefits of functional but not semantic relatedness were eliminated. These findings suggest that action-relevant properties of objects can increase the functional capacity of VWM, but only when objects are positioned to directly interact with each other. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

  2. Silent cerebral infarction, income, and grade retention among students with sickle cell anemia

    Science.gov (United States)

    King, Allison A.; Rodeghier, Mark J.; Panepinto, Julie Ann; Strouse, John J.; Casella, James F.; Quinn, Charles T.; Dowling, Michael M.; Sarnaik, Sharada A.; Thompson, Alexis A.; Woods, Gerald M.; Minniti, Caterina P.; Redding-Lallinger, Rupa C.; Kirby-Allen, Melanie; Kirkham, Fenella J.; McKinstry, Robert; Noetzel, Michael J.; White, Desiree A.; Kwiatkowski, Janet K.; Howard, Thomas H.; Kalinyak, Karen A.; Inusa, Baba; Rhodes, Melissa M.; Heiny, Mark E.; Fuh, Ben; Fixler, Jason M.; Gordon, Mae O.; DeBaun, Michael R.

    2014-01-01

    Children with sickle cell anemia have a higher-than-expected prevalence of poor educational attainment. We test two key hypotheses about educational attainment among students with sickle cell anemia, as measured by grade retention and use of special education services: (1) lower household per capita income is associated with lower educational attainment; (2) the presence of a silent cerebral infarct is associated with lower educational attainment. We conducted a multicenter, cross-sectional study of cases from 22 U.S. sites included in the Silent Infarct Transfusion Trial. During screening, parents completed a questionnaire that included sociodemographic information and details of their child’s academic status. Of 835 students, 670 were evaluable; 536 had data on all covariates and were used for analysis. The students’ mean age was 9.4 years (range: 5–15) with 52.2% male; 17.5% of students were retained one grade level and 18.3% received special education services. A multiple variable logistic regression model identified that lower household per capita income (odds ratio [OR] of quartile 1 = 6.36, OR of quartile 2 = 4.7, OR of quartile 3 = 3.87; P = 0.001 for linear trend), age (OR = 1.3; P sickle cell anemia, household per capita income is associated with grade retention, whereas the presence of a silent cerebral infarct is not. Future educational interventions will need to address both the medical and socioeconomic issues that affect students with sickle cell anemia. PMID:25042018

  3. Optimizing an objective function under a bivariate probability model

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    X. Brusset; N.M. Temme (Nico)

    2007-01-01

    htmlabstractThe motivation of this paper is to obtain an analytical closed form of a quadratic objective function arising from a stochastic decision process with bivariate exponential probability distribution functions that may be dependent. This method is applicable when results need to be

  4. Direct and Indirect Effects of Print Exposure on Silent Reading Fluency

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mano, Quintino R.; Guerin, Julia M.

    2018-01-01

    Print exposure is an important causal factor in reading development. Little is known, however, of the mechanisms through which print exposure exerts an effect onto reading. To address this gap, we examined the direct and indirect effects of print exposure on silent reading fluency among college students (n = 52). More specifically, we focused on…

  5. Effects of DBS, premotor rTMS, and levodopa on motor function and silent period in advanced Parkinson's disease

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bäumer, Tobias; Hidding, Ute; Hamel, Wolfgang

    2009-01-01

    Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) is a widely used and highly effective treatment for patients with advanced Parkinson's disease (PD). Repetitive TMS (rTMS) applied to motor cortical areas has also been shown to improve symptoms in PD and modulate motor cortical...... excitability. Here, we compared clinical and neurophysiological effects of STN stimulation with those of 1 Hz rTMS given to the dorsal premotor cortex (PMd) and those following intake of levodopa in a group of PD patients with advanced disease. Ten PD patients were studied on 2 consecutive days before...... and after surgery. Clinical effects were determined using the UPDRS motor score. Motor thresholds, motor-evoked potential (MEP) amplitudes during slight voluntary contraction, and the cortical silent periods (SP) were measured using TMS. Before surgery effects of levodopa and 1 Hz PMd rTMS and after surgery...

  6. Silent Localization of Underwater Sensors Using Magnetometers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jonas Callmer

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Sensor localization is a central problem for sensor networks. If the sensor positions are uncertain, the target tracking ability of the sensor network is reduced. Sensor localization in underwater environments is traditionally addressed using acoustic range measurements involving known anchor or surface nodes. We explore the usage of triaxial magnetometers and a friendly vessel with known magnetic dipole to silently localize the sensors. The ferromagnetic field created by the dipole is measured by the magnetometers and is used to localize the sensors. The trajectory of the vessel and the sensor positions are estimated simultaneously using an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF. Simulations show that the sensors can be accurately positioned using magnetometers.

  7. The Tzu Chi Silent Mentor Program: Application of Buddhist Ethics to Teach Student Physicians Empathy, Compassion, and Self-Sacrifice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Santibañez, Scott; Boudreaux, Debra; Tseng, Guo-Fang; Konkel, Kimberly

    2016-10-01

    The Buddhist Tzu Chi Silent Mentor Program promotes the donation of one's body to science as a selfless act by appealing to the Buddhist ethics of compassion and self-sacrifice. Together, faculty, families, and donors help medical students to learn the technical, spiritual, emotional, and psychological aspects of medicine. Students assigned to each "Silent Mentor" visit the family to learn about the donor's life. They see photos and hear family members' stories. Afterwards, students write a brief biography of the donor which is posted on the program website, in the medical school, and on the dissection table. In this paper, we: (1) summarize the Silent Mentor Program; (2) describe findings from an assessment of medical students who recently completed a new version of the program in Malaysia; and (3) explore how healthcare settings could benefit from this innovative program.

  8. A two-level parallel direct search implementation for arbitrarily sized objective functions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hutchinson, S.A.; Shadid, N.; Moffat, H.K. [Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)] [and others

    1994-12-31

    In the past, many optimization schemes for massively parallel computers have attempted to achieve parallel efficiency using one of two methods. In the case of large and expensive objective function calculations, the optimization itself may be run in serial and the objective function calculations parallelized. In contrast, if the objective function calculations are relatively inexpensive and can be performed on a single processor, then the actual optimization routine itself may be parallelized. In this paper, a scheme based upon the Parallel Direct Search (PDS) technique is presented which allows the objective function calculations to be done on an arbitrarily large number (p{sub 2}) of processors. If, p, the number of processors available, is greater than or equal to 2p{sub 2} then the optimization may be parallelized as well. This allows for efficient use of computational resources since the objective function calculations can be performed on the number of processors that allow for peak parallel efficiency and then further speedup may be achieved by parallelizing the optimization. Results are presented for an optimization problem which involves the solution of a PDE using a finite-element algorithm as part of the objective function calculation. The optimum number of processors for the finite-element calculations is less than p/2. Thus, the PDS method is also parallelized. Performance comparisons are given for a nCUBE 2 implementation.

  9. Silent angels the genetic and clinical aspects of Rett syndrome

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dziwota Ewelina

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Rett syndrome is a neurodevelopmental genetic disorder and, because of some behavioral characteristics, individuals affected by the disease are known as silent angels. Girls with Rett syndrome perform stereotyped movements, they have learning difficulties, their reaction time is prolonged, and they seem alienated in the environment. These children require constant pediatric, neurological and orthopedic care. In the treatment of Rett syndrome physical therapy, music therapy, hydrotherapy, hippotherapy, behavioral methods, speech therapy and diet, are also used. In turn, psychological therapy of the syndrome is based on the sensory integration method, using two or more senses simultaneously. In 80% of cases, the syndrome is related to mutations of the MECP2 gene, located on chromosome X. The pathogenesis of Rett syndrome is caused by the occurrence of a non-functional MeCP2 protein, which is a transcription factor of many genes, i.e. Bdnf, mef2c, Sgk1, Uqcrc1. Abnormal expression of these genes reveals a characteristic disease phenotype. Clinical symptoms relate mainly to the nervous, respiratory, skeletal and gastrointestinal systems. Currently causal treatment is not possible. However, researchers are developing methods by which, perhaps in the near future, it will be possible to eliminate the mutations in the MECP2 gene, and this will give a chance to the patient for normal functioning.

  10. Silent hepatitis E virus infection in Dutch blood donors, 2011 to 2012

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Slot, E.; Hogema, B. M.; Riezebos-Brilman, A.; Kok, T. M.; Molier, M.; Zaaijer, H. L.

    2013-01-01

    In Europe, the dynamics of endemic hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection remain enigmatic. We studied the presence of silent HEV infection among Dutch blood donors. Using donations collected throughout the Netherlands in 2011 and 2012, 40,176 donations were tested for HEV RNA in 459 pools of 48 or 480

  11. Classical methods for interpreting objective function minimization as intelligent inference

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Golden, R.M. [Univ. of Texas, Dallas, TX (United States)

    1996-12-31

    Most recognition algorithms and neural networks can be formally viewed as seeking a minimum value of an appropriate objective function during either classification or learning phases. The goal of this paper is to argue that in order to show a recognition algorithm is making intelligent inferences, it is not sufficient to show that the recognition algorithm is computing (or trying to compute) the global minimum of some objective function. One must explicitly define a {open_quotes}relational system{close_quotes} for the recognition algorithm or neural network which identifies the: (i) sample space, (ii) the relevant sigmafield of events generated by the sample space, and (iii) the {open_quotes}relation{close_quotes} for that relational system. Only when such a {open_quotes}relational system{close_quotes} is properly defined, is it possible to formally establish the sense in which computing the global minimum of an objective function is an intelligent, inference.

  12. The Slippery Road from Actions on Objects to Functions and Variables

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paz, Tamar; Leron, Uri

    2009-01-01

    Functions are all around us, disguised as actions on concrete objects. Composition of functions, too, is all around us, because these actions can be performed in succession, the output of one serving as the input for the next. In terms of Gray and Tall's (2001) "embodied objects" or Lakoff and Nunez's (2000) "mathematical idea…

  13. An investigation of the reduction of carbon dioxide in a silent electric discharge

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luce, R. S.; Greenough, B. (Editor)

    1978-01-01

    The reduction of CO2 to O2 and CO in a silent electric discharge was studied. It was found that current alone (in the ionized plasma induced by the silent electric discharge) was reponsible for the CO2 reduction process. Voltage and frequency were important only in so far as they induced current in the plasma. Pressure and temperature were of minimum influence in the process. The large power consumption in the process was recognized as resulting from the low power factor of the reactor vessel which electrically behaved like a capacitor. The power factor was subsequently improved by adding an inductive element to make the reactor vessel capacitance part of a resonant circuit. It was found that the CO2 reduction process was most efficient in terms of power vs reduction rate when a voltage was employed that was only slightly higher than that needed to induce the plasma.

  14. Objective Integrated Assessment of Functional Outcomes in Reduction Mammaplasty

    Science.gov (United States)

    Passaro, Ilaria; Malovini, Alberto; Faga, Angela; Toffola, Elena Dalla

    2013-01-01

    Background: The aim of our study was an objective integrated assessment of the functional outcomes of reduction mammaplasty. Methods: The study involved 17 women undergoing reduction mammaplasty from March 2009 to June 2011. Each patient was assessed before surgery and 2 months postoperatively with the original association of 4 subjective and objective assessment methods: a physiatric clinical examination, the Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire, the Berg Balance Scale, and a static force platform analysis. Results: All of the tests proved multiple statistically significant associated outcomes demonstrating a significant improvement in the functional status following reduction mammaplasty. Surgical correction of breast hypertrophy could achieve both spinal pain relief and recovery of performance status in everyday life tasks, owing to a muscular postural functional rearrangement with a consistent antigravity muscle activity sparing. Pain reduction in turn could reduce the antalgic stiffness and improved the spinal range of motion. In our sample, the improvement of the spinal range of motion in flexion matched a similar improvement in extension. Recovery of a more favorable postural pattern with reduction of the anterior imbalance was demonstrated by the static force stabilometry. Therefore, postoperatively, all of our patients narrowed the gap between the actual body barycenter and the ideal one. The static force platform assessment also consistently confirmed the effectiveness of an accurate clinical examination of functional impairment from breast hypertrophy. Conclusions: The static force platform assessment might help the clinician to support the diagnosis of functional impairment from a breast hypertrophy with objectively based data. PMID:25289256

  15. The relationship among customer demand, competitive strategy and manufacturing system functional objectives

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wei Xu

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available Purpose: To ascertain the relationship between the operation system function goal decision making and customer demand and competition strategy, can better discover and integrate all available resources (including important capital resources to achieve business opportunities, the establishment of sustainable competitive ability. Because, to achieve business development lead policymakers take great uncertainty, which led to the investment behavior required for the operational activities of resources also bear the enormous risks. Design/methodology/approach: Through principal component analysis on the data collected by questionnaires, the manuscript obtains dominant factors for customer demand, competitive strategy and manufacturing system functional objectives respectively. By these factors, it tests its three hypotheses with the data from northeast of China and draws some conclusions. Findings: The results show that customer demand have a significant positive effect on competitive strategy; competitive strategy have positive influence on manufacturing system functional objectives; customer demand affect the functional objectives, by competitive strategy. Research limitations/implications: In this research, competitive strategy and manufacturing system functional objectives are influenced by customer demand. The conclusion of the research can provide theoretical guidance for Chinese enterprises which carry out manufacturing system functional objectives. Originality/value: In this research, a new measure questionnaire of competition strategy, customer satisfaction and operating system function goal was used, analyzed the influence factors of time, quality, cost, efficiency, service and environment, on the operation of the system. The study shows that the effect of competition strategy and customer demand has a direct impact on the operating system functions, customer demand through competitive strategy of indirect effects operating system functions.

  16. Generational differences in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use in the context of chronic diseases and pain: baby boomers versus the silent generation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ho, Tiffany F; Rowland-Seymour, Anastasia; Frankel, Eitan S; Li, Susan Q; Mao, Jun J

    2014-01-01

    More people are supplementing conventional medicine with complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), but studies have not compared CAM use between baby boomers (adults born from 1946 to 1964) and the so-called silent generation (born from 1925 to 1945). This study compares CAM usage between baby boomers (n = 7734) and the silent generation (n = 4682) through secondary analyses of the 2007 National Health Interview Survey data. The analysis also compares chronic disease and pain status. Multivariate logistic regression models were developed to identify generational differences. Although the silent generation reported twice as many chronic disease (51.3% vs 26.1%; P painful conditions (56.1% vs 52.2%; P CAM within the past year (43.1% vs 35.4%; P CAM than adults from the silent generation. Chronic pain status was independently associated with greater CAM use (adjusted odds ratio, 2.26; 95% confidence interval, 2.03-2.52). Baby boomers reported significantly higher rates of CAM use than the silent generation for both chronic diseases and painful conditions. Family physicians caring for the aging population must use patient-centered communication about the risks/benefits of CAM, which is necessary to promote effective coping with chronic illnesses and pain. © Copyright 2014 by the American Board of Family Medicine.

  17. BOOK REVIEW: ARE YOU AN ADVOCATE, TACIT SUPPORTER, CRITICAL SKEPTIC, OR SILENT SKEPTIC?

    Science.gov (United States)

    "Silent Sperm," "You're not half the man your grandfather was," "Assault on the Male," "Gender Benders,"-perhaps no other public health concern has given rise to the number of memorable sound bites than has the issue of whether environmental contaminants are causing adverse healt...

  18. Fast, multiple optimizations of quadratic dose objective functions in IMRT

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Breedveld, Sebastiaan; Storchi, Pascal R M; Keijzer, Marleen; Heijmen, Ben J M

    2006-01-01

    Inverse treatment planning for intensity-modulated radiotherapy may include time consuming, multiple minimizations of an objective function. In this paper, methods are presented to speed up the process of (repeated) minimization of the well-known quadratic dose objective function, extended with a smoothing term that ensures generation of clinically acceptable beam profiles. In between two subsequent optimizations, the voxel-dependent importance factors of the quadratic terms will generally be adjusted, based on an intermediate plan evaluation. The objective function has been written in matrix-vector format, facilitating the use of a recently published, fast quadratic minimization algorithm, instead of commonly applied gradient-based methods. This format also reduces the calculation time in between subsequent minimizations, related to adjustment of the voxel-dependent importance factors. Sparse matrices are used to limit the required amount of computer memory. For three patients, comparisons have been made with a gradient method. Mean speed improvements of up to a factor of 37 have been achieved

  19. Dual silent communication system development based on subvocal speech and Raspberry Pi

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    José Daniel Ramírez-Corzo

    2016-09-01

    Additionally, in this article we show the speech subvocal signals’ recording system realization. The average accuracy percentage was 72.5 %, and includes a total of 50 words by class, this is 200 signals. Finally, it demonstrated that using the Raspberry Pi it is possible to set a silent communication system, using subvocal. speech signals.

  20. The development of object function and manipulation knowledge: evidence from a semantic priming study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cynthia Collette

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Object semantics include object function and manipulation knowledge. Function knowledge refers to the goal attainable by using an object (e.g. the function of a key is to open or close a door while manipulation knowledge refers to gestures one has to execute to use an object appropriately (e.g. a key is held between the thumb and the index, inserted into the door lock and then turned.To date, several studies have assessed function and manipulation knowledge in brain lesion patients as well as in healthy adult populations. In patients with left brain damage, a double dissociation between these two types of knowledge has been reported; on the other hand, behavioral studies in healthy adults show that function knowledge is processed faster than manipulation knowledge. Empirical evidence has shown that object interaction in children differs from that in adults, suggesting that the access to function and manipulation knowledge in children might also differ.To investigate the development of object function and manipulation knowledge, 51 typically developing 8-9-10 year-old children and 17 healthy young adults were tested on a naming task associated with a semantic priming paradigm (190-ms SOA; prime duration: 90 ms in which a series of line drawings of manipulable objects were used. Target objects could be preceded by three priming contexts: related (e.g. knife-scissors for function; key-screwdriver for manipulation, unrelated but visually similar (e.g. glasses-scissors; baseball bat-screwdriver, and purely unrelated (e.g. die-scissors; tissue-screwdriver.Results showed a different developmental pattern of function and manipulation priming effects. Function priming effects were not present in children and emerged only in adults, with faster naming responses for targets preceded by objects sharing the same function. In contrast, manipulation priming effects were already present in 8-year-olds with faster naming responses for targets preceded by objects

  1. Executive function in fibromyalgia: Comparing subjective and objective measures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gelonch, Olga; Garolera, Maite; Valls, Joan; Rosselló, Lluís; Pifarré, Josep

    2016-04-01

    There is evidence to suggest the existence of an executive dysfunction in people diagnosed with fibromyalgia, although there are certain inconsistencies between studies. Here, we aim to compare executive performance between patients with fibromyalgia and a control group by using subjective and objective cognitive tests, analyzing the influence of patient mood on the results obtained, and studying associations between the two measures. 82 patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia and 42 healthy controls, matched by age and years of education, were assessed using the Behavioral Rating Inventory of Executive Function - Adult Version (BRIEF-A) as a subjective measure of executive functioning. A selection of objective cognitive tests were also used to measure a series of executive functions and to identify symptoms of depression and anxiety. Patients with fibromyalgia perceived greater difficulties than the control group on all of the BRIEF-A scales. However, after adjustments were made for depression and anxiety the only differences that remained were those associated with the working memory scale and the Metacognition and Global Executive Composite index. In the case of the objective cognitive tests, a significantly worse overall performance was evidenced for the fibromyalgia patients. However, this also disappeared when adjustments were made for depression and anxiety. After this adjustment, fibromyalgia patients only performed significantly worse for the interference effect in the Stroop Test. Although there were no significant associations between most of the objective cognitive tests and the BRIEF-A scales, depression and anxiety exhibited strong associations with almost all of the BRIEF-A scales and with several of the objective cognitive tests. Patients with fibromyalgia showed executive dysfunction in subjective and objective measures, although most of this impairment was associated with mood disturbances. Exceptions to this general rule were observed in the

  2. Programming Scala Scalability = Functional Programming + Objects

    CERN Document Server

    Wampler, Dean

    2009-01-01

    Learn how to be more productive with Scala, a new multi-paradigm language for the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) that integrates features of both object-oriented and functional programming. With this book, you'll discover why Scala is ideal for highly scalable, component-based applications that support concurrency and distribution. Programming Scala clearly explains the advantages of Scala as a JVM language. You'll learn how to leverage the wealth of Java class libraries to meet the practical needs of enterprise and Internet projects more easily. Packed with code examples, this book provides us

  3. Measuring the cortical silent period can increase diagnostic confidence for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schelhaas, H.J.; Arts, I.M.P.; Overeem, S.; Houtman, C.J.; Janssen, H.; Kleine, B.U.; Munneke, M.; Zwarts, M.J.

    2007-01-01

    We evaluated a modified measurement of the cortical silent period (CSP) as a simple procedure to add further confidence in the diagnostic work-up for ALS. Thirty-seven consecutive patients with a suspicion of having ALS were included together with 25 healthy volunteers, and followed until a final

  4. Interactive Preference Learning of Utility Functions for Multi-Objective Optimization

    OpenAIRE

    Dewancker, Ian; McCourt, Michael; Ainsworth, Samuel

    2016-01-01

    Real-world engineering systems are typically compared and contrasted using multiple metrics. For practical machine learning systems, performance tuning is often more nuanced than minimizing a single expected loss objective, and it may be more realistically discussed as a multi-objective optimization problem. We propose a novel generative model for scalar-valued utility functions to capture human preferences in a multi-objective optimization setting. We also outline an interactive active learn...

  5. Hypoxia-Induced neonatal seizures diminish silent synapses and long-term potentiation in hippocampal CA1 neurons

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Chengwen; Bell, Jocelyn J. Lippman; Sun, Hongyu; Jensen, Frances E.

    2012-01-01

    Neonatal seizures can lead to epilepsy and long-term cognitive deficits in adulthood. Using a rodent model of the most common form of human neonatal seizures, hypoxia-induced seizures (HS), we aimed to determine whether these seizures modify long-term potentiation (LTP) and “silent” N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR)-only synapses in hippocampal CA1. At 48-72 hours (hrs) post-HS, electrophysiology and immunofluorescent confocal microscopy revealed a significant decrease in the incidence of silent synapses, and an increase in amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptors (AMPARs) at the synapses. Coincident with this decrease in silent synapses, there was an attenuation of LTP elicited by either tetanic stimulation of Schaffer collaterals or a pairing protocol, and persistent attenuation of LTP in slices removed in later adulthood after P10 HS. Furthermore, post-seizure treatment in vivo with the AMPAR antagonist 2,3-dihydroxy-6-nitro-7-sulfonyl-benzo[f]quinoxaline (NBQX) protected against the HS-induced depletion of silent synapses and preserved LTP. Thus, this study demonstrates a novel mechanism by which early-life seizures could impair synaptic plasticity, suggesting a potential target for therapeutic strategies to prevent long-term cognitive deficits. PMID:22171027

  6. Objective function for the environmental assessment of waste

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Toy, A.J.; Boegel, J.; Cohen, J.J.

    1976-01-01

    Various waste management systems were examined in order to determine what the environmental impacts might be and to rank the relative importance of those impacts. This examination determined that radiation dose to man was the most significant, and probably overriding, impact. This report describes methods of providing an objective function for dose to man. The search for an objective function began with a reading of Federal Regulations and the output of various standard setting councils and committees. Ample guidance was found on maximum allowable doses to individuals but no guidance on dose to large populations or criteria by which systems could be compared or optimized. Several other ways were postulated by which waste management systems could be evaluated besides maximum allowable dose to individuals. 0.1 man-rem per MW(e)-year was selected as the measure of system performance. This unit compares a rational estimate of population dose commitment with the concurrent benefit

  7. On the convex hull of the simple integer recourse objective function

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Klein Haneveld, Willem K.; Stougie, L.; van der Vlerk, Maarten H.

    1995-01-01

    We consider the objective function of a simple integer recourse problem with fixed technology matrix. Using properties of the expected value function, we prove a relation between the convex hull of this function and the expected value function of a continuous simple recourse program. We present an

  8. JAKEF, Gradient or Jacobian Function from Objective Function or Vector Function

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hillstrom, K.E.

    1988-01-01

    1 - Description of program or function: JAKEF is a language processor that accepts as input a single- or double-precision ANSI standard 1977 FORTRAN subroutine defining an objective function f(x), or a vector function F(x), and produces as output a single- or double- precision ANSI standard 1977 FORTRAN subroutine defining the gradient of f(x), or the Jacobian of F(x). 2 - Method of solution: JAKEF is a four-pass compiler consisting of a lexical preprocessor, a parser, a tree-building and flow analysis pass, and a differentiator and output construction pass. The lexical preprocessor reworks the input FORTRAN program to give it a recognizable lexical structure. The parser transforms the pre-processed input into a string of tokens in a post-fix representation of the program tree. The tree-building and flow analysis pass constructs a tree out of the post-fix token string. The differentiator identifies relevant assignment statements; then, if necessary, it analyzes them into component statements governed by a single differentiation rule and augments each of these statements with a call to a member of the run-time support package which implements the differentiation rule. After completing the construction of the main body of the routine, JAKEF inserts calls to support package routines that complete the differentiation. This results in a modified program tree in a form compatible with FORTRAN rules. 3 - Restrictions on the complexity of the problem: Statement functions and Equivalence's that involve the independent variables are not handled correctly. Variables, constants, or functions of type COMPLEX are not recognized. Character sub-string expressions and alternate returns are not permitted

  9. Children's use of comparison and function in novel object categorization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kimura, Katherine; Hunley, Samuel B; Namy, Laura L

    2018-06-01

    Although young children often rely on salient perceptual cues, such as shape, when categorizing novel objects, children eventually shift towards deeper relational reasoning about category membership. This study investigates what information young children use to classify novel instances of familiar categories. Specifically, we investigated two sources of information that have the potential to facilitate the classification of novel exemplars: (1) comparison of familiar category instances, and (2) attention to function information that might direct children's attention to functionally relevant perceptual features. Across two experiments, we found that comparing two perceptually similar category members-particularly when function information was also highlighted-led children to discover non-obvious relational features that supported their categorization of novel category instances. Together, these findings demonstrate that comparison may aid in novel object categorization by heightening the salience of less obvious, yet functionally relevant, relational structures that support conceptual reasoning. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  10. Analysis and optimization with ecological objective function of irreversible single resonance energy selective electron heat engines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhou, Junle; Chen, Lingen; Ding, Zemin; Sun, Fengrui

    2016-01-01

    Ecological performance of a single resonance ESE heat engine with heat leakage is conducted by applying finite time thermodynamics. By introducing Nielsen function and numerical calculations, expressions about power output, efficiency, entropy generation rate and ecological objective function are derived; relationships between ecological objective function and power output, between ecological objective function and efficiency as well as between power output and efficiency are demonstrated; influences of system parameters of heat leakage, boundary energy and resonance width on the optimal performances are investigated in detail; a specific range of boundary energy is given as a compromise to make ESE heat engine system work at optimal operation regions. Comparing performance characteristics with different optimization objective functions, the significance of selecting ecological objective function as the design objective is clarified specifically: when changing the design objective from maximum power output into maximum ecological objective function, the improvement of efficiency is 4.56%, while the power output drop is only 2.68%; when changing the design objective from maximum efficiency to maximum ecological objective function, the improvement of power output is 229.13%, and the efficiency drop is only 13.53%. - Highlights: • An irreversible single resonance energy selective electron heat engine is studied. • Heat leakage between two reservoirs is considered. • Power output, efficiency and ecological objective function are derived. • Optimal performance comparison for three objective functions is carried out.

  11. Traces of vocabulary acquisition in the brain: Evidence from covert object naming.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ellis, A W; Burani, C; Izura, C; Bromiley, A; Venneri, A

    2006-11-15

    One of the strongest predictors of the speed with which adults can name a pictured object is the age at which the object and its name are first learned. Age of acquisition also predicts the retention or loss of individual words following brain damage in conditions like aphasia and Alzheimer's disease. Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) was used to reveal brain areas differentially involved in naming objects with early or late acquired names. A baseline task involved passive viewing of non-objects. The comparison between the silent object naming conditions (early and late) with baseline showed significant activation in frontal, parietal and mediotemporal regions bilaterally and in the lingual and fusiform gyri on the left. Direct comparison of early and late items identified clusters with significantly greater activation for early acquired items at the occipital poles (in the posterior parts of the middle occipital gyri) and at the left temporal pole. In contrast, the left middle occipital and fusiform gyri showed significantly greater activation for late than early acquired items. We propose that greater activation to early than late objects at the occipital poles and at the left temporal pole reflects the more detailed visual and semantic representations of early than late acquired items. We propose that greater activation to late than early objects in the left middle occipital and fusiform gyri occurs because those areas are involved in mapping visual onto semantic representations, which is more difficult, and demands more resource, for late than for early items.

  12. Object Oriented and Functional Programming for Symbolic Manipulation

    OpenAIRE

    Vlasov, Alexander Yu.

    1999-01-01

    The advantages of mixed approach with using different kinds of programming techniques for symbolic manipulation are discussed. The main purpose of approach offered is merge the methods of object oriented programming that convenient for presentation data and algorithms for user with advantages of functional languages for data manipulation, internal presentation, and portability of software.

  13. From tomography to FWI with a single objective function

    KAUST Repository

    Alkhalifah, Tariq Ali; Choi, Yun Seok

    2013-01-01

    Reflections in our seismic data induce serious nonlinear behavior in the objective function of full waveform inversion (FWI). Thus, without a good initial velocity model, that can produce the reflections within a cycle of the frequency used

  14. Radio jets and gamma-ray emission in radio-silent narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lähteenmäki, A.; Järvelä, E.; Ramakrishnan, V.; Tornikoski, M.; Tammi, J.; Vera, R. J. C.; Chamani, W.

    2018-06-01

    We have detected six narrow-line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) galaxies at 37 GHz that were previously classified as radio silent and two that were classified as radio quiet. These detections reveal the presumption that NLS1 galaxies labelled radio quiet or radio silent and hosted by spiral galaxies are unable to launch jets to be incorrect. The detections are a plausible indicator of the presence of a powerful, most likely relativistic jet because this intensity of emission at 37 GHz cannot be explained by, for example, radiation from supernova remnants. Additionally, one of the detected NLS1 galaxies is a newly discovered source of gamma rays and three others are candidates for future detections. 37 GHz data are only available in electronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp to http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (http://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/qcat?J/A+A/614/L1

  15. Representing uncertainty in objective functions: extension to include the influence of serial correlation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Croke, B. F.

    2008-12-01

    The role of performance indicators is to give an accurate indication of the fit between a model and the system being modelled. As all measurements have an associated uncertainty (determining the significance that should be given to the measurement), performance indicators should take into account uncertainties in the observed quantities being modelled as well as in the model predictions (due to uncertainties in inputs, model parameters and model structure). In the presence of significant uncertainty in observed and modelled output of a system, failure to adequately account for variations in the uncertainties means that the objective function only gives a measure of how well the model fits the observations, not how well the model fits the system being modelled. Since in most cases, the interest lies in fitting the system response, it is vital that the objective function(s) be designed to account for these uncertainties. Most objective functions (e.g. those based on the sum of squared residuals) assume homoscedastic uncertainties. If model contribution to the variations in residuals can be ignored, then transformations (e.g. Box-Cox) can be used to remove (or at least significantly reduce) heteroscedasticity. An alternative which is more generally applicable is to explicitly represent the uncertainties in the observed and modelled values in the objective function. Previous work on this topic addressed the modifications to standard objective functions (Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency, RMSE, chi- squared, coefficient of determination) using the optimal weighted averaging approach. This paper extends this previous work; addressing the issue of serial correlation. A form for an objective function that includes serial correlation will be presented, and the impact on model fit discussed.

  16. Silent film: The Carlsberg Foundation’s Oceanographic Expedition Round the World, 1928–30

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Poulsen, Bo

    2016-01-01

    the surveys conducted onboard, as well as encounters with local populations round the World. This silent film consists of c. 20 different sequences. There is a very instructive introduction to the fishing gear, as it is being deployed in the sea, although this is supplemented by camera shots from what......Danish marine scientist, Johannes Schmidt was also a pioneer when it comes to popularizing deep-sea marine research through the use of mass media. When Schmidt headed the Carlsberg Foundation’s Oceanographical Expedition Round the World, 1928-1930, he brought along a film camera, documenting...... is clearly an aquarium, where the functioning of the water sampler is shown in action. As the Dana moves into the Pacific Ocean the focus of the film also changes. In the sections from the Pacific and Indian Oceans the film includes captions describing the local inhabitants of the Polynesian islands...

  17. Definition dependent properties of the cortical silent period in upper-extremity muscles, a methodological study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kuijk, A.A. van; Bakker, C.D.; Hendriks, J.C.M.; Geurts, A.C.; Stegeman, D.F.; Pasman, J.W.

    2014-01-01

    BACKGROUND: To explore if stimulus-response (S-R) characteristics of the silent period (SP) after transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) are affected by changing the SP definition and by changing data presentation in healthy individuals. This information would be clinically relevant to predict

  18. Definition dependent properties of the cortical silent period in upper-extremity muscles, a methodological study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Kuijk, A.A.; Bakker, C,; Hendriks, J.J.A.; Geurts, A.H.; Stegeman, D.F.; Pasman, J.W.

    2014-01-01

    Background: To explore if stimulus-response (S-R) characteristics of the silent period (SP) after transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) are affected by changing the SP definition and by changing data presentation in healthy individuals. This information would be clinically relevant to predict

  19. Reducing the silent burden of impaired mental health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jané-Llopis, Eva; Anderson, Peter; Stewart-Brown, Sarah; Weare, Katherine; Wahlbeck, Kristian; McDaid, David; Cooper, Cary; Litchfield, Paul

    2011-08-01

    Mental and behavioral disorders account for about one third of the world's disability caused by all ill health among adults, with unipolar depressive disorders set to be the world's number one cause of illhealth and premature death in 2030, affecting high- and low-income countries. There is a range of evidence-based cost-effective interventions that can be implemented in parenting, at schools, at the workplace, and in older age that can promote health and well-being, reduce mental disorders, lead to improved productivity, and increase resilience to cope with many of the stressors in the world. These facts need to be better communicated to policymakers to ensure that the silent burden of impaired mental health is adequately heard and reduced.

  20. Stopping the Silent Killer: Hepatitis B Among Asian Americans

    Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Podcasts

    2008-04-18

    This podcast discusses an underappreciated health threat to many Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States: chronic infection with the hepatitis B virus. Dr. John Ward, director of CDC's Division of Viral Hepatitis, and Dr. Sam So, founder of the Asian Liver Center at Stanford University, address the importance of testing, vaccination, and care to prevent serious health consequences from this "silent" disease.  Created: 4/18/2008 by National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention (NCHHSTP), Division of Viral Hepatitis (DVH) and Office of Dispute Resolution and Equal Employment Opportunity, Office of the Director (OD).   Date Released: 5/1/2008.

  1. Whatever Happened to the Silent Scientific Revolution?--Research, Theory and Practice in Distance Education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morgan, Alistair

    The point of departure for this article is the title of a book edited by David Fetterman, "Qualitative Approaches to Educational Evaluation--The Silent Scientific Revolution." This article addresses the question of how the shift to a qualitative, phenomenological approach has impinged on research and evaluation in distance education.…

  2. Clinical aspects of silent cerebral infarction; MRI findings and its distribution

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ohnishi, Jiro (Kobe Univ. (Japan). School of Medicine); Kudo, Yutaka

    1991-06-01

    High-field MR scans have often showed patchy incidental findings especially in the elderly. We examined 91 patients, without episodes of cerebrovascular disorders previously, who had silent cerebral lesions noted by the 1.5 tesla superconductive system T2 weighted magnetic resonance imaging. They were divided into three subtypes by the localization of foci. The 23 subjects (25%) showed confined lesions to thalamus and/or internal capsule and/or basal ganglia (the basal ganglia type). The 39 subjects (43%) had lesions predominantly in cerebral cortex and/or subcortical white matter and/or cerebellum (the diffuse subcortical type). Finally, the 29 subjects (32%) had both features of abovementioned two groups (the mixed type). These subtypes were correlated with age, sex and some of the other risk factors, such as systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, serum total cholesterol and uric acid, for stroke. From the age extent and the correlation of subtypes to risk factors, the basal ganglia type was suspected to be based on the different origin from other two types. The authors proposed that the arteriosclerotic factor might play an important role in the incidence of the diffuse subcortical type and the mixed type silent cerebral infarctions and that the hemodynamic factor might play an important role in the incidence of the basal ganglia type. (J.P.N.).

  3. Comparative study of popular objective functions for damping power system oscillations in multimachine system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Islam, Naz Niamul; Hannan, M A; Shareef, Hussain; Mohamed, Azah; Salam, M A

    2014-01-01

    Power oscillation damping controller is designed in linearized model with heuristic optimization techniques. Selection of the objective function is very crucial for damping controller design by optimization algorithms. In this research, comparative analysis has been carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of popular objective functions used in power system oscillation damping. Two-stage lead-lag damping controller by means of power system stabilizers is optimized using differential search algorithm for different objective functions. Linearized model simulations are performed to compare the dominant mode's performance and then the nonlinear model is continued to evaluate the damping performance over power system oscillations. All the simulations are conducted in two-area four-machine power system to bring a detailed analysis. Investigated results proved that multiobjective D-shaped function is an effective objective function in terms of moving unstable and lightly damped electromechanical modes into stable region. Thus, D-shape function ultimately improves overall system damping and concurrently enhances power system reliability.

  4. Female’s Silent Resistance against Hegemony in The Scarlet Letter, Bekisar Merah, and Belantik: A Comparative Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    RB. Edi Pramono

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available Social patriarchy is a gender-biased hegemonic value that is structured for the benefits of men but unfortunately disadvantages women. Lasiyah, the protagonist of Bekisar Merah and Belantik, and Hester Prynne, the protagonist of The Scarlet Letter, experienced those hegemonic values that were oppressive, from their patriarchal societies i.e. Java and Puritans. By using the theories of both Hegemony and Comparative Literature, this discussion reveals the two protagonists’ similar silent resistance against the hegemonic values in that this brought them to become new persons with new personality and identity. They were similarly reborn. Both women had comparable factors driving them to conduct silent resistance: pride, dignity, and love. Woman, who is in general considered weak and powerless, is in fact strong and powerful.

  5. Cervical Cancer as a silent killer: A rare case report with review of literature

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Deeksha Pandey

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Advanced-stage cervical cancer almost always presents either with abnormal vaginal bleeding or with foul-smelling vaginal discharge. We present here a rare case, where a postmenopausal lady presented almost silently with stage IVA cervical cancer. Fortunately, timely referral, correct diagnosis, and multispecialty team work could save her life.

  6. Infants' Developing Sensitivity to Object Function: Attention to Features and Feature Correlations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baumgartner, Heidi A.; Oakes, Lisa M.

    2011-01-01

    When learning object function, infants must detect relations among features--for example, that squeezing is associated with squeaking or that objects with wheels roll. Previously, Perone and Oakes (2006) found 10-month-old infants were sensitive to relations between object appearances and actions, but not to relations between appearances and…

  7. Monstruos de la Universal: la etapa silente y los mitos del sonoro

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David Fuentefría-Rodríguez

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available En coincidencia con el centenario en 2012 de los legendarios Estudios Universal, este trabajo propone un exhaustivo análisis crítico sobre la construcción de sus principales símbolos terroríficos, la mayoría inspirados en la literatura, que entre los años 1923 y 1941 conformaron la estructura mitogénica del denominado “monstruo clásico”. Tanto en la etapa silente, como con la irrupción del sonoro, las películas de terror de la Universal marcaron un paso imprescindible en la evolución de este género canónico, y a ellas se debe buena parte del ingente desarrollo posterior del mismo.In coincidence with 2012 legendary Universal Studio´s centenary, this paper proposes an exhaustive critical analysis on the construction of its principal terrifying symbols, the majority inspired by literature, which between 1923 and 1941 shaped the myth structure of the so-called "classic monster". In both stages, silent and sonorous movies, the terror of Universal Studios marked an indispensable step in the evolution of this canonical genre, and to them it is owed a good deal of its enormous later development.

  8. From tomography to full-waveform inversion with a single objective function

    KAUST Repository

    Alkhalifah, Tariq Ali

    2014-02-17

    In full-waveform inversion (FWI), a gradient-based update of the velocity model requires an initial velocity that produces synthetic data that are within a half-cycle, everywhere, from the field data. Such initial velocity models are usually extracted from migration velocity analysis or traveltime tomography, among other means, and are not guaranteed to adhere to the FWI requirements for an initial velocity model. As such, we evaluated an objective function based on the misfit in the instantaneous traveltime between the observed and modeled data. This phase-based attribute of the wavefield, along with its phase unwrapping characteristics, provided a frequency-dependent traveltime function that was easy to use and quantify, especially compared to conventional phase representation. With a strong Laplace damping of the modeled, potentially low-frequency, data along the time axis, this attribute admitted a first-arrival traveltime that could be compared with picked ones from the observed data, such as in wave equation tomography (WET). As we relax the damping on the synthetic and observed data, the objective function measures the misfit in the phase, however unwrapped. It, thus, provided a single objective function for a natural transition from WET to FWI. A Marmousi example demonstrated the effectiveness of the approach.

  9. Myocardial perfusion scintigraphy in the detection of silent ischemia in asymptomatic diabetic patients

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Oki, Glaucia Celeste Rossatto [Clinica Diagnoson and Hospital Aristides Maltez, Salvador, BA (Brazil). Servicos de Medicina Nuclear; Pavin, Elizabeth Joao; Parisi, Maria Candida R. [Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp), Campinas, SP (Brazil). Department of Internal Medicine. Service of Endocrinology; Coelho, Otavio Rizzi; Almeida, Raitany C. [Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp), Campinas, SP (Brazil). Department of Internal Medicine. Service of Cardiology; Etchebehere, Elba Cristina Sa de Camargo; Ramos, Celso Dario, E-mail: cdramos@unicamp.br [Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp), Campinas, SP (Brazil). Department of Radiology. Service of Nuclear Medicine; Camargo, Edwaldo Eduardo [Hospital Sirio-Libanes, Campinas, SP (Brazil). Service of Nuclear Medicine

    2013-01-15

    Objective: This study was aimed to evaluate myocardial perfusion in asymptomatic patients with type 1 (DM1) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) without previous diagnoses of coronary artery disease (CAD) or cerebral infarction. Materials and Methods: Fifty-nine consecutive asymptomatic patients (16 DM1, 43 DM2) underwent myocardial perfusion scintigraphy with {sup 99m}Tc-sestamibi (MPS). They were evaluated for body mass index, metabolic control of DM, type of therapy, systemic arterial hypertension, dyslipidemia, nephropathy, retinopathy, peripheral neuropathy, smoking, and familial history of CAD. Results: MPS was abnormal in 15 patients (25.4%): 12 (20.3%) with perfusion abnormalities, and 3 with isolated left ventricular dysfunction. The strongest predictors for abnormal myocardial perfusion were: age 60 years and above (p = 0.017; odds ratio [OR] = 6.0), peripheral neuropathy (p = 0.028; OR = 6.1), nephropathy (p = 0.031; OR = 5.6), and stress ECG positive for ischemia (p = 0.049; OR = 4.08). Conclusion: Silent myocardial ischemia occurs in more than one in five asymptomatic diabetic patients. The strongest predictors of ischemia in this study were: patient age, peripheral neuropathy, nephropathy, retinopathy and a stress ECG positive for ischemia. (author)

  10. Myocardial perfusion scintigraphy in the detection of silent ischemia in asymptomatic diabetic patients

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oki, Glaucia Celeste Rossatto; Pavin, Elizabeth Joao; Parisi, Maria Candida R.; Coelho, Otavio Rizzi; Almeida, Raitany C.; Etchebehere, Elba Cristina Sa de Camargo; Ramos, Celso Dario; Camargo, Edwaldo Eduardo

    2013-01-01

    Objective: This study was aimed to evaluate myocardial perfusion in asymptomatic patients with type 1 (DM1) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) without previous diagnoses of coronary artery disease (CAD) or cerebral infarction. Materials and Methods: Fifty-nine consecutive asymptomatic patients (16 DM1, 43 DM2) underwent myocardial perfusion scintigraphy with 99m Tc-sestamibi (MPS). They were evaluated for body mass index, metabolic control of DM, type of therapy, systemic arterial hypertension, dyslipidemia, nephropathy, retinopathy, peripheral neuropathy, smoking, and familial history of CAD. Results: MPS was abnormal in 15 patients (25.4%): 12 (20.3%) with perfusion abnormalities, and 3 with isolated left ventricular dysfunction. The strongest predictors for abnormal myocardial perfusion were: age 60 years and above (p = 0.017; odds ratio [OR] = 6.0), peripheral neuropathy (p = 0.028; OR = 6.1), nephropathy (p = 0.031; OR = 5.6), and stress ECG positive for ischemia (p = 0.049; OR = 4.08). Conclusion: Silent myocardial ischemia occurs in more than one in five asymptomatic diabetic patients. The strongest predictors of ischemia in this study were: patient age, peripheral neuropathy, nephropathy, retinopathy and a stress ECG positive for ischemia. (author)

  11. The functional neuroanatomy of object agnosia: a case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Konen, Christina S; Behrmann, Marlene; Nishimura, Mayu; Kastner, Sabine

    2011-07-14

    Cortical reorganization of visual and object representations following neural injury was examined using fMRI and behavioral investigations. We probed the visual responsivity of the ventral visual cortex of an agnosic patient who was impaired at object recognition following a lesion to the right lateral fusiform gyrus. In both hemispheres, retinotopic mapping revealed typical topographic organization and visual activation of early visual cortex. However, visual responses, object-related, and -selective responses were reduced in regions immediately surrounding the lesion in the right hemisphere, and also, surprisingly, in corresponding locations in the structurally intact left hemisphere. In contrast, hV4 of the right hemisphere showed expanded response properties. These findings indicate that the right lateral fusiform gyrus is critically involved in object recognition and that an impairment to this region has widespread consequences for remote parts of cortex. Finally, functional neural plasticity is possible even when a cortical lesion is sustained in adulthood. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Microbial communication leading to the activation of silent fungal secondary metabolite gene clusters

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tina eNetzker

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Microorganisms form diverse multispecies communities in various ecosystems. The high abundance of fungal and bacterial species in these consortia results in specific communication between the microorganisms. A key role in this communication is played by secondary metabolites (SMs, which are also called natural products. Recently, it was shown that interspecies ‘talk’ between microorganisms represents a physiological trigger to activate silent gene clusters leading to the formation of novel SMs by the involved species. This review focuses on mixed microbial cultivation, mainly between bacteria and fungi, with a special emphasis on the induced formation of fungal SMs in co-cultures. In addition, the role of chromatin remodeling in the induction is examined, and methodical perspectives for the analysis of natural products are presented. As an example for an intermicrobial interaction elucidated at the molecular level, we discuss the specific interaction between the filamentous fungi Aspergillus nidulans and Aspergillus fumigatus with the soil bacterium Streptomyces rapamycinicus, which provides an excellent model system to enlighten molecular concepts behind regulatory mechanisms and will pave the way to a novel avenue of drug discovery through targeted activation of silent SM gene clusters through co-cultivations of microorganisms.

  13. DERIVATIVE OF SET MEASURE FUNCTIONS AND ITS APPLICATION (THEORETICAL BASES OF INVESTMENT OBJECTIVES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. A. Bosov

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available Purpose. It is necessary to develop the theoretical fundamentals for solving the investment objectives presented in the form of set function as vector optimization tasks or tasks of constrained extremum. Methodology. Set functions and their derivatives of measure are used as research of investment objectives. Necessary condition of set function minimum is proved. In the tasks for constrained extremum the method of Lagrange is used. It is shown that this method can also be used for the set function. It is used the measure for proof, which generalizes the Lebesgue measure, and the concept of set sequence limit is introduced. It is noted that the introduced limit over a measure coincides with the classical Borel limit and can be used in order to prove the existence of derivative from set function over a measure on convergent of sets sequence. Findings. An algorithm of solving the investment objective for constrained extremum in relation to investment objectives was offered. Originality. Scientific novelty lies in the fact that in multivariate objects for constrained extremum one can refuse from immediate enumeration. One can use the proposed algorithm of constructing (selection of options that allow building a convex linear envelope of Pareto solutions. This envelope will let the person who makes a decision (DM, select those options that are "better" from a position of DM, and consider some of the criteria, the formalization of which are difficult or can not be described in mathematical terms. Practical value. Results of the study provide the necessary theoretical substantiation of decision-making in investment objectives, when there is a significant number of an investment objects and immediate enumeration of options is very difficult on time costs even for modern computing techniques.

  14. EPR Characterization of Dinitrosyl Iron Complexes with Thiol-Containing Ligands as an Approach to Their Identification in Biological Objects: An Overview.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vanin, Anatoly F

    2018-06-01

    The overview demonstrates how the use of only one physico-chemical approach, viz., the electron paramagnetic resonance method, allowed detection and identification of dinitrosyl iron complexes with thiol-containing ligands in various animal and bacterial cells. These complexes are formed in biological objects in the paramagnetic (electron paramagnetic resonance-active) mononuclear and diamagnetic (electron paramagnetic resonance-silent) binuclear forms and control the activity of nitrogen monoxide, one of the most universal regulators of metabolic processes in the organism. The analysis of electronic and spatial structures of dinitrosyl iron complex sheds additional light on the mechanism whereby dinitrosyl iron complex with thiol-containing ligands function in human and animal cells as donors of nitrogen monoxide and its ionized form, viz., nitrosonium ions (NO + ).

  15. Plasma remediation of trichloroethylene in silent discharge plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Evans, D.; Rosocha, L.A.; Anderson, G.K.; Coogan, J.J.; Kushner, M.J.

    1993-01-01

    Plasma destruction of toxins, and volatile organic compounds in particular, from gas streams is receiving increased attention as an energy efficient means to remediate those compounds. In this regard, remediation of trichloroethylene (TCE) in silent discharge plasmas has been experimentally and theoretically investigated. We found that TCE can be removed from Ar/O 2 gas streams at atmospheric pressure with an energy efficiency of 15--20 ppm/(mJ/cm 3 ), or 2--3 kW h kg -1 . The majority of the Cl from TCE is converted to HCl, Cl 2 , and COCl 2 , which can be removed from the gas stream by a water bubbler. The destruction efficiency of TCE is smaller in humid mixtures compared to dry mixtures due to interception of reactive intermediates by OH radicals

  16. Dissociable intrinsic functional networks support noun-object and verb-action processing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Huichao; Lin, Qixiang; Han, Zaizhu; Li, Hongyu; Song, Luping; Chen, Lingjuan; He, Yong; Bi, Yanchao

    2017-12-01

    The processing mechanism of verbs-actions and nouns-objects is a central topic of language research, with robust evidence for behavioral dissociation. The neural basis for these two major word and/or conceptual classes, however, remains controversial. Two experiments were conducted to study this question from the network perspective. Experiment 1 found that nodes of the same class, obtained through task-evoked brain imaging meta-analyses, were more strongly connected with each other than nodes of different classes during resting-state, forming segregated network modules. Experiment 2 examined the behavioral relevance of these intrinsic networks using data from 88 brain-damaged patients, finding that across patients the relative strength of functional connectivity of the two networks significantly correlated with the noun-object vs. verb-action relative behavioral performances. In summary, we found that verbs-actions and nouns-objects are supported by separable intrinsic functional networks and that the integrity of such networks accounts for the relative noun-object- and verb-action-selective deficits. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. New developments in renal physiopathology acquired using a quantitative renal functional test: the 197Hg uptake test

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Raynaud, C.; Ricard, S.; Knipper, M.

    1977-01-01

    The renal function of 331 obstructive uropathies, of which 112 were unilateral, were studied using the radioactive Hg renal uptake technique. The results obtained lead to the following observations: kidneys silent because of a chronic pelvi-ureteric-obstruction maintain a minimum function representing approximately one quarter of the normal value, which does not seem to be improved following the removal of the obstacle. Operative relief of obstruction on unilateral obstructive uropathies, except for cases of silent kidneys, are followed by a significative improvement in the function of the kidney on the operated side in more than a third of the cases studied. In 43% of obstructive uropathies considered as unilateral, the functional value of the two kidneys is decreased

  18. A study of objective functions for organs with parallel and serial architecture

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stavrev, P.V.; Stavreva, N.A.; Round, W.H.

    1997-01-01

    An objective function analysis when target volumes are deliberately enlarged to account for tumour mobility and consecutive uncertainty in the tumour position in external beam radiotherapy has been carried out. The dose distribution inside the tumour is assumed to have logarithmic dependence on the tumour cell density which assures an iso-local tumour control probability. The normal tissue immediately surrounding the tumour is irradiated homogeneously at a dose level equal to the dose D(R)) delivered at the edge of the tumour The normal tissue in the high dose field is modelled as being organized in identical functional subunits (FSUs) composed of a relatively large number of cells. Two types of organs - having serial and parallel architecture are considered. Implicit averaging over intrapatient normal tissue radiosensitivity variations is done. A function describing the normal tissue survival probability S 0 is constructed. The objective function is given as a product of the total tumour control probability (TCP) and the normal tissue survival probability S 0 . The values of the dose D(R)) which result in a maximum of the objective function are obtained for different combinations of tumour and normal tissue parameters, such as tumour and normal tissue radiosensitivities, number of cells constituting a normal tissue functional unit, total number of normal cells under high dose (D(R)) exposure and functional reserve for organs having parallel architecture. The corresponding TCP and S 0 values are computed and discussed. (authors)

  19. Objectively-measured outdoor time and physical and psychological function among older adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harada, Kazuhiro; Lee, Sangyoon; Lee, Sungchul; Bae, Seongryu; Harada, Kenji; Suzuki, Takao; Shimada, Hiroyuki

    2017-10-01

    Objective measurements of outdoor time are essential to establishing evidence about the health benefits of going outdoors among older adults. To better understanding the health benefits of going outdoors, clarification of potential mediators to connect going outdoors with health benefits is necessary. The present study aimed to investigate associations of objectively-measured outdoor time with older adults' physical and psychological function, and examine the mediating role of physical activity on these associations. Baseline data from a randomized control trial of physical activity among older adults with global cognitive impairment was used. Data from 192 participants were analyzed. Measures included steps-per-day, objectively-measured outdoor time per day using global positioning systems, physical function (cardiorespiratory fitness, lower-extremity strength), psychological function (depression, well-being) and basic factors. Path analysis showed that outdoor time was significantly associated with steps-per-day (path coefficient = 0.23) and depression (path coefficient = -0.16). Outdoor time was not directly associated with cardiorespiratory fitness, lower-extremity strength and well-being. However, steps-per-day was associated with cardiorespiratory fitness (path coefficient = 0.18), lower-extremity strength (path coefficient = -0.22) and well-being (path coefficient = 0.14). We found that objectively-measured outdoor time was indirectly associated with physical function, and both directly and indirectly with psychological function through physical activity among older adults. This finding indicates that going outdoors influences older adults' health outcomes, and is mainly mediated by physical activity. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2017; 17: 1455-1462. © 2016 Japan Geriatrics Society.

  20. Assessment of subjective and objective cognitive function in bipolar disorder

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Demant, Kirsa M; Vinberg, Maj; Kessing, Lars V

    2015-01-01

    Cognitive dysfunction is prevalent in bipolar disorder (BD). However, the evidence regarding the association between subjective cognitive complaints, objective cognitive performance and psychosocial function is sparse and inconsistent. Seventy seven patients with bipolar disorder who presented...

  1. Silent reading of music and texts; eye movements and integrative reading mechanisms

    OpenAIRE

    Cara, Michel André; Gómez, Gabriela

    2016-01-01

    This study investigates to what extent structural units defined by physical and structural markers elicit different eye movement patterns when reading contrasting stimuli of music and verbal texts. Eye movements were tracked and compared in ten musicians undergoing Bachelor’s degrees as they silently read six texts and six pieces of music for piano: the music was contemporary, in modal style, and the style of the texts was informative and literary. Participants were music students at Universi...

  2. Activation of the Silent Secondary Metabolite Production by Introducing Neomycin-Resistance in a Marine-Derived Penicillium purpurogenum G59

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chang-Jing Wu

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Introduction of neomycin-resistance into a marine-derived, wild-type Penicillium purpurogenum G59 resulted in activation of silent biosynthetic pathways for the secondary metabolite production. Upon treatment of G59 spores with neomycin and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO, a total of 56 mutants were obtained by single colony isolation. The acquired resistance of mutants to neomycin was testified by the resistance test. In contrast to the G59 strain, the EtOAc extracts of 28 mutants inhibited the human cancer K562 cells, indicating that the 28 mutants have acquired the capability to produce bioactive metabolites. HPLC-photodiode array detector (PDAD-UV and HPLC-electron spray ionization (ESI-MS analyses further indicated that diverse secondary metabolites have been newly produced in the bioactive mutant extracts. Followed isolation and characterization demonstrated that five bioactive secondary metabolites, curvularin (1, citrinin (2, penicitrinone A (3, erythro-23-O-methylneocyclocitrinol (4 and 22E-7α-methoxy-5α, 6α-epoxyergosta-8(14,22-dien-3β-ol (5, were newly produced by a mutant, 4-30, compared to the G59 strain. All 1–5 were also not yet found in the secondary metabolites of other wild type P. purpurogenum strains. Compounds 1–5 inhibited human cancer K562, HL-60, HeLa and BGC-823 cells to varying extents. Both present bioassays and chemical investigations demonstrated that the introduction of neomycin-resistance into the marine-derived fungal G59 strain could activate silent secondary metabolite production. The present work not only extended the previous DMSO-mediated method for introducing drug-resistance in fungi both in DMSO concentrations and antibiotics, but also additionally exemplified effectiveness of this method for activating silent fungal secondary metabolites. This method could be applied to other fungal isolates to elicit their metabolic potentials to investigate secondary metabolites from silent biosynthetic pathways.

  3. The association between saliva control, silent saliva penetration, aspiration, and videofluoroscopic findings in Parkinson's disease patients

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rajaei, Ali; Ashtari, Fereshteh; Azargoon, Seyed Abolfazl; Chitsaz, Ahmad; Nilforoush, Mohammad Hussein; Taheri, Masoud; Sadeghi, Saba

    2015-01-01

    Background: Dysphagia is a common disorder among patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). It occurs in up to 80% of all (PD) patients during the early stages of the disease and up to 95% in the advanced stages; but professionals may not hear from the patients about dysphagia symptoms until these symptoms reach an advanced stage and lead to medical complications. Materials and Methods: Thirty-three PD patients (mean age 66.09 ± 9.4 years; 24 men, nine women) participated in this study at our Neurology Institute, between April 20, 2013, and October 26, 2013. They were asked two questions; one about saliva control and the other about silent saliva penetration and aspiration. Next, they underwent the videofluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS). Results: The Pearson Correlation coefficient between the Penetration–Aspiration Scale (PAS) scores and question 1 scores was 0.48 (P < 0.05, =0.25), and there was a significant correlation between the PAS scores and question 2 scores, and also question 1 scores + question 2 scores (r = 0.589, P < 0.05, =0 and r = 0589, P < 0.05, =0). Conclusions: This study showed a significant correlation between the questions about saliva control, silent saliva penetration, and aspiration, and laryngeal penetration and aspiration during VFSS. Therefore, by using these two questions, the potential silent laryngeal penetration and aspiration during meals could be detected before it led to aspiration pneumonia. Taking the benefit of these questions, as a part of the swallowing assessment of PD patients, is recommended. PMID:26261810

  4. Validity of single-cycle objective functions for multicycle reload design optimization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kropaczek, D.J.; McElroy, J.; Turinsky, P.J.

    1993-01-01

    Beyond the equilibrium cycle scoping calculations used for determining numbers of feed assemblies and enrichment estimates, multicycle reload design currently consists of stagewise optimization of single-cycle core loading patterns, typically extending over a short-term planning horizon of perhaps three reload cycles. Particularly in transition cycles, however, optimizing a loading pattern over a single cycle for a stated objective, such as minimum core leakage, may have an adverse impact on subsequent cycles. The penalties paid may be in the form of reduced thermal margin or an increase in feed enrichment due to insufficient reactivity carryover from the open-quotes optimizedclose quotes cycle. In view of current practices, a study was performed that examined the behavior of the loading pattern as a function of the objective functions selected as implemented in the stagewise optimization of single-cycle core loading patterns from initial transition cycle through equilibrium using the FORMOSA-P code. The objective functions studied were region average discharge burnup maximization (with enrichment search) and feed enrichment minimization. It is noted at the beginning that the maximization of region average discharge has no meaning for the equilibrium cycle because region average discharge burnup is explicitly set by the feed size and cycle length independent of the loading pattern. In the nonequilibrium cycle, however, it was reasoned that this objective would provide the maximum reactivity carryover throughout the transition and thus have a direct effect on minimizing the multicycle levelized fuel cost

  5. Silent music reading: auditory imagery and visuotonal modality transfer in singers and non-singers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoppe, Christian; Splittstößer, Christoph; Fliessbach, Klaus; Trautner, Peter; Elger, Christian E; Weber, Bernd

    2014-11-01

    In daily life, responses are often facilitated by anticipatory imagery of expected targets which are announced by associated stimuli from different sensory modalities. Silent music reading represents an intriguing case of visuotonal modality transfer in working memory as it induces highly defined auditory imagery on the basis of presented visuospatial information (i.e. musical notes). Using functional MRI and a delayed sequence matching-to-sample paradigm, we compared brain activations during retention intervals (10s) of visual (VV) or tonal (TT) unimodal maintenance versus visuospatial-to-tonal modality transfer (VT) tasks. Visual or tonal sequences were comprised of six elements, white squares or tones, which were low, middle, or high regarding vertical screen position or pitch, respectively (presentation duration: 1.5s). For the cross-modal condition (VT, session 3), the visuospatial elements from condition VV (session 1) were re-defined as low, middle or high "notes" indicating low, middle or high tones from condition TT (session 2), respectively, and subjects had to match tonal sequences (probe) to previously presented note sequences. Tasks alternately had low or high cognitive load. To evaluate possible effects of music reading expertise, 15 singers and 15 non-musicians were included. Scanner task performance was excellent in both groups. Despite identity of applied visuospatial stimuli, visuotonal modality transfer versus visual maintenance (VT>VV) induced "inhibition" of visual brain areas and activation of primary and higher auditory brain areas which exceeded auditory activation elicited by tonal stimulation (VT>TT). This transfer-related visual-to-auditory activation shift occurred in both groups but was more pronounced in experts. Frontoparietal areas were activated by higher cognitive load but not by modality transfer. The auditory brain showed a potential to anticipate expected auditory target stimuli on the basis of non-auditory information and

  6. Psychosis and Silent Celiac Disease in a Down Syndrome Adolescent: A Case Report

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amparo Morant

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Celiac disease is an autoimmune systemic disorder. It presents gastrointestinal and nongastrointestinal manifestations as well as associated conditions. We report a 16-year-old Down syndrome girl who presented psychosis symptomatology, and she was diagnosed as having silent celiac disease. Olanzapine treatment and gluten-free diet were satisfactory. It is necessary to consider celiac disease in Down syndrome patients with psychiatric symptoms, mainly psychotic symptomatology.

  7. Complex behavior in a network with time-dependent connections and silent nodes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Marro, J; Torres, J J; Cortes, J M

    2008-01-01

    We studied, both analytically and numerically, excitable networks in which connections are time-dependent and some of the nodes remain silent at each time step, and we show that these two features may induce intriguing functional complexity. More specifically, we consider (a) a heterogeneous distribution of connection weights such that, depending on the current degree of order, some connections are reinforced/weakened with strength Φ on short timescales, and (b) that only a fraction ρ of nodes are simultaneously active. The resulting dynamics has attractors which, for a range of Φ values and ρ exceeding a threshold, become unstable, the instability depending critically on the value of ρ. We observe that (i) the activity describes a trajectory in which the close neighborhood of some of the attractors is constantly visited, (ii) the number of attractors visited increases with ρ, and (iii) the trajectory may change from regular to chaotic and vice versa as ρ is, even slightly modified. Furthermore, (iv) time series show a power-law spectra under conditions in which the attractors' space tends to be most efficiently explored. We argue on the possible qualitative relevance of this phenomenology to networks in several natural contexts

  8. Transformation of a Silent Adrencorticotrophic Pituitary Tumor Into Central Nervous System Melanoma

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Brandon A. Miller MD, PhD

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available Silent adrenocorticotrophic pituitary adenomas are nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas that express adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH but do not cause the clinical or laboratory features of hypercortisolemia. Primary central nervous system (CNS melanoma is well documented, but rarely originates in the sellar region or pituitary gland. Here we report transformation of an aggressive silent adrenocorticotrophic pituitary adenoma that transformed into CNS melanoma and review other presentations of pituitary melanoma. A 37-year-old woman initially presented with apoplexy and an invasive nonfunctioning pituitary macroadenoma for which she underwent transphenoidal surgery. The patient underwent 3 subsequent surgeries as the tumor continued to progress. Pathology from the first 3 operations showed pituitary adenoma or carcinoma. Pathology from the final surgery showed melanoma and the magnetic resonance imaging characteristics of the tumor had changed to become consistent with CNS melanoma. Dermatologic and ophthalmologic examinations did not identify cutaneous or ocular melanoma. The patient’s disease progressed despite aggressive surgical, medical and radiologic treatment. To our knowledge, this is the first report demonstrating transformation of a primary pituitary tumor into melanoma. The mechanism of tumor transformation is unclear, but it is possible that a mutation in the original ACTH-producing tumor lead to increased cleavage of pro-opiomelanocortin or ACTH into α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone, which in turn stimulated the expression of microopthalmia transcription factor, leading to melanocytic phenotype transformation.

  9. Regularized Laplace-Fourier-Domain Full Waveform Inversion Using a Weighted l 2 Objective Function

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jun, Hyunggu; Kwon, Jungmin; Shin, Changsoo; Zhou, Hongbo; Cogan, Mike

    2017-03-01

    Full waveform inversion (FWI) can be applied to obtain an accurate velocity model that contains important geophysical and geological information. FWI suffers from the local minimum problem when the starting model is not sufficiently close to the true model. Therefore, an accurate macroscale velocity model is essential for successful FWI, and Laplace-Fourier-domain FWI is appropriate for obtaining such a velocity model. However, conventional Laplace-Fourier-domain FWI remains an ill-posed and ill-conditioned problem, meaning that small errors in the data can result in large differences in the inverted model. This approach also suffers from certain limitations related to the logarithmic objective function. To overcome the limitations of conventional Laplace-Fourier-domain FWI, we introduce a weighted l 2 objective function, instead of the logarithmic objective function, as the data-domain objective function, and we also introduce two different model-domain regularizations: first-order Tikhonov regularization and prior model regularization. The weighting matrix for the data-domain objective function is constructed to suitably enhance the far-offset information. Tikhonov regularization smoothes the gradient, and prior model regularization allows reliable prior information to be taken into account. Two hyperparameters are obtained through trial and error and used to control the trade-off and achieve an appropriate balance between the data-domain and model-domain gradients. The application of the proposed regularizations facilitates finding a unique solution via FWI, and the weighted l 2 objective function ensures a more reasonable residual, thereby improving the stability of the gradient calculation. Numerical tests performed using the Marmousi synthetic dataset show that the use of the weighted l 2 objective function and the model-domain regularizations significantly improves the Laplace-Fourier-domain FWI. Because the Laplace-Fourier-domain FWI is improved, the

  10. Major-element geochemistry of the Silent Canyon--Black Mountain peralkaline volcanic centers, northwestern Nevada Test Site: applications to an assessment of renewed volcanism

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Crowe, B.M.; Sargent, K.A.

    1979-01-01

    The Silent Canyon and Black Mountain volcanic centers are located in the northern part of the Nevada Test Site. The Silent Canyon volcanic center is a buried cauldron complex of Miocene age (13 to 15 m.y.). Black Mountain volcanic center is an elliptical-shaped cauldron complex of late Miocene age. The lavas and tuffs of the two centers comprise a subalkaline-peralkaline association. Rock types range from quartz normative subalkaline trachyte and rhyolite to peralkaline commendite. The Gold Flat Member of the Thirsty Canyon Tuff (Black Mountain) is a pantellerite. The major-element geochemistry of the Black Mountain--Silent Canyon volcanic centers differ in the total range and distribution of SiO 2 , contents, the degree of peralkalinity (molecular Na 2 O + K 2 O > Al 2 O 3 ) and in the values of total iron and alumina through the range of rock types. These differences indicate that the suites were unrelated and evolved from differing magma bodies. The Black Mountain volcanic cycle represents a renewed phase of volcanism following cessation of the Timber Mountain--Silent Canyon volcanic cycles. Consequently, there is a small but numerically incalculable probability of recurrence of Black Mountain-type volcanism within the Nevada Test Site region. This represents a potential risk with respect to deep geologic storage of high-level radioactive waste at the Nevada Test Site

  11. Waveform inversion with exponential damping using a deconvolution-based objective function

    KAUST Repository

    Choi, Yun Seok

    2016-09-06

    The lack of low frequency components in seismic data usually leads full waveform inversion into the local minima of its objective function. An exponential damping of the data, on the other hand, generates artificial low frequencies, which can be used to admit long wavelength updates for waveform inversion. Another feature of exponential damping is that the energy of each trace also exponentially decreases with source-receiver offset, where the leastsquare misfit function does not work well. Thus, we propose a deconvolution-based objective function for waveform inversion with an exponential damping. Since the deconvolution filter includes a division process, it can properly address the unbalanced energy levels of the individual traces of the damped wavefield. Numerical examples demonstrate that our proposed FWI based on the deconvolution filter can generate a convergent long wavelength structure from the artificial low frequency components coming from an exponential damping.

  12. Sensitivity of Calibrated Parameters and Water Resource Estimates on Different Objective Functions and Optimization Algorithms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Delaram Houshmand Kouchi

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available The successful application of hydrological models relies on careful calibration and uncertainty analysis. However, there are many different calibration/uncertainty analysis algorithms, and each could be run with different objective functions. In this paper, we highlight the fact that each combination of optimization algorithm-objective functions may lead to a different set of optimum parameters, while having the same performance; this makes the interpretation of dominant hydrological processes in a watershed highly uncertain. We used three different optimization algorithms (SUFI-2, GLUE, and PSO, and eight different objective functions (R2, bR2, NSE, MNS, RSR, SSQR, KGE, and PBIAS in a SWAT model to calibrate the monthly discharges in two watersheds in Iran. The results show that all three algorithms, using the same objective function, produced acceptable calibration results; however, with significantly different parameter ranges. Similarly, an algorithm using different objective functions also produced acceptable calibration results, but with different parameter ranges. The different calibrated parameter ranges consequently resulted in significantly different water resource estimates. Hence, the parameters and the outputs that they produce in a calibrated model are “conditioned” on the choices of the optimization algorithm and objective function. This adds another level of non-negligible uncertainty to watershed models, calling for more attention and investigation in this area.

  13. Implementation of IEC Generic Model of Type 1 Wind Turbine Generator in DIgSILENT PowerFactory

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zhao, Haoran; Wu, Qiuwei; Margaris, Ioannis

    2013-01-01

    The implementation method for the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) generic models of Type 1 wind turbine generator (WTG) in DIgSILENT PowerFactory is presented. The following items are described, i.e. model structure, model blocks and how to implement these blocks in the PowerFactory...

  14. Chlamydia pneumoniae hides inside apoptotic neutrophils to silently infect and propagate in macrophages.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jan Rupp

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Intracellular pathogens have developed elaborate strategies for silent infection of preferred host cells. Chlamydia pneumoniae is a common pathogen in acute infections of the respiratory tract (e.g. pneumonia and associated with chronic lung sequelae in adults and children. Within the lung, alveolar macrophages and polymorph nuclear neutrophils (PMN are the first line of defense against bacteria, but also preferred host phagocytes of chlamydiae. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We could show that C. pneumoniae easily infect and hide inside neutrophil granulocytes until these cells become apoptotic and are subsequently taken up by macrophages. C. pneumoniae infection of macrophages via apoptotic PMN results in enhanced replicative activity of chlamydiae when compared to direct infection of macrophages, which results in persistence of the pathogen. Inhibition of the apoptotic recognition of C. pneumoniae infected PMN using PS- masking Annexin A5 significantly lowered the transmission of chlamydial infection to macrophages. Transfer of apoptotic C. pneumoniae infected PMN to macrophages resulted in an increased TGF-ss production, whereas direct infection of macrophages with chlamydiae was characterized by an enhanced TNF-alpha response. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Taken together, our data suggest that C. pneumoniae uses neutrophil granulocytes to be silently taken up by long-lived macrophages, which allows for efficient propagation and immune protection within the human host.

  15. The motivational function of an objective in physical activity and sport

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mariusz Lipowski

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Background As a conscious activity of an individual, physical activity (PA constitutes an element of the free-time dimension. The type of goal allows us to distinguish between sport and PA: sport performance vs. psychophysical health. Drawing on the theory of the motivational function of an objective, this study examined the motivational function of an objective in physical activity and sport. Participants and procedures The sample consisted of 2141 individuals: 1163 women aged 16-64 years (M = 23.90, SD = 8.30 and 978 men aged 16-66 years (M = 24.50, SD = 9.40 who completed the Inventory of Physical Activity Objectives (IPAO, which includes the following scales: 1 motivational value, 2 time management, 3 persistence in action, and 4 motivational conflict. There are also questions that allow one to control for variables such as the variety of forms, duration, and frequency of PA, and socio-demographic variables. Results Males presented different motives of physical activity than females. Motives related to shapely body and health were more important for females. The most important motives for males were physical fitness and shapely body. The gender of participants moderates the motivational value of the specific objectives of physical activity and persistence in action. Conclusions With knowledge about the purposefulness of actions, it is possible to support and shape additional motivation experienced by an individual, by setting new, realistic objectives.

  16. Alkaline electrolyzer and V2G system DIgSILENT models for demand response analysis in future distribution networks

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Diaz de Cerio Mendaza, Iker; Bak-Jensen, Birgitte; Chen, Zhe

    2013-01-01

    Grid instabilities originated by unsteady generation, characteristic consequence of some renewable energy resources such as wind and solar power, claims for new power balance solutions in largely penetrated systems. Denmark's solid investment in these energy sources has awaked a need of rethinking...... about the future control and operation of the power system. A widespread idea to face these challenges is to have a flexible demand easily adjustable to the system variations. Electrothermal loads, electric vehicles and hydrogen generation are among the most mentioned technologies capable to respond......, under certain strategies, to these variations. This paper presents two DIgSILENT PowerFactory models: an alkaline electrolyzer and a vehicle to the grid system. The models were performed using DIgSILENT Simulation Language, aiming to be used for long-term distribution systems simulations. Two voltage...

  17. Public health response to the silent reintroduction of wild poliovirus to Israel, 2013-2014.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moran-Gilad, J; Kaliner, E; Gdalevich, M; Grotto, I

    2016-12-01

    During 2013/14, Israel witnessed the silent reintroduction and sustained transmission of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) detected through routine environmental surveillance performed on sewage samples. The public health response to silent poliovirus transmission in a population with high inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) coverage poses an emerging challenge towards the 'End Game' of global poliovirus eradication. This paper reviews the risk assessment, risk management and risk communication aspects of this poliovirus incident. Special emphasis is placed on the use of scientific data generated in the risk assessment phase to inform the public health response. Reintroducing a live vaccine in supplemental immunization activities in response to transmission of WPV or vaccine-derived poliovirus should be considered close to the 'End Game' of polio eradication, especially if targeting the population at risk is feasible. Such circumstances require a comprehensive contingency plan that will support the generation of important public health evidence at the risk assessment stage, thereby allowing to tailor the risk management approaches and underpin appropriate risk communication. Copyright © 2016 European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Appropriate Objective Functions for Quantifying Iris Mechanical Properties Using Inverse Finite Element Modeling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pant, Anup D; Dorairaj, Syril K; Amini, Rouzbeh

    2018-07-01

    Quantifying the mechanical properties of the iris is important, as it provides insight into the pathophysiology of glaucoma. Recent ex vivo studies have shown that the mechanical properties of the iris are different in glaucomatous eyes as compared to normal ones. Notwithstanding the importance of the ex vivo studies, such measurements are severely limited for diagnosis and preclude development of treatment strategies. With the advent of detailed imaging modalities, it is possible to determine the in vivo mechanical properties using inverse finite element (FE) modeling. An inverse modeling approach requires an appropriate objective function for reliable estimation of parameters. In the case of the iris, numerous measurements such as iris chord length (CL) and iris concavity (CV) are made routinely in clinical practice. In this study, we have evaluated five different objective functions chosen based on the iris biometrics (in the presence and absence of clinical measurement errors) to determine the appropriate criterion for inverse modeling. Our results showed that in the absence of experimental measurement error, a combination of iris CL and CV can be used as the objective function. However, with the addition of measurement errors, the objective functions that employ a large number of local displacement values provide more reliable outcomes.

  19. Silent Majority, Violent Majority: The Counter-Revolution in 70s Cinema

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Peter Andrew Novick

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available «There is one question, Inspector Callahan: Why do they call you ‘Dirty Harry’?» Harry, it is explained, «…Hates everybody: Limeys, Micks, Hebes, Fat Degos, Niggers, Honkies, Chinks…especially Spics». Don Siegel’s Dirty Harry (1971, famously labeled «fascist» by prominent film critic Pauline Kael, nonetheless represented something new and unique—the “Silent Majority’s” entry into liberal New Hollywood, a veritable counter-reformation to the new social movements having sprung up in the late Sixties and early Seventies. Far from the traditional American Right, however, and distinctly un-Fascist (in as much as the term means more than a simple epithet, these films acted to unite traditional European philosophy and revolutionary thought with organic conservative American tendencies, resulting in hybrid films which challenged the new social movements, while working within the medium of liberal New American Cinema. The article will address three themes from the era: violence and race in the city, revenge against “liberated women”, and fear and loathing of homosexuality. In each instance, using primary evidence from films and critical reviews from the Seventies and the present era, in addition to American and European theorists, the article will show how the counter-revolution in Seventies cinema failed to expunge the “revolutionary spirit” of the era. Rather, the Silent Majority’s visions of visual violence and reactionary values became part and parcel of the new liberated culture of the “Me Decade,” forever bounding the conservative celluloid revolt to the new cinematic culture.

  20. Silent ischemia in patients after uncomplicated myocardial infarction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Samarzija, M.; Tezak, S.

    1994-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency and importance of silent ischemia in patients (pts) after the acute myocardial infarction (A MI) as well as to establish diagnostic and prognostic value of exercise stress test (EST), Holter (H) monitoring and thallium-201 (Tl) scintigraphy. All the three tests were performed 2-4 months following the AMI. The criterion for diagnosing myocardial ischemia on EST and H is 1 mm or more of horizontal or down-sloping ST depression. Additional criteria for Holter imply the ischemic episode should last one minute and be separated from other episodes by at least one minute. Planar thallium images were performed 5-10 minute after the stress test; the delayed images were obtained after 3-6 hours. Visual and quantitative methods were employed in the analysis of TI-scintigraphy. Scintigraphy was considered positive if exercise- induced perfusion defects showed redistribution. The study included 74 asymptomatic patients after the AMI. The patients were divided into two groups by results of quantitative Tl-scintigraphy: Group I - 44 pts with silent ischemia, Group II - 30 pts without ischemia. In Group I, out of 44 pts, 9 had a positive exercise stress, 4 showed a painless ST depression on Holter and 7 had both tests positive, whereas 24 pts had only scintigraphy positive. In Group II one patient had positive EST and H. Sensitivity and specificity were determined by results of coronary arteriography performed on 33 pts: EST (Se=40%, Sp=80%), H (Se=219, Sp=100%) and scintigraphy (Se=93%, Sp =80%). During the follow-up period lasting at least 12 months, in Group I 3 pts died, 1 developed a new myocardial infarction and 15 pts had painful ischemic occurrences. In Group II only 3 pts developed symptoms of angina pectoris. Tl-scintigraphy was the only non-invasive test showing significant correlation with the follow-up outcomes. The diagnostic and prognostic superiority of Tl-scintigraphy justifies its value as the initial

  1. Reflections on clinical expertise and silent know-how in voice therapy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Iwarsson, Jenny

    2014-01-01

    The concept of ‘clinical expertise’ is described as a part of evidence-based practice (EBP) together with ‘external scientific evidence’ and ‘patient values and perspectives’. However, clinical expertise in the management of voice disorders has not been described or discussed in much detail....... The expertise seems to consist partly of silent know-how that, from the outside, may seem improperly related to the personality of the speech-language pathologist or exclusively dependent on the number of years in the field. In this paper, it is suggested that clinical expertise in voice therapy consists...

  2. The association between saliva control, silent saliva penetration, aspiration, and videofluoroscopic findings in Parkinson′s disease patients

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ali Rajaei

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Dysphagia is a common disorder among patients with Parkinson′s disease (PD. It occurs in up to 80% of all (PD patients during the early stages of the disease and up to 95% in the advanced stages; but professionals may not hear from the patients about dysphagia symptoms until these symptoms reach an advanced stage and lead to medical complications. Materials and Methods: Thirty-three PD patients (mean age 66.09 ± 9.4 years; 24 men, nine women participated in this study at our Neurology Institute, between April 20, 2013, and October 26, 2013. They were asked two questions; one about saliva control and the other about silent saliva penetration and aspiration. Next, they underwent the videofluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS. Results: The Pearson Correlation coefficient between the Penetration-Aspiration Scale (PAS scores and question 1 scores was 0.48 (P < 0.05, =0.25, and there was a significant correlation between the PAS scores and question 2 scores, and also question 1 scores + question 2 scores (r = 0.589, P < 0.05, =0 and r = 0589, P < 0.05, =0. Conclusions: This study showed a significant correlation between the questions about saliva control, silent saliva penetration, and aspiration, and laryngeal penetration and aspiration during VFSS. Therefore, by using these two questions, the potential silent laryngeal penetration and aspiration during meals could be detected before it led to aspiration pneumonia. Taking the benefit of these questions, as a part of the swallowing assessment of PD patients, is recommended.

  3. Angiographic and functional comparison of patients with silent and symptomatic treadmill ischemia early after myocardial infarction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ouyang, P.; Shapiro, E.P.; Chandra, N.C.; Gottlieb, S.H.; Chew, P.H.; Gottlieb, S.O.

    1987-01-01

    Sixty consecutive patients were studied who had positive responses to Naughton exercise treadmill testing (at least 1.5 mm of ST-segment shift in at least 2 leads or thallium reperfusion abnormalities) with or without symptoms of angina 11 +/- 1 days after acute myocardial infarction (AMI). All patients had undergone coronary angiography 24 +/- 4 days after infarction. Thirty-eight patients (63%) had no treadmill angina (silent ischemia, group I) and 22 patients had typical treadmill angina (symptomatic ischemia, group II). Use of beta-blocking drugs, calcium antagonists and nitrates at the time of exercise testing did not differ in the 2 groups. All 9 patients with diabetes mellitus were in the asymptomatic group (p less than 0.40) and group I had a greater proportion of inferior wall AMI (30 of 38) than group II (11 of 22, p = 0.02). Total exercise treadmill test duration (group I 422 +/- 31 seconds, group II 400 +/- 46 seconds) and rate-pressure product were not different in the 2 groups. The number of patients unable to exercise 5 minutes (12 in group I and 7 in group II), the number with diffuse electrocardiographic changes (9 in group I and 7 in group II), and the number with inadequate blood pressure response (8 in group I and 4 in group II) were also similar. At coronary arteriography the mean number of arteries with at least 70% diameter stenosis was 2.0 +/- 0.2 in group I and 2.2 +/- 0.2 in group II (difference not significant)

  4. The Preference of Keeping the Intermediary /y/(ی in Prepositional Construction and Its Attachment to the Silent» h«.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohammad Irani

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract   One of the problems of Persian writing is the question of writing and including the noun or adjective "Prepositional" construction sign in words the written form of which end in a silent » h « which is in fact a short vowel equivalent to /e/ (kasra ـِـ .The difference between the two ways of writing the intermediary consonant /y/( ی at the end of the word with a last silent » h « , completely as « ی » or with the sign « ء» on the silent » h « is rooted in the controversy between the traditional and modern approaches of writing.   The present study is about to study into the following subjects: an analysis and criticism of both the above approaches, a survey of the history of the intermediary /y/( ی , recognizing its phonetic significance and its role in making and adding new syllables, and finally a conclusion about the more convenient way to write it. It is possible that the outcome of the present study will provide us with a unique form of writing of the case in different texts like books, articles, newspapers, journals and electronic texts.

  5. Binocular neurons in parastriate cortex: interocular 'matching' of receptive field properties, eye dominance and strength of silent suppression.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Phillip A Romo

    Full Text Available Spike-responses of single binocular neurons were recorded from a distinct part of primary visual cortex, the parastriate cortex (cytoarchitectonic area 18 of anaesthetized and immobilized domestic cats. Functional identification of neurons was based on the ratios of phase-variant (F1 component to the mean firing rate (F0 of their spike-responses to optimized (orientation, direction, spatial and temporal frequencies and size sine-wave-luminance-modulated drifting grating patches presented separately via each eye. In over 95% of neurons, the interocular differences in the phase-sensitivities (differences in F1/F0 spike-response ratios were small (≤ 0.3 and in over 80% of neurons, the interocular differences in preferred orientations were ≤ 10°. The interocular correlations of the direction selectivity indices and optimal spatial frequencies, like those of the phase sensitivies and optimal orientations, were also strong (coefficients of correlation r ≥ 0.7005. By contrast, the interocular correlations of the optimal temporal frequencies, the diameters of summation areas of the excitatory responses and suppression indices were weak (coefficients of correlation r ≤ 0.4585. In cells with high eye dominance indices (HEDI cells, the mean magnitudes of suppressions evoked by stimulation of silent, extra-classical receptive fields via the non-dominant eyes, were significantly greater than those when the stimuli were presented via the dominant eyes. We argue that the well documented 'eye-origin specific' segregation of the lateral geniculate inputs underpinning distinct eye dominance columns in primary visual cortices of mammals with frontally positioned eyes (distinct eye dominance columns, combined with significant interocular differences in the strength of silent suppressive fields, putatively contribute to binocular stereoscopic vision.

  6. Scaling of silent electrical discharge reactors for hazardous organics destruction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Coogan, J.J.; Rosocha, L.A.; Brower, M.J.; Kang, M.; Schmidt, C.A.

    1993-01-01

    Silent electrical discharges are used to produce highly reactive free radicals that destroy hazardous compounds entrained in gaseous effluents at ambient gas temperatures and pressures. We have carried out destruction experiments at Los Alamos on a range of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including trichloroethylene (TCE), carbon tetrachloride, perchloroethylene (PCE), and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). We have measured a ''nine-factor'', the amount of energy required to reduce the VOC concentration by a factor of ten. For practical reactor power densities, the ''nine-factor'' can be used to predict the destruction an removal efficiency (DRE) in terms of gas flow rate and the number of reactor modules. This report proposes a modular, stackable architecture for scaling up the reactor throughput

  7. [Silent myocardial ischemia in patients with transient ischemic attacks].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sánchez Valiente, S; Mostacero, E; del Río, A; Morales, F

    1994-10-01

    Given evidence that ischemic heart disease is the most frequent cause of death in patients with cerebrovascular disease, we used ergometrics to screen 80 patients with TIA for silent myocardial ischemia (SMI) at the neurological unit of Hospital Clínico Universitario in Zaragoza, Spain. The patients were compared with a control group of 80 with no signs of heart disease. Neither the patients nor the controls had ever shown clinical signs of coronary ischemia and their baseline electrocardiograms were normal. Stress test results were positive in 25 (31%) of the TIA patients, and in 4 (5%) (p Hiperlipidemia (75% testing positive versus 43% negative, p < 0.01) and diabetes (31% testing positive versus 13% negative, p < 0.01) were the risk factors statistically related with a positive stress test.

  8. Incidence of postangiographic silent brain infarction detected by diffusion-weighted MR imaging

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mori, Harushi; Hayashi, Naoto; Aoki, Shigeki

    2002-01-01

    We surveyed to assess for the incidence of clinically silent brain infarction after cerebral catheter angiography. Diffusion-weighted images were performed shortly after 33 cerebral catheter angiographies. We found totally 11 abnormally high intensity spots in 5 of 33 patients on diffusion-weighted images and, therefore, the incidence was calculated as 15.2%. This incidence is higher than has been estimated based on the incidence of neurological deficits (about 0.5%) after cerebral angiography. Diffusion-weighted MR imaging is suitable to monitor the safety of angiographic procedures and material. (author)

  9. Silent Revolution in Research for Sustainability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bruce Alder

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Is research ‘fit-for-purpose’ for realizing sustainable development? More than two decades after the Brundtland report and UNCED Earth summit, the world has now adopted Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs. Rather than a cause for celebration, this delay should encourage reflection on the role of research in society. Why is it so difficult to realize sustainability in practice? The answer lies in the fact that universities and research centres persist with 19th century methods of data gathering, scholarly analysis, and journal articles. Today’s world needs science in real-time, whether to detect drought, confront Ebola, or assist refugees. Research needs to work faster and embrace 21st century practices including data science, open access, and infographics.A silent revolution is occurring in the ways of organizing and conducting research, enabled by new technology and encouraging work that tackles the key challenges facing society. A variety of new arrangements have come into existence that promote international collaboration, including Horizon 2020 with its emphasis on societal challenges, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation which has inspired a family of grand challenges funds on health and development, and the Future Earth joint program of research for global sustainability. These arrangements not only control billions of dollars in research funding, they also influence the strategies of national research councils and international organizations. The result is no less than a transformation in the incentives that reward how researchers invest their time and effort.Why is a revolution needed? Within research, substantial growth in knowledge production coincided with fragmentation among disciplines. One can easily find expertise and publications in soil science or agronomy, yet integrated efforts on food security and climate adaptation remain scarce. Beyond research, society remains largely uninformed, as academics avoid engaging in public

  10. Silent Films and Strange Stories: Theory of Mind, Gender, and Social Experiences in Middle Childhood

    Science.gov (United States)

    Devine, Rory T.; Hughes, Claire

    2013-01-01

    In this study of two hundred and thirty 8- to 13-year-olds, a new "Silent Films" task is introduced, designed to address the dearth of research on theory of mind in older children by providing a film-based analogue of F. G. E. Happe's (1994) Strange Stories task. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that all items from both tasks loaded…

  11. The silent information regulator 1 (Sirt1) is a positive regulator of the Notch pathway in Drosophila

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Horváth, Matěj; Mihajlović, Zorana; Slaninová, Věra; Perez-Gomez, Raquel; Moshkin, Y.; Krejčí, Alena

    2016-01-01

    Roč. 473, č. 22 (2016), s. 4129-4143 ISSN 0264-6021 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA14-08583S Institutional support: RVO:60077344 Keywords : Drosophila * silent information regulator 1 * Notch pathway Subject RIV: EB - Genetics ; Molecular Biology Impact factor: 3.797, year: 2016

  12. Predicting objective function weights from patient anatomy in prostate IMRT treatment planning

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Taewoo; Hammad, Muhannad; Chan, Timothy C. Y.; Craig, Tim; Sharpe, Michael B.

    2013-01-01

    Purpose: Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) treatment planning typically combines multiple criteria into a single objective function by taking a weighted sum. The authors propose a statistical model that predicts objective function weights from patient anatomy for prostate IMRT treatment planning. This study provides a proof of concept for geometry-driven weight determination. Methods: A previously developed inverse optimization method (IOM) was used to generate optimal objective function weights for 24 patients using their historical treatment plans (i.e., dose distributions). These IOM weights were around 1% for each of the femoral heads, while bladder and rectum weights varied greatly between patients. A regression model was developed to predict a patient's rectum weight using the ratio of the overlap volume of the rectum and bladder with the planning target volume at a 1 cm expansion as the independent variable. The femoral head weights were fixed to 1% each and the bladder weight was calculated as one minus the rectum and femoral head weights. The model was validated using leave-one-out cross validation. Objective values and dose distributions generated through inverse planning using the predicted weights were compared to those generated using the original IOM weights, as well as an average of the IOM weights across all patients. Results: The IOM weight vectors were on average six times closer to the predicted weight vectors than to the average weight vector, usingl 2 distance. Likewise, the bladder and rectum objective values achieved by the predicted weights were more similar to the objective values achieved by the IOM weights. The difference in objective value performance between the predicted and average weights was statistically significant according to a one-sided sign test. For all patients, the difference in rectum V54.3 Gy, rectum V70.0 Gy, bladder V54.3 Gy, and bladder V70.0 Gy values between the dose distributions generated by the

  13. Altered luminosity functions for relativistically beamed objects. II - Distribution of Lorentz factors and parent populations with complex luminosity functions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Urry, C.M.; Padovani, P.

    1991-01-01

    In a previous paper, Urry and Shafer (1984) showed that the observed luminosity function (LF) of objects that have part or all of their emission relativistically beamed was a double power law, flat at the faint end and steep at the bright end, so that the ratio of beamed sources to parents was a strong function of luminosity. These calculations are extended here for more realistic LFs required for actual tests of a unified theory of AGN. The observed LF of the beam-dominated objects is generally flatter than the parent LF, so that the number density ratio is a strong function of luminosity and can easily be greater than unity at high luminosities, even for gradual low-luminosity cutoffs in the parent LF. Several characteristic break points can be identified depending on the details of the parent LF. The calculations can be used to test unified theories by predicting the observed LF for aligned objects from the LF of the proposed parent population. 6 refs

  14. Direct effects of smoking on the heart: silent ischemic disturbances of coronary flow

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Deanfield, J.E.; Shea, M.J.; Wilson, R.A.; Horlock, P.; de Landsheere, C.M.; Selwyn, A.P.

    1986-01-01

    Cigarette smoking is strongly associated with ischemic heart disease and acute coronary events. The effect of smoking a single cigarette on regional myocardial perfusion was studied in 13 chronic smokers with typical stable angina pectoris using positron emission tomography and rubidium-82 ( 82 Rb). Findings were compared with the effects of physical exercise. After exercise, 8 patients (61%) had angina, ST depression and abnormal regional myocardial perfusion. Uptake of 82 Rb increased from 49 +/- 8 to 60 +/- 7 in remote myocardium, but decreased from 46 +/- 3 to 37 +/- 5 in an ischemic area. The remaining 5 patients (39%) had homogeneous increases in 82 Rb uptake without angina or ST depression. After smoking, 6 of the 8 patients with positive exercise test responses had a decrease in 82 Rb uptake, from 47 +/- 3 to 35 +/- 6 in the same segment of myocardium affected during exercise. However, in contrast to exercise, the events during smoking were largely silent. The absolute decreases in regional 82 Rb uptake after smoking occurred at significantly lower levels of myocardial oxygen demand than after exercise. This suggests that an impairment of coronary blood supply is responsible. Thus, in smokers with coronary artery disease, each cigarette can cause profound silent disturbances of regional myocardial perfusion that are likely to occur frequently during daily life. Such repeated insults may represent an important mechanism linking smoking with coronary events

  15. Replacing dark energy by silent virialisation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roukema, Boudewijn F.

    2018-02-01

    Context. Standard cosmological N-body simulations have background scale factor evolution that is decoupled from non-linear structure formation. Prior to gravitational collapse, kinematical backreaction (𝒬𝒟) justifies this approach in a Newtonian context. Aims: However, the final stages of a gravitational collapse event are sudden; a globally imposed smooth expansion rate forces at least one expanding region to suddenly and instantaneously decelerate in compensation for the virialisation event. This is relativistically unrealistic. A more conservative hypothesis is to allow non-collapsed domains to continue their volume evolution according to the 𝒬𝒟 Zel'dovich approximation (QZA). We aim to study the inferred average expansion under this "silent" virialisation hypothesis. Methods: We set standard (MPGRAFIC) EdS 3-torus (T3) cosmological N-body initial conditions. Using RAMSES, we partitioned the volume into domains and called the DTFE library to estimate the per-domain initial values of the three invariants of the extrinsic curvature tensor that determine the QZA. We integrated the Raychaudhuri equation in each domain using the INHOMOG library, and adopted the stable clustering hypothesis to represent virialisation (VQZA). We spatially averaged to obtain the effective global scale factor. We adopted an early-epoch-normalised EdS reference-model Hubble constant H1EdS = 37.7 km s-1 /Mpc and an effective Hubble constant Heff,0 = 67.7 km s-1 /Mpc. Results: From 2000 simulations at resolution 2563, we find that reaching a unity effective scale factor at 13.8 Gyr (16% above EdS), occurs for an averaging scale of L13.813 = 2.5-0.1+0.1 Mpc/heff. Relativistically interpreted, this corresponds to strong average negative curvature evolution, with the mean (median) curvature functional Ωℛ𝒟 growing from zero to about 1.5-2 by the present. Over 100 realisations, the virialisation fraction and super-EdS expansion correlate strongly at

  16. Influence of limb temperature on cutaneous silent periods.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kofler, Markus; Valls-Solé, Josep; Vasko, Peter; Boček, Václav; Štetkárová, Ivana

    2014-09-01

    The cutaneous silent period (CSP) is a spinal inhibitory reflex mediated by small-diameter afferents (A-delta fibers) and large-diameter efferents (alpha motoneurons). The effect of limb temperature on CSPs has so far not been assessed. In 27 healthy volunteers (11 males; age 22-58 years) we recorded median nerve motor and sensory action potentials, median nerve F-wave and CSPs induced by noxious digit II stimulation in thenar muscles in a baseline condition at room temperature, and after randomly submersing the forearm in 42 °C warm or 15 °C cold water for 20 min each. In cold limbs, distal and proximal motor and sensory latencies as well as F-wave latencies were prolonged. Motor and sensory nerve conduction velocities were reduced. Compound motor and sensory nerve action potential amplitudes did not differ significantly from baseline. CSP onset and end latencies were more delayed than distal and proximal median nerve motor and sensory latencies, whereas CSP duration was not affected. In warm limbs, opposite but smaller changes were seen in nerve conduction studies and CSPs. The observed CSP shift "en bloc" towards longer latencies without affecting CSP duration during limb cooling concurs with slower conduction velocity in both afferent and efferent fibers. Disparate conduction slowing in afferents and efferents, however, suggests that nociceptive EMG suppression is mediated by fibers of different size in the afferent than in the efferent arm, indirectly supporting the contribution of A-delta fibers as the main afferent input. Limb temperature should be taken into account when testing CSPs in the clinical setting, as different limb temperatures affect CSP latencies more than large-diameter fiber conduction function. Copyright © 2014 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Silent myocardial ischemia in patients with symptomatic intracranial atherosclerosis: associated factors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arenillas, Juan F; Candell-Riera, Jaume; Romero-Farina, Guillermo; Molina, Carlos A; Chacón, Pilar; Aguadé-Bruix, Santiago; Montaner, Joan; de León, Gustavo; Castell-Conesa, Joan; Alvarez-Sabín, José

    2005-06-01

    Optimization of coronary risk evaluation in stroke patients has been encouraged. The relationship between symptomatic intracranial atherosclerosis and occult coronary artery disease (CAD) has not been evaluated sufficiently. We aimed to investigate the prevalence of silent myocardial ischemia in patients with symptomatic intracranial atherosclerosis and to identify factors associated with its presence. From 186 first-ever transient ischemic attack or ischemic stroke patients with intracranial stenoses, 65 fulfilled selection criteria, including angiographic confirmation of a symptomatic atherosclerotic stenosis and absence of known CAD. All patients underwent a maximal-stress myocardial perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). Lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)], C-reactive protein, and homocysteine (Hcy) levels were determined before SPECT. Stress-rest SPECT detected reversible myocardial perfusion defects in 34 (52%) patients. Vascular risk factors associated with a pathologic SPECT were hypercholesterolemia (P=0.045), presence of >2 risk factors (P=0.004) and high Lp(a) (P=0.023) and Hcy levels (P=0.018). Ninety percent of patients with high Lp(a) and Hcy levels had a positive SPECT. Existence of a stenosed intracranial internal carotid artery (ICA; odds ratio [OR], 7.22, 2.07 to 25.23; P=0.002) and location of the symptomatic stenosis in vertebrobasilar arteries (OR, 4.89, 1.19 to 20.12; P=0.027) were independently associated with silent myocardial ischemia after adjustment by age, sex, and risk factors. More than 50% of the patients with symptomatic intracranial atherosclerosis and not overt CAD show myocardial perfusion defects on stress-rest SPECT. Stenosed intracranial ICA, symptomatic vertebrobasilar stenosis and presence of high Lp(a) and Hcy levels may characterize the patients at a higher risk for occult CAD.

  18. Prognostic significance of silent myocardial ischemia on a thallium stress test

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heller, L.I.; Tresgallo, M.; Sciacca, R.R.; Blood, D.K.; Seldin, D.W.; Johnson, L.L.

    1990-01-01

    The clinical significance of silent ischemia is not fully known. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the presence or absence of angina during a thallium stress test positive for ischemia was independently predictive of an adverse outcome. Two hundred thirty-four consecutive patients with ischemia on a thallium stress test were identified. Ischemia was defined as the presence of defect(s) on the immediate postexercise scans not in the distribution of prior infarctions that redistributed on 4-hour scans. During the test 129 patients had angina, defined as characteristic neck, jaw, arm, back or chest discomfort, while the remaining 105 patients had no angina. Follow-up ranged from 2 to 8.2 years (mean 5.2 +/- 2.1) and was successfully obtained in 156 patients. Eighty-two of the 156 patients had angina (group A) and 74 had silent ischemia (group S). Group A patients were significantly older (62 +/- 8 vs 59 +/- 8 years, p less than 0.05). There was no significant difference between the 2 groups in terms of sex, history of prior infarction or presence of left main/3-vessel disease. A larger percentage of patients in group A were receiving beta blockers (60 vs 41%, p less than 0.05) and nitrates (52 vs 36%, 0.05 less than p less than 0.10). There was a large number of cardiac events (myocardial infarction, revascularization and death) in both groups (37 of 82 [45%] in group A; 28 of 72 [38%] in group S) but no statistically significant difference between the groups. Similarly, life-table analysis revealed no difference in mortality between the 2 groups

  19. A silent yet radical future revolution: Winnicott's innovative perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fabozzi, Paolo

    2012-07-01

    The author begins with an examination of two unpublished notes by Melanie Klein, written in 1953 and tracked down by Hinshelwood (2008). In these notes, the role of the study of projective identification as a tool that can permit the analyst to master countertransferential difficulties is highlighted; in 1953, this is the most advanced point of psychoanalytic investigations into unconscious object relations. The author also considers Winnicott's essays "Primitive Emotional Development" (1945) and "Hate in the Countertransference" (1947). In the former, Winnicott begins to inquire into the relationship between subjectivity and objectivity, in relation both to the birth of the mind and to the analyst's psychic functioning. Ultimately, the author demonstrates that the origins of an extraordinary transformation of psychoanalytic theory are contained in Winnicott's essay on countertransference of 1947. In fact, the Winnicottian conception of psychic functioning is founded on the radical and absolutely innovative principle by which the object's unconscious functioning, as well as its transformations caused by the subject's unconscious, must be investigated and transformed in order for the subject to be capable of beginning a psychic transformation.

  20. Waveform inversion with exponential damping using a deconvolution-based objective function

    KAUST Repository

    Choi, Yun Seok; Alkhalifah, Tariq Ali

    2016-01-01

    The lack of low frequency components in seismic data usually leads full waveform inversion into the local minima of its objective function. An exponential damping of the data, on the other hand, generates artificial low frequencies, which can

  1. Relationship between patient-reported and objective measurements of hand function in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S.M. Günay

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Rheumatoid arthritis (RA often results in impairments in upper extremities, especially in the small joints of hand. Involvement of hand brings limitations in activities of daily living. However, it is commonly observed that patient-reported functional status of hand does not always corresponds to their actual physical performance in the clinical setting. The aim of this pilot study is to investigate the relationship between patient self-reported and objectively measured hand functions in patients with RA. Twenty-six patients (51±13 years with RA diagnosis participated in the study. Hand grip and pinch (lateral, bipod, tripod strengths were measured and Jebsen Hand Function Test (JHFT was performed for objective functional performance. Duruöz Hand Index and Beck Depression Inventory - Turkish version were completed by patients. Grip and all three-pinch strength results significantly correlated with Duruöz Hand Index scores (p<0.05. JHFT results except the sentence writing also correlated with the Duruöz scores (p<0.05. Our results showed that self-reported outcome scales might be used for determining functional level of hand in patients with RA in rheumatology practice. Objective quantitative functional tests are the best methods in evaluating functional level of hand, but require valid and reliable equipment with accurate calibration. Therefore, in case of unavailability of objective assessment tools, patient-reported scales may also reflect the real status of hand functions.

  2. Objective function choice for control of a thermocapillary flow using an adjoint-based control strategy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Muldoon, Frank H.; Kuhlmann, Hendrik C.

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Suppression of oscillations in a thermocapillary flow is addressed by optimization. • The gradient of the objective function is obtained by solving the adjoint equations. • The issue of choosing an objective function is investigated. - Abstract: The problem of suppressing flow oscillations in a thermocapillary flow is addressed using a gradient-based control strategy. The physical problem addressed is the “open boat” process of crystal growth, the flow in which is driven by thermocapillary and buoyancy effects. The problem is modeled by the two-dimensional unsteady incompressible Navier–Stokes and energy equations under the Boussinesq approximation. The goal of the control is to suppress flow oscillations which arise when the driving forces are such that the flow becomes unsteady. The control is a spatially and temporally varying temperature gradient boundary condition at the free surface. The control which minimizes the flow oscillations is found using a conjugate gradient method, where the gradient of the objective function with respect to the control variables is obtained from solving a set of adjoint equations. The issue of choosing an objective function that can be both optimized in a computationally efficient manner and optimization of which provides control that damps the flow oscillations is investigated. Almost complete suppression of the flow oscillations is obtained for certain choices of the objective function.

  3. Negotiating Colonial Korean Cinema in the Japanese Empire: From the Silent Era to the Talkies, 1923-1939

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chonghwa Chung

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available This article examines what I call a “system of cooperation” (K. hyŏp’ŏp, J. kyōgyō, 協業 in the colonial Korean film industry from 1923, when silent films appeared, to the late 1930s, when colonial cinema was restructured within an imperial wartime system. In other words, this article examines the interworking of colonial Korean and imperial Japanese cinema from Yun Hae-dong’s “colonial modern” perspective in order to go beyond the long established lens on colonial Korean film and film historiography that merely focused on the contributions of colonial Korean filmmakers. Here the author rather focuses on the cooperation or collaboration between Japan and Korea: Japanese directors and cinematographers working in Korea, Korean filmmakers with experience in the Japanese apprenticeship system, and filmmakers working together and independently during the silent film era. During the transition from the silent to the early talkie eras, second-generation filmmakers, especially those who trained in film studios in Japan, were significant. They dreamed of the corporatization of the colonial Korean film industry and took the lead in coproductions between Japanese film companies and their colonial Korean counterparts. Korean filmmakers were not unilaterally suppressed by imperial Japan, nor did they independently operate within the Korean film industry during the colonial period. The Japanese in colonial Korea did not take the lead in forming the colonial Korean film scene, either. The core formation of colonial Korean / Korean film was a process of Korean and Japanese filmmakers in competition and negotiation with one another within a complex film sphere launched with Japanese capital and technology.

  4. "So oft to the movies they've been": British fan writing and female audiences in the silent cinema

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lisa Rose Stead

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available This article aims to address the ways in which working-class and lower-middle-class British women used silent-era fan magazines as a space for articulating their role within the development of a female film culture. The article focuses on letter pages that formed a key site for female contribution to British fan magazines across the silent era. In contributing to these pages, women found a space to debate and discuss the appeal and significance of particular female representations within film culture. Using detailed archival research tracing the content of a specific magazine, Picturegoer, across a 15-year period (1913–28, the article will show the dominance of particular types of female representation in both fan and "official" magazine discourses, analyzing the ways in which British women used these images to work through national tensions regarding modern femininity and traditional ideas of female propriety and restraint.

  5. Harmonic Domain Modelling of Transformer Core Nonlinearities Using the DIgSILENT PowerFactory Software

    OpenAIRE

    Bak, Claus Leth; Bak-Jensen, Birgitte; Wiechowski, Wojciech

    2008-01-01

    This paper demonstrates the results of implementation and verification of an already existing algorithm that allows for calculating saturation characteristics of singlephase power transformers. The algorithm was described for the first time in 1993. Now this algorithm has been implemented using the DIgSILENT Programming Language (DPL) as an external script in the harmonic domain calculations of a power system analysis tool PowerFactory [10]. The algorithm is verified by harmonic measurements ...

  6. Myocardial perfusion imaging for detection of silent myocardial ischemia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Beller, G.A.

    1988-01-01

    Despite the widespread use of the exercise stress test in diagnosing asymptomatic myocardial ischemia, exercise radionuclide imaging remains useful for detecting silent ischemia in numerous patient populations, including those who are totally asymptomatic, those who have chronic stable angina, those who have recovered from an episode of unstable angina or an uncomplicated myocardial infarction, and those who have undergone angioplasty or received thrombolytic therapy. Studies show that thallium scintigraphy is more sensitive than exercise electrocardiography in detecting ischemia, i.e., in part, because perfusion defects occur more frequently than ST depression and before angina in the ischemic cascade. Thallium-201 scintigraphy can be performed to differentiate a true- from a false-positive exercise electrocardiographic test in patients with exercise-induced ST depression and no angina. The development of technetium-labeled isonitriles may improve the accuracy of myocardial perfusion imaging. 11 references

  7. Reliability of the exercise ECG in detecting silent ischemia in patients with prior myocardial infarction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yamagishi, Takashi; Matsuda, Yasuo; Satoh, Akira

    1991-01-01

    To assess the reliability of the exercise ECG in detecting silent ischemia, ECG results were compared with those of stress-redistribution thallium-201 single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) in 116 patients with prior myocardial infarction and in 20 normal subjects used as a control. The left ventricle (LV) was divided into 20 segmental images, which were scored blindly on a 5-point scale. The redistribution score was defined as thallium defect score of exercise subtracted by that of redistribution image and was used as a measure of amount of ischemic but viable myocardium. The upper limit of normal redistribution score (=4.32) was defined as mean+2 standard deviations derived from 20 normal subjects. Of 116 patients, 47 had the redistribution score above the normal range. Twenty-five (53%) of the 47 patients showed positive ECG response. Fourteen (20%) of the 69 patients, who had the normal redistribution score, showed positive ECG response. Thus, the ECG response had a sensitivity of 53% and a specificity of 80% in detecting transient ischemia. Furthermore, the 116 patients were subdivided into 4 groups according to the presence or absence of chest pain and ECG change during exercise. Fourteen patients showed both chest pain and ECG change and all these patients had the redistribution score above the normal range. Twenty-five patients showed ECG change without chest pain and 11 (44%) of the 25 patients had the abnormal redistribution. Three (43%) of 7 patients who showed chest pain without ECG change had the abnormal redistribution score. Of 70 patients who had neither chest pain nor ECG change, 19 (27%) had the redistribution score above the normal range. Thus, limitations exist in detecting silent ischemia by ECG in patients with a prior myocardial infarction, because the ECG response to the exercise test may have a low degree of sensitivity and a high degree of false positive and false negative results in detecting silent ischemia. (author)

  8. Silent somatotroph tumour revisited from a study of 80 patients with and without acromegaly and a review of the literature.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chinezu, Laura; Vasiljevic, Alexandre; Trouillas, Jacqueline; Lapoirie, Marion; Jouanneau, Emmanuel; Raverot, Gérald

    2017-02-01

    Silent somatotroph tumours are growth hormone (GH) immunoreactive (IR) pituitary tumours without clinical and biological signs of acromegaly. Their better characterisation is required to improve the diagnosis. Twenty-one silent somatotroph tumours were compared to 59 somatotroph tumours with acromegaly. Tumours in each group were classified into GH and plurihormonal (GH/prolactin (PRL)/±thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH)) and into densely granulated (DG) and sparsely granulated (SG) types. The two groups were then compared with regards to proliferation (Ki-67, p53 indexes and mitotic count), differentiation (expression of somatostatin receptors SSTR 2A -SSTR 5 and transcription factor Pit-1) and secretory activity (% of GH- and PRL-IR cells). The silent somatotroph tumours represented 2% of all tested pituitary tumours combined. They were more frequent in women than in men (P = 0.002), more frequently plurihormonal and SG (P acromegaly. They all expressed SSTR 2A , SSTR 5 and Pit-1. The plurihormonal (GH/PRL/±TSH) tumours were mostly observed in women (sex ratio: 3/1) and in patients who were generally younger than those with acromegaly (P acromegaly. A low secretory activity of these tumours might explain the normal plasma values for GH and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) and the absence of clinical signs of acromegaly. © 2017 European Society of Endocrinology.

  9. A cross-correlation objective function for least-squares migration and visco-acoustic imaging

    KAUST Repository

    Dutta, Gaurav

    2014-08-05

    Conventional acoustic least-squares migration inverts for a reflectivity image that best matches the amplitudes of the observed data. However, for field data applications, it is not easy to match the recorded amplitudes because of the visco-elastic nature of the earth and inaccuracies in the estimation of source signature and strength at different shot locations. To relax the requirement for strong amplitude matching of least-squares migration, we use a normalized cross-correlation objective function that is only sensitive to the similarity between the predicted and the observed data. Such a normalized cross-correlation objective function is also equivalent to a time-domain phase inversion method where the main emphasis is only on matching the phase of the data rather than the amplitude. Numerical tests on synthetic and field data show that such an objective function can be used as an alternative to visco-acoustic least-squares reverse time migration (Qp-LSRTM) when there is strong attenuation in the subsurface and the estimation of the attenuation parameter Qp is insufficiently accurate.

  10. A cross-correlation objective function for least-squares migration and visco-acoustic imaging

    KAUST Repository

    Dutta, Gaurav; Sinha, Mrinal; Schuster, Gerard T.

    2014-01-01

    Conventional acoustic least-squares migration inverts for a reflectivity image that best matches the amplitudes of the observed data. However, for field data applications, it is not easy to match the recorded amplitudes because of the visco-elastic nature of the earth and inaccuracies in the estimation of source signature and strength at different shot locations. To relax the requirement for strong amplitude matching of least-squares migration, we use a normalized cross-correlation objective function that is only sensitive to the similarity between the predicted and the observed data. Such a normalized cross-correlation objective function is also equivalent to a time-domain phase inversion method where the main emphasis is only on matching the phase of the data rather than the amplitude. Numerical tests on synthetic and field data show that such an objective function can be used as an alternative to visco-acoustic least-squares reverse time migration (Qp-LSRTM) when there is strong attenuation in the subsurface and the estimation of the attenuation parameter Qp is insufficiently accurate.

  11. The detection of 'virtual' objects using echoes by humans: Spectral cues.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rowan, Daniel; Papadopoulos, Timos; Archer, Lauren; Goodhew, Amanda; Cozens, Hayley; Lopez, Ricardo Guzman; Edwards, David; Holmes, Hannah; Allen, Robert

    2017-07-01

    Some blind people use echoes to detect discrete, silent objects to support their spatial orientation/navigation, independence, safety and wellbeing. The acoustical features that people use for this are not well understood. Listening to changes in spectral shape due to the presence of an object could be important for object detection and avoidance, especially at short range, although it is currently not known whether it is possible with echolocation-related sounds. Bands of noise were convolved with recordings of binaural impulse responses of objects in an anechoic chamber to create 'virtual objects', which were analysed and played to sighted and blind listeners inexperienced in echolocation. The sounds were also manipulated to remove cues unrelated to spectral shape. Most listeners could accurately detect hard flat objects using changes in spectral shape. The useful spectral changes for object detection occurred above approximately 3 kHz, as with object localisation. However, energy in the sounds below 3 kHz was required to exploit changes in spectral shape for object detection, whereas energy below 3 kHz impaired object localisation. Further recordings showed that the spectral changes were diminished by room reverberation. While good high-frequency hearing is generally important for echolocation, the optimal echo-generating stimulus will probably depend on the task. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  12. Objective Function and Learning Algorithm for the General Node Fault Situation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xiao, Yi; Feng, Rui-Bin; Leung, Chi-Sing; Sum, John

    2016-04-01

    Fault tolerance is one interesting property of artificial neural networks. However, the existing fault models are able to describe limited node fault situations only, such as stuck-at-zero and stuck-at-one. There is no general model that is able to describe a large class of node fault situations. This paper studies the performance of faulty radial basis function (RBF) networks for the general node fault situation. We first propose a general node fault model that is able to describe a large class of node fault situations, such as stuck-at-zero, stuck-at-one, and the stuck-at level being with arbitrary distribution. Afterward, we derive an expression to describe the performance of faulty RBF networks. An objective function is then identified from the formula. With the objective function, a training algorithm for the general node situation is developed. Finally, a mean prediction error (MPE) formula that is able to estimate the test set error of faulty networks is derived. The application of the MPE formula in the selection of basis width is elucidated. Simulation experiments are then performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

  13. Relations of Preschoolers' Visual-Motor and Object Manipulation Skills With Executive Function and Social Behavior.

    Science.gov (United States)

    MacDonald, Megan; Lipscomb, Shannon; McClelland, Megan M; Duncan, Rob; Becker, Derek; Anderson, Kim; Kile, Molly

    2016-12-01

    The purpose of this article was to examine specific linkages between early visual-motor integration skills and executive function, as well as between early object manipulation skills and social behaviors in the classroom during the preschool year. Ninety-two children aged 3 to 5 years old (M age  = 4.31 years) were recruited to participate. Comprehensive measures of visual-motor integration skills, object manipulation skills, executive function, and social behaviors were administered in the fall and spring of the preschool year. Our findings indicated that children who had better visual-motor integration skills in the fall had better executive function scores (B = 0.47 [0.20], p gender, Head Start status, and site location, but not after controlling for children's baseline levels of executive function. In addition, children who demonstrated better object manipulation skills in the fall showed significantly stronger social behavior in their classrooms (as rated by teachers) in the spring, including more self-control (B - 0.03 [0.00], p social behavior in the fall and other covariates. Children's visual-motor integration and object manipulation skills in the fall have modest to moderate relations with executive function and social behaviors later in the preschool year. These findings have implications for early learning initiatives and school readiness.

  14. How Silent is the Right to Silence?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Katherine Biber

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available A long-held and fundamental principle of our criminal justice system is that people accused of crimes have a right to silence, arising from the presumption of innocence. Rules of evidence try to protect this ‘right’ during trial, by ensuring that juries understand that adverse inferences cannot be drawn from the silence of the accused. Silence, in court, can mean nothing, and we are not to speculate about what might motivate an accused person to remain silent, or what they might have said had they spoken. However, an examination of the jurisprudence in this area shows that the law is often not dealing with actual silence; sometimes when the law refers to the ‘right to silence’, it seems to mean a ‘refusal to hear’. In other instances, there is actual silence, and yet the law refuses to subject that silence to any critical interpretation, insisting that we cannot infer anything from it. While we have learned, from theatre, music, linguistics, religion and psychology, to develop sophisticated means for interpreting silence, the law demands that we set aside these interpretive tools, hearing silence that isn’t there, and inferring nothing about something.

  15. Correlating lesion size and location to deficits after ischemic stroke: the influence of accounting for altered peri-necrotic tissue and incidental silent infarcts

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Black Sandra E

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Investigators frequently quantify and evaluate the location and size of stroke lesions to help uncover cerebral anatomical correlates of deficits observed after first-ever stroke. However, it is common to discover silent infarcts such as lacunes in patients identified clinically as 'first-ever' stroke, and it is unclear if including these incidental findings may impact lesion-based investigations of brain-behaviour relationships. There is also debate concerning how to best define the boundaries of necrotic stroke lesions that blend in an ill-defined way into surrounding tissue, as it is unclear whether including this altered peri-necrotic tissue region may influence studies of brain-behaviour relationships. Therefore, for patients with clinically overt stroke, we examined whether including altered peri-necrotic tissue and incidental silent strokes influenced either lesion volume correlations with a measure of sensorimotor impairment or the anatomical localization of this impairment established using subtraction lesion analysis. Methods Chronic stroke lesions of 41 patients were manually traced from digital T1-MRI to sequentially include the: necrotic lesion core, altered peri-necrotic tissue, silent lesions in the same hemisphere as the index lesion, and silent lesions in the opposite hemisphere. Lesion volumes for each region were examined for correlation with motor impairment scores, and subtraction analysis was used to highlight anatomical lesion loci associated with this deficit. Results For subtraction lesion analysis, including peri-necrotic tissue resulted in a larger region of more frequent damage being seen in the basal ganglia. For correlational analysis, only the volume of the lesion core was significantly associated with motor impairment scores (r = -0.35, p = 0.025. In a sub-analysis of patients with small subcortical index lesions, adding silent lesions in the opposite hemisphere to the volume of the index

  16. Comparison of multiple linear regression and artificial neural network in developing the objective functions of the orthopaedic screws.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hsu, Ching-Chi; Lin, Jinn; Chao, Ching-Kong

    2011-12-01

    Optimizing the orthopaedic screws can greatly improve their biomechanical performances. However, a methodical design optimization approach requires a long time to search the best design. Thus, the surrogate objective functions of the orthopaedic screws should be accurately developed. To our knowledge, there is no study to evaluate the strengths and limitations of the surrogate methods in developing the objective functions of the orthopaedic screws. Three-dimensional finite element models for both the tibial locking screws and the spinal pedicle screws were constructed and analyzed. Then, the learning data were prepared according to the arrangement of the Taguchi orthogonal array, and the verification data were selected with use of a randomized selection. Finally, the surrogate objective functions were developed by using either the multiple linear regression or the artificial neural network. The applicability and accuracy of those surrogate methods were evaluated and discussed. The multiple linear regression method could successfully construct the objective function of the tibial locking screws, but it failed to develop the objective function of the spinal pedicle screws. The artificial neural network method showed a greater capacity of prediction in developing the objective functions for the tibial locking screws and the spinal pedicle screws than the multiple linear regression method. The artificial neural network method may be a useful option for developing the objective functions of the orthopaedic screws with a greater structural complexity. The surrogate objective functions of the orthopaedic screws could effectively decrease the time and effort required for the design optimization process. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Objective effect manifestation of pectus excavatum on load-stressed pulmonary function testing: a case report

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chan Jason

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Introduction Pectus excavatum is the most common congenital deformity of the anterior chest wall that, under certain conditions, may pose functional problems due to cardiopulmonary compromise and exercise intolerance. Case presentation We present the case of an otherwise physically-adept 21-year-old Chinese sportsman with idiopathic pectus excavatum, whose symptoms manifested only on bearing a loaded body vest and backpack during physical exercise. Corroborative objective evidence was obtained via load-stressed pulmonary function testing, which demonstrated restrictive lung function. Conclusion This report highlights the possible detrimental synergism of thoracic load stress and pectus excavatum on cardiopulmonary function. Thoracic load-stressed pulmonary function testing provides objective evidence in support of such a synergistic relationship.

  18. Silent ischemia in patients after the acute myocardial infarction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Samarzija, M.

    1991-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency and importance of silent ischemia in patients (pts) after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) as well as to establish diagnostic and prognostic values of exercise stress test (EST), Holter (H) monitoring and thallium-201 (Tl) scintigraphy. All the tests were performed 2-4 months following the AMI. The criterion for diagnostic myocardial ischemia on EST and H is 1 mm or more of horizontal or down-sloping ST depression. Additional criteria for Holter imply that the ischemic episode should last one minute and be separated from other episodes by at least one minute. Planar thallium images were performed 5-10 minutes after the stress test; the delayed images were obtained after 3-6 hours. Visual and quantitative methods were employed in the analysis of Tl-scintigraphy. Scintigraphy was considered positive if exercise-induced perfusion defects showed redistribution. The study included 74 asymptomatic patients after the AMI. The patients were divided into two groups by results of quantitative Tl-scintigraphy: Group I - 44 pts with silent ischemia, Group II - 30 pts without ischemia. In Group I, out of 44 pts, 9 had a positive exercise stress test, 4 showed a painless ST depression on Holter and 7 had both tests positive, whereas 24 pts had only scintigraphy positive. In Group II one patient had positive EST and H. Sensitivity and specificity were determined by results of coronary arteriography performed on 33 pts: EST (Se=40%, Sp=80%), H (Se=21%, Sp=100%) and scintigraphy (Se=93%, Sp=80%). During the follow-up period lasting at least 12 months, in Group I 3 pts died, 1 developed a new myocardial infarction and 15 pts had painful ischemic occurrences. In Group II only 3 pts developed symptoms of angina pectoris. Tl-scintigraphy was the only non-invasive test showing significant correlation with the follow-up outcomes. The diagnostic and prognostic superiority of Tl-scintigraphy justifies its value as an initial

  19. Are Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Initially Attuned to Object Function Rather than Shape for Word Learning?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Field, Charlotte; Allen, Melissa L.; Lewis, Charlie

    2016-01-01

    We investigate the function bias--generalising words to objects with the same function--in typically developing (TD) children, children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and children with other developmental disorders. Across four trials, a novel object was named and its function was described and demonstrated. Children then selected the other…

  20. Models for predicting objective function weights in prostate cancer IMRT

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boutilier, Justin J.; Lee, Taewoo; Craig, Tim; Sharpe, Michael B.; Chan, Timothy C. Y.

    2015-01-01

    Purpose: To develop and evaluate the clinical applicability of advanced machine learning models that simultaneously predict multiple optimization objective function weights from patient geometry for intensity-modulated radiation therapy of prostate cancer. Methods: A previously developed inverse optimization method was applied retrospectively to determine optimal objective function weights for 315 treated patients. The authors used an overlap volume ratio (OV) of bladder and rectum for different PTV expansions and overlap volume histogram slopes (OVSR and OVSB for the rectum and bladder, respectively) as explanatory variables that quantify patient geometry. Using the optimal weights as ground truth, the authors trained and applied three prediction models: logistic regression (LR), multinomial logistic regression (MLR), and weighted K-nearest neighbor (KNN). The population average of the optimal objective function weights was also calculated. Results: The OV at 0.4 cm and OVSR at 0.1 cm features were found to be the most predictive of the weights. The authors observed comparable performance (i.e., no statistically significant difference) between LR, MLR, and KNN methodologies, with LR appearing to perform the best. All three machine learning models outperformed the population average by a statistically significant amount over a range of clinical metrics including bladder/rectum V53Gy, bladder/rectum V70Gy, and dose to the bladder, rectum, CTV, and PTV. When comparing the weights directly, the LR model predicted bladder and rectum weights that had, on average, a 73% and 74% relative improvement over the population average weights, respectively. The treatment plans resulting from the LR weights had, on average, a rectum V70Gy that was 35% closer to the clinical plan and a bladder V70Gy that was 29% closer, compared to the population average weights. Similar results were observed for all other clinical metrics. Conclusions: The authors demonstrated that the KNN and MLR

  1. Models for predicting objective function weights in prostate cancer IMRT

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Boutilier, Justin J., E-mail: j.boutilier@mail.utoronto.ca; Lee, Taewoo [Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, 5 King’s College Road, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G8 (Canada); Craig, Tim [Radiation Medicine Program, UHN Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, 610 University of Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M5T 2M9, Canada and Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Toronto, 148 - 150 College Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3S2 (Canada); Sharpe, Michael B. [Radiation Medicine Program, UHN Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, 610 University of Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M5T 2M9 (Canada); Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Toronto, 148 - 150 College Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3S2 (Canada); Techna Institute for the Advancement of Technology for Health, 124 - 100 College Street, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1P5 (Canada); Chan, Timothy C. Y. [Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, 5 King’s College Road, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G8, Canada and Techna Institute for the Advancement of Technology for Health, 124 - 100 College Street, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1P5 (Canada)

    2015-04-15

    Purpose: To develop and evaluate the clinical applicability of advanced machine learning models that simultaneously predict multiple optimization objective function weights from patient geometry for intensity-modulated radiation therapy of prostate cancer. Methods: A previously developed inverse optimization method was applied retrospectively to determine optimal objective function weights for 315 treated patients. The authors used an overlap volume ratio (OV) of bladder and rectum for different PTV expansions and overlap volume histogram slopes (OVSR and OVSB for the rectum and bladder, respectively) as explanatory variables that quantify patient geometry. Using the optimal weights as ground truth, the authors trained and applied three prediction models: logistic regression (LR), multinomial logistic regression (MLR), and weighted K-nearest neighbor (KNN). The population average of the optimal objective function weights was also calculated. Results: The OV at 0.4 cm and OVSR at 0.1 cm features were found to be the most predictive of the weights. The authors observed comparable performance (i.e., no statistically significant difference) between LR, MLR, and KNN methodologies, with LR appearing to perform the best. All three machine learning models outperformed the population average by a statistically significant amount over a range of clinical metrics including bladder/rectum V53Gy, bladder/rectum V70Gy, and dose to the bladder, rectum, CTV, and PTV. When comparing the weights directly, the LR model predicted bladder and rectum weights that had, on average, a 73% and 74% relative improvement over the population average weights, respectively. The treatment plans resulting from the LR weights had, on average, a rectum V70Gy that was 35% closer to the clinical plan and a bladder V70Gy that was 29% closer, compared to the population average weights. Similar results were observed for all other clinical metrics. Conclusions: The authors demonstrated that the KNN and MLR

  2. A proposal of multi-objective function for submarine rigid pipelines route optimization via evolutionary algorithms

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fernandes, D.H.; Medeiros, A.R. [Subsea7, Niteroi, RJ (Brazil); Jacob, B.P.; Lima, B.S.L.P.; Albrecht, C.H. [Universidade Federaldo Rio de Janeiro (COPPE/UFRJ), RJ (Brazil). Coordenacao de Programas de Pos-graduacao em Engenharia

    2009-07-01

    This work presents studies regarding the determination of optimal pipeline routes for offshore applications. The assembly of an objective function is presented; this function can be later associated with Evolutionary Algorithm to implement a computational tool for the automatic determination of the most advantageous pipeline route for a given scenario. This tool may reduce computational overheads, avoid mistakes with route interpretation, and minimize costs with respect to submarine pipeline design and installation. The following aspects can be considered in the assembly of the objective function: Geophysical and geotechnical data obtained from the bathymetry and sonography; the influence of the installation method, total pipeline length and number of free spans to be mitigated along the routes as well as vessel time for both cases. Case studies are presented to illustrate the use of the proposed objective function, including a sensitivity analysis intended to identify the relative influence of selected parameters in the evaluation of different routes. (author)

  3. Application of DIgSILENT POWERFACTORY software for modeling of industrial network relay protection system

    OpenAIRE

    Sučević Nikola; Milošević Dejan

    2016-01-01

    This paper presents modeling of industrial network relay protection system using DIgSILENT PowerFactory software. The basis for the model of protection system is a model of a single substation in an industrial network. The paper presents the procedure for modeling of protective devices of 6 kV asynchronous motors, 6/0,4 kV/kV transformers as well as protection in the bus coupler and busbar protection. Protective relay system response for the simulated disturbances is shown in the paper.

  4. Silent left ventricular dysfunction during routine activity after thrombolytic therapy for acute myocardial infarction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kayden, D.S.; Wackers, F.J.; Zaret, B.L.

    1990-01-01

    To investigate prospectively the occurrence and significance of postinfarction transient left ventricular dysfunction, 33 ambulatory patients who underwent thrombolytic therapy after myocardial infarction were monitored continuously for 187 +/- 56 min during normal activity with a radionuclide left ventricular function detector at the time of hospital discharge. Twelve patients demonstrated 19 episodes of transient left ventricular dysfunction (greater than 0.05 decrease in ejection fraction, lasting greater than or equal to 1 min), with no change in heart rate. Only two episodes in one patient were associated with chest pain and electrocardiographic changes. The baseline ejection fraction was 0.52 +/- 0.12 in patients with transient left ventricular dysfunction and 0.51 +/- 0.13 in patients without dysfunction (p = NS). At follow-up study (19.2 +/- 5.4 months), cardiac events (unstable angina, myocardial infarction or death) occurred in 8 of 12 patients with but in only 3 of 21 patients without transient left ventricular dysfunction (p less than 0.01). During submaximal supine bicycle exercise, only two patients demonstrated a decrease in ejection fraction greater than or equal to 0.05 at peak exercise; neither had a subsequent cardiac event. These data suggest that transient episodes of silent left ventricular dysfunction at hospital discharge in patients treated with thrombolysis after myocardial infarction are common and associated with a poor outcome. Continuous left ventricular function monitoring during normal activity may provide prognostic information not available from submaximal exercise test results

  5. A silent allele in the locus D5S818 contained within the PowerPlex®21 PCR Amplification Kit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Ling; Tai, Yunchun; Qiu, Pingming; Du, Weian; Liu, Chao

    2015-11-01

    Three paternity tests cases were found with a single locus mismatch at the locus D5S818 with PowerPlex®21 PCR Amplification Kit (Promega). Forward and reverse primers were redesigned to type the samples again and to evaluate if there were alleles dropped out. The results showed the existence of a silent allele 12 in all the three families, due to a point mutation that changed cytosine to adenine at 90 nucleotides upstream from the 5' end of the AGAT repeat sequences in all the six individuals. A single locus mismatch due to a silent allele may occur in any locus using any kit. Therefore, we recommend using multiple kits to confirm the results in paternity testing cases with mismatches, especially when there is a single locus mismatch with homozygote involved. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Regional cerebral blood flow and periventricular hyperintensity in silent cerebral infarction. Comparison with multi-infarct dementia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koshi, Yasuhiko; Kitamura, Shin; Nagazumi, Atushi; Tsuganesawa, Toshikazu; Terashi, Akiro

    1996-01-01

    In order to investigate relationship between regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) and the white matter lesions on MRI in silent cerebral infarction, we quantitatively measured rCBF by 123 I-IMP autoradiography method (IMP ARG method) and single photon emission tomography (SPECT) in 36 patients with silent cerebral infarction (SCI group), 22 patients with multi-infarct dementia (MID group), and 16 control subjects without periventricular hyperintensity (PVH) and lacunar infarction on MRI (CL group). Regions of interest (ROIs) on rCBF images were set in the frontal (F), temporal (T), parietal (P), occipital (O) cortex, and the cerebral white matter (W). The severity of PVH on MRI T 2 -weighted image was divided into four grades (grade 0-3). Though the frequency of hypertension was significantly higher in SCI group and MID group compared with CL group, no significant difference was seen in the mean age among these three groups. rCBF in the white matter and cerebral cortices except the occipital cortex in SCI group was significantly low compared with CL group (rCBF SCI /rCBF CL : W 0.87, F 0.87, T 0.87, P 0.88, O 0.92). rCBF in the white matter and cerebral cortices, especially in the white matter and frontal cortex, in MID group was significantly low compared with SCI group (rCBF MID /rCBF CL : W 0.69, F 0.71, T 0.74, P 0.75, O 0.81). The mean grade of PVH in MID group was significantly higher than that in SCI group (SCI 1.1 vs MID 2.5). The severity of PVH was significantly correlated with each rCBF in the white matter and cerebral cortices, especially in the white matter and frontal cortex. Our findings suggest that the quantitative measurement of rCBF by IMP ARG method is useful for the follow-up study in the patients with silent cerebral infarction as well as the evaluation of the severity of PVH on MRI. (author)

  7. “The One Who Chases You Away Does Not Tell You Go”: Silent Refusals and Complex Power Relations in Research Consent Processes in Coastal Kenya

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kamuya, Dorcas M.; Theobald, Sally J.; Marsh, Vicki; Parker, Michael; Geissler, Wenzel P.; Molyneux, Sassy C.

    2015-01-01

    Consent processes have attracted significant research attention over the last decade, including in the global south. Although relevant studies suggest consent is a complex negotiated process involving multiple actors, most guidelines assume consent is a one-off encounter with a clear ‘yes’ or ‘no’ decision. In this paper we explore the concept of ‘silent refusals’, a situation where it is not clear whether potential participants want to join studies or those in studies want to withdraw from research, as they were not actively saying no. We draw on participant observation, in-depth interviews and group discussions conducted with a range of stakeholders in two large community based studies conducted by the KEMRI Wellcome Trust programme in coastal Kenya. We identified three broad inter-related rationales for silent refusals: 1) a strategy to avoid conflicts and safeguard relations within households, - for young women in particular—to appear to conform to the wishes of elders; 2) an approach to maintain friendly, appreciative and reciprocal relationships with fieldworkers, and the broader research programme; and 3) an effort to retain study benefits, either for individuals, whole households or wider communities. That refusals and underlying rationales were silent posed multiple dilemmas for fieldworkers, who are increasingly recognised to play a key interface role between researchers and communities in many settings. Silent refusals reflect and reinforce complex power relations embedded in decisions about research participation, with important implications for consent processes and broader research ethics practice. Fieldworkers need support to reflect upon and respond to the ethically charged environment they work in. PMID:25978465

  8. Application of DIgSILENT POWERFACTORY software for modeling of industrial network relay protection system

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sučević Nikola

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents modeling of industrial network relay protection system using DIgSILENT PowerFactory software. The basis for the model of protection system is a model of a single substation in an industrial network. The paper presents the procedure for modeling of protective devices of 6 kV asynchronous motors, 6/0,4 kV/kV transformers as well as protection in the bus coupler and busbar protection. Protective relay system response for the simulated disturbances is shown in the paper.

  9. Static Aeroelastic Deformation Effects in Preliminary Wind-tunnel Tests of Silent Supersonic Technology Demonstrator

    OpenAIRE

    Makino, Yoshikazu; Ohira, Keisuke; Makimoto, Takuya; Mitomo, Toshiteru; 牧野, 好和; 大平, 啓介; 牧本, 卓也; 三友, 俊輝

    2011-01-01

    Effects of static aeroelastic deformation of a wind-tunnel test model on the aerodynamic characteristics are discussed in wind-tunnel tests in the preliminary design phase of the silent supersonic technology demonstrator (S3TD). The static aeroelastic deformation of the main wing is estimated for JAXA 2m x 2m transonic wind-tunnel and 1m x 1m supersonic wind-tunnel by a finite element method (FEM) structural analysis in which its structural model is tuned with the model deformation calibratio...

  10. Constraints on the exploitation of the functional properties of objects in expert tool-using chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Povinelli, Daniel J; Frey, Scott H

    2016-09-01

    Many species exploit immediately apparent dimensions of objects during tool use and manufacture and operate over internal perceptual representations of objects (they move and reorient objects in space, have rules of operation to deform or modify objects, etc). Humans, however, actively test for functionally relevant object properties before such operations begin, even when no previous percepts of a particular object's qualities in the domain have been established. We hypothesize that such prospective diagnostic interventions are a human specialization of cognitive function that has been entirely overlooked in the neuropsychological literature. We presented chimpanzees with visually identical rakes: one was functional for retrieving a food reward; the other was non-functional (its base was spring-loaded). Initially, they learned that only the functional tool could retrieve a distant reward. In test 1, we explored if they would manually test for the rakes' rigidity during tool selection, but before using it. We found no evidence of such behavior. In test 2, we obliged the apes to deform the non-functional tool's base before using it, in order to evaluate whether this would cause them to switch rakes. It did not. Tests 3-6 attempted to focus the apes' attention on the functionally relevant property (rigidity). Although one ape eventually learned to abandon the non-functional rake before using it, she still did not attempt to test the rakes for rigidity prior to use. While these results underscore the ability of chimpanzees to use novel tools, at the same time they point toward a fundamental (and heretofore unexplored) difference in causal reasoning between humans and apes. We propose that this behavioral difference reflects a human specialization in how object properties are represented, which could have contributed significantly to the evolution of our technological culture. We discuss developing a new line of evolutionarily motivated neuropsychological research on

  11. Objective-function Hybridization in Adjoint Seismic Tomography

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yuan, Y. O.; Bozdag, E.; Simons, F.; Gao, F.

    2016-12-01

    In the realm of seismic tomography, we are at the threshold of a new era of huge seismic datasets. However, how to assimilate as much information as possible from every seismogram is still a challenge. Cross-correlation measurements are generally tailored to some window selection algorithms, such as FLEXWIN (Maggie et al. 2008), to balance amplitude differences between seismic phases. However, these measurements naturally favor maximum picks in selected windows. It is also difficult to select all usable portions of seismograms in an optimum way that lots of information is generally lost, particularly the scattered waves. Instantaneous phase type of misfits extract information from every wiggle without cutting seismograms into small pieces, however, dealing with cycle skips at short periods can be challenging. For this purpose, we introduce a flexible hybrid approach for adjoint seismic tomography, to combine various objective functions. We initially focus on phase measurements and propose using instantaneous phase to take into account relatively small-magnitude scattered waves at long periods while using cross-correlation measurements on FLEXWIN windows to select distinct body-wave arrivals without complicating measurements due to non-linearities at short periods. To better deal with cycle skips and reliably measure instantaneous phases we design a new misfit function that incorporates instantaneous phase information implicitly instead of measuring it explicitly, through using normalized analytic signals. We present in our synthetic experiments how instantaneous phase, cross-correlation and their hybridization affect tomographic results. The combination of two different phase measurements in a hybrid approach constitutes progress towards using "anything and everything" in a data set, addressing data quality and measurement challenges simultaneously. We further extend hybridisation of misfit functions for amplitude measurements such as cross-correlation amplitude

  12. Cumulus-specific genes are transcriptionally silent following somatic cell nuclear transfer in a mouse model*

    OpenAIRE

    Tong, Guo-qing; Heng, Boon-chin; Ng, Soon-chye

    2007-01-01

    This study investigated whether four cumulus-specific genes: follicular stimulating hormone receptor (FSHr), hyaluronan synthase 2 (Has2), prostaglandin synthase 2 (Ptgs2) and steroidogenic acute regulator protein (Star), were correctly reprogrammed to be transcriptionally silent following somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) in a murine model. Cumulus cells of C57×CBA F1 female mouse were injected into enucleated oocytes, followed by activation in 10 µmol/L strontium chloride for 5 h and sub...

  13. Functional Dissociations within the Ventral Object Processing Pathway: Cognitive Modules or a Hierarchical Continuum?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cowell, Rosemary A.; Bussey, Timothy J.; Saksida, Lisa M.

    2010-01-01

    We examined the organization and function of the ventral object processing pathway. The prevailing theoretical approach in this field holds that the ventral object processing stream has a modular organization, in which visual perception is carried out in posterior regions and visual memory is carried out, independently, in the anterior temporal…

  14. Associations of objective and subjective sleep disturbance with cognitive function in older men with comorbid depression and insomnia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Biddle, Daniel J; Naismith, Sharon L; Griffiths, Kathleen M; Christensen, Helen; Hickie, Ian B; Glozier, Nicholas S

    2017-06-01

    To examine whether poor objective and subjective sleep quality are differentially associated with cognitive function. Cross-sectional. Participants were recruited from primary and secondary care, and directly from the community, in Sydney, Australia. The sample consisted of 74 men 50years and older (mean [SD], 58.4 [6.2] years), with comorbid depression and above-threshold insomnia symptoms, participating in a trial of online cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia. Insomnia severity and depression severity were assessed via self-report. Objective sleep efficiency and duration were measured using actigraphy. Objective cognitive function was measured using 3 subtests of a computerized neuropsychological battery. Poor objective sleep efficiency was associated with slower reaction time (r=-0.249, P=.033) and poorer executive functioning (odds ratio, 4.14; 95% confidence interval, 1.35-12.69), but not memory. These associations remained after adjusting for age, education, depression severity, cardiovascular risk, and medication. Subjective sleep quality was not related to cognitive function. Among older men with depression and insomnia, objectively measured poor sleep efficiency may be associated with worse cognitive function, independent of depression severity. Objective poor sleep may be underpinned by neurobiological correlates distinct from those underlying subjective poor sleep and depression, and represent a potentially effective modifiable mechanism in interventions to improve cognitive functioning in this population. This supports the use of objective measures of sleep in diagnostic assessments and care. Copyright © 2017 National Sleep Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. CEPF Western Ghats Special Series: Metazoan community composition in tree hole aquatic habitats of Silent Valley National Park and New Amarambalam Reserve Forest of the Western Ghats, India

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    K.A. Nishadh

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available In a study of the metazoan community composition in tree hole aquatic habitat of a tropical rainforest, Silent Valley National Park, and the adjacent moist deciduous forest, New Amarambalam Reserve Forest, of the Western Ghats, 28 different species were recorded from 150 tree hole aquatic habitats with an average of 3-5 species per tree hole. Most of the recorded organisms (96.8% belong to Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies, Heteroptera (bugs, Diptera (flies, Coleoptera (beetles and Trichoptera (caddisflies. The study reports the first record of toe-winged beetle larvae (Ptilodactylidae in a tree hole aquatic habitat. The most significant observation is the prolific occurrence of trichopteran larvae as the second most abundant taxa in tree holes of Silent Valley National Park, and this stands as the first comprehensive record of the entire order in the habitat studied. The study upholds the importance of less explored microhabitats in the Western Ghats region in terms of sustaining unique community composition in the most delicate and extreme habitat conditions. It also puts forward important ecological research questions on biodiversity ecosystem functionality which could impart important lessons for managing and conserving the diminishing tropical evergreen forests which are significant for these unique habitats.

  16. Mutagenesis Objective Search and Selection Tool (MOSST: an algorithm to predict structure-function related mutations in proteins

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Asenjo Juan A

    2011-04-01

    's primary sequence into a group of functionally non-disruptive amino acids and a second group of functionally deleterious amino acids. Conclusions With this approach, not only conserved amino acid positions in a protein family can be labeled as functionally relevant, but also non-conserved amino acid positions can be identified to have a physicochemically meaningful functional effect. These results become a discriminative tool in the selection and elaboration of rational mutagenesis strategies for the protein. They can also be used to predict if a given nsSNP, identified, for instance, in a genomic-scale analysis, can have a functional implication for a particular protein and which nsSNPs are most likely to be functionally silent for a protein. This analytical tool could be used to rapidly and automatically discard any irrelevant nsSNP and guide the research focus toward functionally significant mutations. Based on preliminary results and applications, this technique shows promising performance as a valuable bioinformatics tool to aid in the development of new protein variants and in the understanding of function-structure relationships in proteins.

  17. How Tactile and Function Information Affect Young Children's Ability to Understand the Nature of Food-Appearing, Deceptive Objects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krause, Christina Miles

    2008-01-01

    Preschool children's (N = 64) ability to use tactile information and function cues on less-realistic and more-realistic food-appearing, deceptive objects was examined before and after training on the function of deceptive objects. They also responded to appearance and reality questions about deceptive objects. Half of the children (F-S:…

  18. High frequency of silent brain infarcts associated with cognitive deficits in an economically disadvantaged population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Squarzoni, Paula; Tamashiro-Duran, Jaqueline H; Duran, Fabio L S; Leite, Claudia C; Wajngarten, Mauricio; Scazufca, Marcia; Menezes, Paulo R; Lotufo, Paulo A; Alves, Tania C T F; Busatto, Geraldo F

    2017-08-01

    Using magnetic resonance imaging, we aimed to assess the presence of silent brain vascular lesions in a sample of apparently healthy elderly individuals who were recruited from an economically disadvantaged urban region (São Paulo, Brazil). We also wished to investigate whether the findings were associated with worse cognitive performance. A sample of 250 elderly subjects (66-75 years) without dementia or neuropsychiatric disorders were recruited from predefined census sectors of an economically disadvantaged area of Sao Paulo and received structural magnetic resonance imaging scans and cognitive testing. A high proportion of individuals had very low levels of education (4 years or less, n=185; 21 with no formal education). The prevalence of at least one silent vascular-related cortical or subcortical lesion was 22.8% (95% confidence interval, 17.7-28.5), and the basal ganglia was the most frequently affected site (63.14% of cases). The subgroup with brain infarcts presented significantly lower levels of education than the subgroup with no brain lesions as well as significantly worse current performance in cognitive test domains, including memory and attention (pcognitive deficits, and in the absence of magnetic resonance imaging data, this cognitive impairment may be considered simply related to ageing. Emphatic attention should be paid to potentially deleterious effects of vascular brain lesions in poorly educated elderly individuals from economically disadvantaged environments.

  19. Reducing calorie sales from supermarkets - 'silent' reformulation of retailer-brand food products.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jensen, Jørgen Dejgård; Sommer, Iben

    2017-08-23

    Food product reformulation is seen as one among several tools to promote healthier eating. Reformulating the recipe for a processed food, e.g. reducing the fat, sugar or salt content of the foods, or increasing the content of whole-grains, can help the consumers to pursue a healthier life style. In this study, we evaluate the effects on calorie sales of a 'silent' reformulation strategy, where a retail chain's private-label brands are reformulated to a lower energy density without making specific claims on the product. Using an ecological study design, we analyse 52 weeks' sales data - enriched with data on products' energy density - from a Danish retail chain. Sales of eight product categories were studied. Within each of these categories, specific products had been reformulated during the 52 weeks data period. Using econometric methods, we decompose the changes in calorie turnover and sales value into direct and indirect effects of product reformulation. For all considered products, the direct effect of product reformulation was a reduction in the sale of calories from the respective product categories - between 0.5 and 8.2%. In several cases, the reformulation led to indirect substitution effects that were counterproductive with regard to reducing calorie turnover. However, except in two insignificant cases, these indirect substitution effects were dominated by the direct effect of the reformulation, leading to net reductions in calorie sales between -3.1 and 7.5%. For all considered product reformulations, the reformulation had either positive, zero or very moderate negative effects on the sales value of the product category to which the reformulated product belonged. Based on these findings, 'silent' reformulation of retailer's private brands towards lower energy density seems to contribute to lowering the calorie intake in the population (although to a moderate extent) with moderate losses in retailer's sales revenues.

  20. Prevalence of symptomatic and silent stress-induced perfusion defects in diabetic patients with suspected coronary artery disease referred for myocardial perfusion scintigraphy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Prior, John O.; Calcagni, Maria-Lucia; Bischof Delaloye, Angelika [Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV University Hospital), Division of Nuclear Medicine, Lausanne (Switzerland); Monbaron, David; Ruiz, Juan [Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV University Hospital), Division of Endocrinology, Diabetology and Metabolism, Lausanne (Switzerland); Koehli, Melanie [Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV University Hospital), Division of Nuclear Medicine, Lausanne (Switzerland); Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV University Hospital), Division of Endocrinology, Diabetology and Metabolism, Lausanne (Switzerland)

    2005-01-01

    Silent myocardial ischaemia - as evaluated by stress-induced perfusion defects on myocardial perfusion scintigraphy (MPS) in patients without a history of chest pain - is frequent in diabetes and is associated with increased rates of cardiovascular events. Its prevalence has been determined in asymptomatic diabetic patients, but remains largely unknown in diabetic patients with suspected coronary artery disease (CAD) in the clinical setting. In this study we therefore sought (a) to determine the prevalence of symptomatic and silent perfusion defects in diabetic patients with suspected CAD and (b) to characterise the eventual predictors of abnormal perfusion. The patient population comprised 133 consecutive diabetic patients with suspected CAD who had been referred for MPS. Studies were performed with exercise (41%) or pharmacological stress testing (1-day protocol, {sup 99m}Tc-sestamibi, {sup 201}Tl or both). We used semi-quantitative analysis (20-segment polar maps) to derive the summed stress score (SSS) and the summed difference score (SDS). Abnormal MPS (SSS{>=}4) was observed in 49 (37%) patients (SSS=4.9{+-}8.4, SDS=2.4{+-}4.7), reversible perfusion defects (SDS{>=}2) in 40 (30%) patients [SSS=13.3{+-}10.9; SDS=8.0{+-}5.6; 20% moderate to severe (SDS>4), 7% multivessel] and fixed defects in 21 (16%) patients. Results were comparable between patients with and patients without a history of chest pain. Of 75 patients without a history of chest pain, 23 (31%, 95% CI=21-42%) presented reversible defects (SSS=13.9{+-}11.3; SDS=7.4{+-}1.2), indicative of silent ischaemia. Reversible defects were associated with inducible ST segment depression during MPS stress (odds ratio (OR)=3.2, p<0.01). Fixed defects were associated with erectile dysfunction in males (OR=3.7, p=0.02) and lower aspirin use (OR=0.25, p=0.02). Silent stress-induced perfusion defects occurred in 31% of the patients, a rate similar to that in patients with a history of chest pain. MPS could identify

  1. Impact of Insulin Resistance on Silent and Ongoing Myocardial Damage in Normal Subjects: The Takahata Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Taro Narumi

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Background. Insulin resistance (IR is part of the metabolic syndrome (Mets that develops after lifestyle changes and obesity. Although the association between Mets and myocardial injury is well known, the effect of IR on myocardial damage remains unclear. Methods and Results. We studied 2200 normal subjects who participated in a community-based health check in the town of Takahata in northern Japan. The presence of IR was assessed by homeostasis model assessment ratio, and the serum level of heart-type fatty acid binding protein (H-FABP was measured as a maker of silent and ongoing myocardial damage. H-FABP levels were significantly higher in subjects with IR and Mets than in those without metabolic disorder regardless of gender. Multivariate logistic analysis showed that the presence of IR was independently associated with latent myocardial damage (odds ratio: 1.574, 95% confidence interval 1.1–2.3 similar to the presence of Mets. Conclusions. In a screening of healthy subjects, IR and Mets were similarly related to higher H-FABP levels, suggesting that there may be an asymptomatic population in the early stages of metabolic disorder that is exposed to myocardial damage and might be susceptible to silent heart failure.

  2. Temporal integration of sequential auditory events: silent period in sound pattern activates human planum temporale.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mustovic, Henrietta; Scheffler, Klaus; Di Salle, Francesco; Esposito, Fabrizio; Neuhoff, John G; Hennig, Jürgen; Seifritz, Erich

    2003-09-01

    Temporal integration is a fundamental process that the brain carries out to construct coherent percepts from serial sensory events. This process critically depends on the formation of memory traces reconciling past with present events and is particularly important in the auditory domain where sensory information is received both serially and in parallel. It has been suggested that buffers for transient auditory memory traces reside in the auditory cortex. However, previous studies investigating "echoic memory" did not distinguish between brain response to novel auditory stimulus characteristics on the level of basic sound processing and a higher level involving matching of present with stored information. Here we used functional magnetic resonance imaging in combination with a regular pattern of sounds repeated every 100 ms and deviant interspersed stimuli of 100-ms duration, which were either brief presentations of louder sounds or brief periods of silence, to probe the formation of auditory memory traces. To avoid interaction with scanner noise, the auditory stimulation sequence was implemented into the image acquisition scheme. Compared to increased loudness events, silent periods produced specific neural activation in the right planum temporale and temporoparietal junction. Our findings suggest that this area posterior to the auditory cortex plays a critical role in integrating sequential auditory events and is involved in the formation of short-term auditory memory traces. This function of the planum temporale appears to be fundamental in the segregation of simultaneous sound sources.

  3. Clinical history and biologic age predicted falls better than objective functional tests.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gerdhem, Paul; Ringsberg, Karin A M; Akesson, Kristina; Obrant, Karl J

    2005-03-01

    Fall risk assessment is important because the consequences, such as a fracture, may be devastating. The objective of this study was to find the test or tests that best predicted falls in a population-based sample of elderly women. The fall-predictive ability of a questionnaire, a subjective estimate of biologic age and objective functional tests (gait, balance [Romberg and sway test], thigh muscle strength, and visual acuity) were compared in 984 randomly selected women, all 75 years of age. A recalled fall was the most important predictor for future falls. Only recalled falls and intake of psycho-active drugs independently predicted future falls. Women with at least five of the most important fall predictors (previous falls, conditions affecting the balance, tendency to fall, intake of psychoactive medication, inability to stand on one leg, high biologic age) had an odds ratio of 11.27 (95% confidence interval 4.61-27.60) for a fall (sensitivity 70%, specificity 79%). The more time-consuming objective functional tests were of limited importance for fall prediction. A simple clinical history, the inability to stand on one leg, and a subjective estimate of biologic age were more important as part of the fall risk assessment.

  4. The Effects of the Sustained Silent Reading Program on Cultivating Students' Habits and Attitudes in Reading Books for Leisure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chua, Siah Poh

    2008-01-01

    The author examines the effects of the sustained silent reading program on cultivating students' habits and attitudes in reading books for leisure. The author used a time-series design and measured students' reading habits and attitudes three times in twelve months. It was expected that if the program created positive effects on cultivating…

  5. Case Report: Anteromedial temporosphenoidal encephalocele with a clinically silent lateral bony defect in the greater wing of the sphenoid

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pandey, Anoop Kumar

    2009-01-01

    Anteromedial temporosphenoidal encephalocele is the least common type of temporal encephalocele. It commonly presents with spontaneous cerebrospinal fluid rhinorrhea in adults. This article presents the CT cisternography and MRI findings of one such case, which also had an associated clinically silent defect in the greater wing of the sphenoid on the same side

  6. Determination of the object surface function by structured light: application to the study of spinal deformities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Buendia, M.; Salvador, R.; Cibrian, R.; Sotoca, J.M.; Laguia, M.

    1999-01-01

    The projection of structured light is a technique frequently used to determine the surface shape of an object. In this paper, a new procedure is described that efficiently resolves the correspondence between the knots of the projected grid and those obtained on the object when the projection is made. The method is based on the use of three images of the projected grid. In two of them the grid is projected over a flat surface placed, respectively, before and behind the object; both images are used for calibration. In the third image the grid is projected over the object. It is not reliant on accurate determination of the camera and projector pair relative to the grid and object. Once the method is calibrated, we can obtain the surface function by just analysing the projected grid on the object. The procedure is especially suitable for the study of objects without discontinuities or large depth gradients. It can be employed for determining, in a non-invasive way, the patient's back surface function. Symmetry differences permit a quantitative diagnosis of spinal deformities such as scoliosis. (author)

  7. A cost-effectiveness analysis of screening for silent atrial fibrillation after ischaemic stroke.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Levin, Lars-Åke; Husberg, Magnus; Sobocinski, Piotr Doliwa; Kull, Viveka Frykman; Friberg, Leif; Rosenqvist, Mårten; Davidson, Thomas

    2015-02-01

    The purpose of this study was to estimate the cost-effectiveness of two screening methods for detection of silent AF, intermittent electrocardiogram (ECG) recordings using a handheld recording device, at regular time intervals for 30 days, and short-term 24 h continuous Holter ECG, in comparison with a no-screening alternative in 75-year-old patients with a recent ischaemic stroke. The long-term (20-year) costs and effects of all alternatives were estimated with a decision analytic model combining the result of a clinical study and epidemiological data from Sweden. The structure of a cost-effectiveness analysis was used in this study. The short-term decision tree model analysed the screening procedure until the onset of anticoagulant treatment. The second part of the decision model followed a Markov design, simulating the patients' health states for 20 years. Continuous 24 h ECG recording was inferior to intermittent ECG in terms of cost-effectiveness, due to both lower sensitivity and higher costs. The base-case analysis compared intermittent ECG screening with no screening of patients with recent stroke. The implementation of the screening programme on 1000 patients resulted over a 20-year period in 11 avoided strokes and the gain of 29 life-years, or 23 quality-adjusted life years, and cost savings of €55 400. Screening of silent AF by intermittent ECG recordings in patients with a recent ischaemic stroke is a cost-effective use of health care resources saving costs and lives and improving the quality of life. Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author 2014. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  8. Validation of the baseline severity stratification of objective functional impairment in lumbar degenerative disc disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stienen, Martin N; Smoll, Nicolas R; Joswig, Holger; Corniola, Marco V; Schaller, Karl; Hildebrandt, Gerhard; Gautschi, Oliver P

    2017-05-01

    OBJECTIVE The Timed Up and Go (TUG) test is a simple, objective, and standardized method to measure objective functional impairment (OFI) in patients with lumbar degenerative disc disease (DDD). The objective of the current work was to validate the OFI baseline severity stratification (BSS; with levels of "none," "mild," "moderate," and "severe"). METHODS Data were collected in a prospective IRB-approved 2-center study. Patients were assessed with a comprehensive panel of scales for measuring pain (visual analog scale [VAS] for back and leg pain), functional impairment (Roland-Morris Disability Index [RMDI] and Oswestry Disability Index [ODI]), and health-related quality of life (HRQOL; EQ-5D and SF-12). OFI BSS was determined using age- and sex-adjusted cutoff values. RESULTS A total of 375 consecutive patients scheduled for lumbar spine surgery were included. Each 1-step increase on the OFI BSS corresponded to an increase of 0.53 in the back pain VAS score, 0.69 in the leg pain VAS score, 1.81 points in the RMDI, and 5.93 points in the ODI, as well as to a decrease in HRQOL of -0.073 in the EQ-5D, -1.99 in the SF-12 physical component summary (PCS), and -1.62 in the SF-12 mental component summary (MCS; all p measure of functional impairment for use in daily clinical practice. The presence of OFI indicates the presence of significant functional impairment on subjective outcome measures.

  9. "Luck's always to blame": silent wounds of a penetrating gunshot trauma sustained 20 years ago.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tomos, Ioannis; Manali, Effrosyni D; Argentos, Stylianos; Raptakis, Thomas; Papiris, Spyros A

    2015-01-01

    Gunshot tracheal injuries represent life-threatening events and usually necessitate emergent surgical intervention. We report a case of an exceptional finding of a patient with retained ballistic fragments in the soft tissues of the thorax, proximal to the right subclavian artery and the trachea, carrying silently his wounds for two decades without any medical or surgical intervention. The bullet pellet on the upper part of the trachea seen accidentally in the chest computed tomography, was also found during bronchoscopy. In short "luck's always to blame".

  10. Is there an association between subjective and objective measures of cognitive function in patients with affective disorders?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Svendsen, Anne M; Kessing, Lars V; Munkholm, Klaus

    2012-01-01

    .01) but there were no differences between patient groups (P > 0.1). We found no correlation between subjectively experienced and objectively measured cognitive dysfunction in BD (P = 0.7), and a non-significant trend towards a correlation in UD (P = 0.06), which disappeared when controlling for gender (P = 0......Background: Patients with affective disorders experience cognitive dysfunction in addition to their affective symptoms. The relationship between subjectively experienced and objectively measured cognitive function is controversial with several studies reporting no correlation between subjective...... and objective deficits. Aims: To investigate whether there is a correlation between subjectively reported and objectively measured cognitive function in patients with affective disorders, and whether subjective complaints predict objectively measured dysfunction. Methods: The study included 45 participants; 15...

  11. The associations of objectively measured physical activity and sedentary time with cognitive functions in school-aged children.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Heidi J Syväoja

    Full Text Available Low levels of physical activity among children have raised concerns over the effects of a physically inactive lifestyle, not only on physical health but also on cognitive prerequisites of learning. This study examined how objectively measured and self-reported physical activity and sedentary behavior are associated with cognitive functions in school-aged children. The study population consisted of 224 children from five schools in the Jyväskylä school district in Finland (mean age 12.2 years; 56% girls, who participated in the study in the spring of 2011. Physical activity and sedentary time were measured objectively for seven consecutive days using the ActiGraph GT1M/GT3X accelerometer. Self-reported moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA and screen time were evaluated with the questions used in the "WHO Health Behavior in School-aged Children" study. Cognitive functions including visual memory, executive functions and attention were evaluated with a computerized Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery by using five different tests. Structural equation modeling was applied to examine how objectively measured and self-reported MVPA and sedentary behavior were associated with cognitive functions. High levels of objectively measured MVPA were associated with good performance in the reaction time test. High levels of objectively measured sedentary time were associated with good performance in the sustained attention test. Objectively measured MVPA and sedentary time were not associated with other measures of cognitive functions. High amount of self-reported computer/video game play was associated with weaker performance in working memory test, whereas high amount of computer use was associated with weaker performance in test measuring shifting and flexibility of attention. Self-reported physical activity and total screen time were not associated with any measures of cognitive functions. The results of the present study propose

  12. Silent Aortic Dissection Presenting as Transient Locked-In Syndrome

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nadour, Wadih; Goldwasser, Brian; Biederman, Robert W.; Taffe, Kevin

    2008-01-01

    Acute aortic dissection is a medical emergency. Without prompt recognition and treatment, the mortality rate is high. An atypical presentation makes timely diagnosis difficult, especially if the patient is experiencing no characteristic pain. Many patients with aortic dissection are reported to have presented with various neurologic manifestations, but none with only a presentation of transient locked-in syndrome. Herein, we report a case of completely painless aortic dissection in a woman who presented with a transient episode of anarthria, quadriplegia, and preserved consciousness. On physical examination, she had a 40-point difference in blood pressure between her left and right arms, and a loud diastolic murmur. The diagnosis of acute aortic dissection was reached via a combination of radiography, computed tomography, echocardiography, and a high index of clinical suspicion. The patient underwent emergency surgery and ultimately experienced a successful outcome. To our knowledge, this is the 1st report of aortic dissection that presented solely as locked-in syndrome. We suggest that silent aortic dissection be added to the differential diagnosis for transient locked-in syndrome. PMID:18941610

  13. Full Waveform Inversion Using an Energy-Based Objective Function with Efficient Calculation of the Gradient

    KAUST Repository

    Choi, Yun Seok

    2017-05-26

    Full waveform inversion (FWI) using an energy-based objective function has the potential to provide long wavelength model information even without low frequency in the data. However, without the back-propagation method (adjoint-state method), its implementation is impractical for the model size of general seismic survey. We derive the gradient of the energy-based objective function using the back-propagation method to make its FWI feasible. We also raise the energy signal to the power of a small positive number to properly handle the energy signal imbalance as a function of offset. Examples demonstrate that the proposed FWI algorithm provides a convergent long wavelength structure model even without low-frequency information, which can be used as a good starting model for the subsequent conventional FWI.

  14. Objective function analysis for electric soundings (VES), transient electromagnetic soundings (TEM) and joint inversion VES/TEM

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bortolozo, Cassiano Antonio; Bokhonok, Oleg; Porsani, Jorge Luís; Monteiro dos Santos, Fernando Acácio; Diogo, Liliana Alcazar; Slob, Evert

    2017-11-01

    Ambiguities in geophysical inversion results are always present. How these ambiguities appear in most cases open to interpretation. It is interesting to investigate ambiguities with regard to the parameters of the models under study. Residual Function Dispersion Map (RFDM) can be used to differentiate between global ambiguities and local minima in the objective function. We apply RFDM to Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES) and TEM Sounding inversion results. Through topographic analysis of the objective function we evaluate the advantages and limitations of electrical sounding data compared with TEM sounding data, and the benefits of joint inversion in comparison with the individual methods. The RFDM analysis proved to be a very interesting tool for understanding the joint inversion method of VES/TEM. Also the advantage of the applicability of the RFDM analyses in real data is explored in this paper to demonstrate not only how the objective function of real data behaves but the applicability of the RFDM approach in real cases. With the analysis of the results, it is possible to understand how the joint inversion can reduce the ambiguity of the methods.

  15. Wave drag as the objective function in transonic fighter wing optimization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phillips, P. S.

    1984-01-01

    The original computational method for determining wave drag in a three dimensional transonic analysis method was replaced by a wave drag formula based on the loss in momentum across an isentropic shock. This formula was used as the objective function in a numerical optimization procedure to reduce the wave drag of a fighter wing at transonic maneuver conditions. The optimization procedure minimized wave drag through modifications to the wing section contours defined by a wing profile shape function. A significant reduction in wave drag was achieved while maintaining a high lift coefficient. Comparisons of the pressure distributions for the initial and optimized wing geometries showed significant reductions in the leading-edge peaks and shock strength across the span.

  16. Deafening silence? Time to reconsider whether organisations are silent or deaf when things go wrong.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, Aled; Kelly, Daniel

    2014-09-01

    Several public inquiries into healthcare failings in the UK have noted that employees of failing organizations attempt to raise concerns about shortcomings in care, often over a prolonged period of time, only for those concerns to be ignored. However, healthcare literature has largely focused on how organizations and their employees are silent in the face of such failings, positioning employees as daring not to speak in response to serious workplace problems or issues. We argue that only focussing on organizational silence is a critical mistake which misrepresents actual events and overly-simplifies the complexities of workplace culture. The disregard shown by academics, practitioners and policy makers to employee voice strategies, which do not amount to whistle-blowing, but equally cannot either be defined as "silence", results in signals being ignored that can be effective in preventing and ending wrongdoing by others. In addition to understanding silence we suggest therefore that better understanding of why organizations are deaf to, or disregard, employee concerns are needed. We propose that a virtuous cycle is possible, whereby the introduction of systems that result in better listening and valuing of employee concerns reinforces a culture of speaking up and, in turn, organizational learning. Similarly, organizations that disregard employees concerns are destined not to learn, ultimately falling silent and failing. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

  17. Case Report: Anteromedial temporosphenoidal encephalocele with a clinically silent lateral bony defect in the greater wing of the sphenoid

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pandey Anoop

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Anteromedial temporosphenoidal encephalocele is the least common type of temporal encephalocele. It commonly presents with spontaneous cerebrospinal fluid rhinorrhea in adults. This article presents the CT cisternography and MRI findings of one such case, which also had an associated clinically silent defect in the greater wing of the sphenoid on the same side.

  18. Variability in State-Based Recommendations for Management of Alpha Thalassemia Trait and Silent Carrier Detected on the Newborn Screen.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fogel, Benjamin N; Nguyen, Hong Loan T; Smink, Gayle; Sekhar, Deepa L

    2018-04-01

    We conducted an inventory of state-based recommendations for follow-up of alpha thalassemia silent carrier and trait identified on newborn screen. We found wide variability in the nature and timing of these recommendations. We recommend a standardized recommendation to guide pediatricians in evidenced-based care for this population. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Silent Spring, the 50th anniversary of Rachel Carson's book.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pimentel, David

    2012-09-27

    David Pimentel is a professor of ecology and agricultural sciences at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-0901. His Ph.D. is from Cornell University and had postdoctoral research at the University of Chicago, MIT, and fellowship at Oxford University (England). He was awarded a distinguished honorary degree from the University of Massachusetts. His research spans the fields of energy, population ecology, biological pest control, pesticides, sustainable agriculture, land and water conservation, livestock, and environmental policy. Pimentel has published more than 700 scientific papers and 37 books and has served on many national and government committees including the National Academy of Sciences; President's Science Advisory Council; U.S Department of Agriculture; U.S. Department of Energy; U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare; Office of Technology Assessment of the U.S. Congress; and the U.S. State Department. He is currently Editorial Advisor for BMC Ecology. In this article, he reflects on 50 years since the publication of Rachel Carson's influential book, Silent Spring.

  20. Construction of the Cylindrical Ozone Generator by Silent Discharge Method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Agus Purwadi; Widdi Usada; Suryadi; Isyuniarto; Sri Sukmajaya

    2002-01-01

    It has been constructed the ozone generator by silent discharge method. Anode and cathode of discharge tube were made of stainless steel (SS) in the cylinder form with diameters of 22 mm and 25 mm, the length of 100 mm and 110 mm, the equal thickness of 1 mm respectively. The dielectric was made of cylinder glass with diameter of 23 cm, the length of 105 cm and the thickness of 1 mm. The testing of apparatus was carried out by using discharge voltage of 12.5 kV and frequency of 1.5 kHz. Identification of the ozone gas formation was marked by the existing of special ozone smell and the separated of iodine molecule (yellow colour) from the potassium iodide solution which contaminated gas out put from the ozonizer. By using absorbing method can be shown that the ozone production rate was 0.196 mg/s by using oxygen gas input and 0.065 mg/s by using ordinary air input. (author)

  1. Developing an objective function to characterize the tradeoffs in salting out and the foam and droplet fractionation processes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cherry J.

    2000-01-01

    Full Text Available There are many methods for separating and purifying proteins from dilute solutions, such as salting out/precipitation, adsorption/chromatography, foam fractionation, and droplet fractionation. In order to determine the optimal condition for a selected separation and purification process, an objective function is developed. The objective function consists of three parameters, which are the protein mass recovery, the separation ratio, and the enzymatic activity ratio. In this paper the objective function is determined as a function of the pH of the bulk solution for egg albumin, cellulase, and sporamin (for foam fractionation and invertase ( for droplet fractionation. It is found that the optimal pH for all the systems except for cellulase is near their isoelectric point.

  2. How restful is it with all that noise? Comparison of Interleaved silent steady state (ISSS) and conventional imaging in resting-state fMRI.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andoh, J; Ferreira, M; Leppert, I R; Matsushita, R; Pike, B; Zatorre, R J

    2017-02-15

    Resting-state fMRI studies have become very important in cognitive neuroscience because they are able to identify BOLD fluctuations in brain circuits involved in motor, cognitive, or perceptual processes without the use of an explicit task. Such approaches have been fruitful when applied to various disordered populations, or to children or the elderly. However, insufficient attention has been paid to the consequences of the loud acoustic scanner noise associated with conventional fMRI acquisition, which could be an important confounding factor affecting auditory and/or cognitive networks in resting-state fMRI. Several approaches have been developed to mitigate the effects of acoustic noise on fMRI signals, including sparse sampling protocols and interleaved silent steady state (ISSS) acquisition methods, the latter being used only for task-based fMRI. Here, we developed an ISSS protocol for resting-state fMRI (rs-ISSS) consisting of rapid acquisition of a set of echo planar imaging volumes following each silent period, during which the steady state longitudinal magnetization was maintained with a train of relatively silent slice-selective excitation pulses. We evaluated the test-retest reliability of intensity and spatial extent of connectivity networks of fMRI BOLD signal across three different days for rs-ISSS and compared it with a standard resting-state fMRI (rs-STD). We also compared the strength and distribution of connectivity networks between rs-ISSS and rs-STD. We found that both rs-ISSS and rs-STD showed high reproducibility of fMRI signal across days. In addition, rs-ISSS showed a more robust pattern of functional connectivity within the somatosensory and motor networks, as well as an auditory network compared with rs-STD. An increased connectivity between the default mode network and the language network and with the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) network was also found for rs-ISSS compared with rs-STD. Finally, region of interest analysis showed

  3. The effects of whispering-to-oneself and silent reading on text memory and comprehension in children

    OpenAIRE

    Matsumi, Norio; Furumoto, Yumi; Mitsuke, Ai

    2005-01-01

    An experiment was carried out to investigate the effects of whispering-to-oneself reading on text memory and comprehension in children (6th grade). A2×2 factorial design was used in the experiment: the first independent variable was whispering-to-oneself or silent reading, the second was large- or small-working memory span which were measured by the reading span test (RST). Four aspects of the text memory and comprehension were observed as dependent variables: text memory both on the literal ...

  4. Prevalence of symptomatic and silent stress-induced perfusion defects in diabetic patients with suspected coronary artery disease referred for myocardial perfusion scintigraphy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Prior, John O.; Calcagni, Maria-Lucia; Bischof Delaloye, Angelika; Monbaron, David; Ruiz, Juan; Koehli, Melanie

    2005-01-01

    Silent myocardial ischaemia - as evaluated by stress-induced perfusion defects on myocardial perfusion scintigraphy (MPS) in patients without a history of chest pain - is frequent in diabetes and is associated with increased rates of cardiovascular events. Its prevalence has been determined in asymptomatic diabetic patients, but remains largely unknown in diabetic patients with suspected coronary artery disease (CAD) in the clinical setting. In this study we therefore sought (a) to determine the prevalence of symptomatic and silent perfusion defects in diabetic patients with suspected CAD and (b) to characterise the eventual predictors of abnormal perfusion. The patient population comprised 133 consecutive diabetic patients with suspected CAD who had been referred for MPS. Studies were performed with exercise (41%) or pharmacological stress testing (1-day protocol, 99m Tc-sestamibi, 201 Tl or both). We used semi-quantitative analysis (20-segment polar maps) to derive the summed stress score (SSS) and the summed difference score (SDS). Abnormal MPS (SSS≥4) was observed in 49 (37%) patients (SSS=4.9±8.4, SDS=2.4±4.7), reversible perfusion defects (SDS≥2) in 40 (30%) patients [SSS=13.3±10.9; SDS=8.0±5.6; 20% moderate to severe (SDS>4), 7% multivessel] and fixed defects in 21 (16%) patients. Results were comparable between patients with and patients without a history of chest pain. Of 75 patients without a history of chest pain, 23 (31%, 95% CI=21-42%) presented reversible defects (SSS=13.9±11.3; SDS=7.4±1.2), indicative of silent ischaemia. Reversible defects were associated with inducible ST segment depression during MPS stress (odds ratio (OR)=3.2, p<0.01). Fixed defects were associated with erectile dysfunction in males (OR=3.7, p=0.02) and lower aspirin use (OR=0.25, p=0.02). Silent stress-induced perfusion defects occurred in 31% of the patients, a rate similar to that in patients with a history of chest pain. MPS could identify these patients with a

  5. A study on cognitive impairment and gray matter volume abnormalities in silent cerebral infarction patients

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Luo, Wei; Wei, Xiaofeng; Li, Mengxiong [The First Affiliated Hospital of Yangtze University, Biomedical Engineering Laboratory, Jingzhou, Hubei (China); Jiang, Xun [Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Biomedical Engineering Laboratory, Wuhan, Hubei (China); Li, Shanshan [JingZhou City Central Blood Bank, Jingzhou, Hubei (China)

    2015-08-15

    The relationship between silent cerebral infarction (SCI) and the integrity of cognitive function is unknown. We intended to investigate whether cognitive impairment is associated with gray matter volume (GMV) in the SCI patients. Sixty-two patients with SCI and 62 age- and gender-matched healthy controls (HC) were evaluated with P300 test, Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) test, Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA), and Hamilton Depression Scale (HDRS). Whole brain high-resolution T1-weighted images were processed with SPM12b software and analyzed by voxel-based morphometry (VBM). Correlation analysis was performed between the GMV and the scores of MoCA Scale, P300 latency, P300 amplitude, HAMA, HDRS, age, and educational level. The brains of the SCI patients have a significant reduction in GMV in the left superior and inferior frontal gyrus, left superior temporal gyrus, right middle temporal gyrus, and bilateral hippocampus gyrus (p < 0.01, FDR correction). No significant increase of GMV was detected. The GMV of their frontal and temporal lobes is positively correlated with the score of MoCA scale and P300 amplitude (r ≥ 0.62, p < 0.01). The GMV of frontal, temporal, and hippocampus is negatively correlated with P300 latency (r ≤ -0.71, p < 0.05). No significant correlation between the GMV of abnormal brain regions and another two clinical characteristics was found. SCI patients have impaired cognitive function and reduced GMV compared to the HC subjects. The neuropathological basis of such cognitive deficits in SCI patients might be a reduced GMV. (orig.)

  6. A study on cognitive impairment and gray matter volume abnormalities in silent cerebral infarction patients

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Luo, Wei; Wei, Xiaofeng; Li, Mengxiong; Jiang, Xun; Li, Shanshan

    2015-01-01

    The relationship between silent cerebral infarction (SCI) and the integrity of cognitive function is unknown. We intended to investigate whether cognitive impairment is associated with gray matter volume (GMV) in the SCI patients. Sixty-two patients with SCI and 62 age- and gender-matched healthy controls (HC) were evaluated with P300 test, Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) test, Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA), and Hamilton Depression Scale (HDRS). Whole brain high-resolution T1-weighted images were processed with SPM12b software and analyzed by voxel-based morphometry (VBM). Correlation analysis was performed between the GMV and the scores of MoCA Scale, P300 latency, P300 amplitude, HAMA, HDRS, age, and educational level. The brains of the SCI patients have a significant reduction in GMV in the left superior and inferior frontal gyrus, left superior temporal gyrus, right middle temporal gyrus, and bilateral hippocampus gyrus (p < 0.01, FDR correction). No significant increase of GMV was detected. The GMV of their frontal and temporal lobes is positively correlated with the score of MoCA scale and P300 amplitude (r ≥ 0.62, p < 0.01). The GMV of frontal, temporal, and hippocampus is negatively correlated with P300 latency (r ≤ -0.71, p < 0.05). No significant correlation between the GMV of abnormal brain regions and another two clinical characteristics was found. SCI patients have impaired cognitive function and reduced GMV compared to the HC subjects. The neuropathological basis of such cognitive deficits in SCI patients might be a reduced GMV. (orig.)

  7. Modelling and Order of Acoustic Transfer Functions Due to Reflections from Augmented Objects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Diemer de Vries

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available It is commonly accepted that the sound reflections from real physical objects are much more complicated than what usually is and can be modelled by room acoustics modelling software. The main reason for this limitation is the level of detail inherent in the physical object in terms of its geometrical and acoustic properties. In the present paper, the complexity of the sound reflections from a corridor wall is investigated by modelling the corresponding acoustic transfer functions at several receiver positions in front of the wall. The complexity for different wall configurations has been examined and the changes have been achieved by altering its acoustic image. The results show that for a homogenous flat wall, the complexity is significant and for a wall including various smaller objects, the complexity is highly dependent on the position of the receiver with respect to the objects.

  8. The significance of the choice of radiobiological (NTCP) models in treatment plan objective functions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miller, J.; Fuller, M.; Vinod, S.; Holloway, L.

    2009-01-01

    Full text: A Clinician's discrimination between radiation therapy treatment plans is traditionally a subjective process, based on experience and existing protocols. A more objective and quantitative approach to distinguish between treatment plans is to use radiobiological or dosimetric objective functions, based on radiobiological or dosimetric models. The efficacy of models is not well understood, nor is the correlation of the rank of plans resulting from the use of models compared to the traditional subjective approach. One such radiobiological model is the Normal Tissue Complication Probability (NTCP). Dosimetric models or indicators are more accepted in clinical practice. In this study, three radiobiological models, Lyman NTCP, critical volume NTCP and relative seriality NTCP, and three dosimetric models, Mean Lung Dose (MLD) and the Lung volumes irradiated at lOGy (V|0) and 20 G y (V20), were used to rank a series of treatment plans using, harm to normal (Lung) tissue as the objective criterion. None of the models considered in this study showed consistent correlation with the Radiation Oncologists plan ranking. If radiobiological or dosimetric models are to be used in objective functions for lung treatments, based on this study it is recommended that the Lyman NTCP model be used because it will provide most consistency with traditional clinician ranking.

  9. Asymmetric Functional Connectivity of the Contra- and Ipsilateral Secondary Somatosensory Cortex during Tactile Object Recognition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yinghua Yu

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available In the somatosensory system, it is well known that the bilateral secondary somatosensory cortex (SII receives projections from the unilateral primary somatosensory cortex (SI, and the SII, in turn, sends feedback projections to SI. Most neuroimaging studies have clearly shown bilateral SII activation using only unilateral stimulation for both anatomical and functional connectivity across SII subregions. However, no study has unveiled differences in the functional connectivity of the contra- and ipsilateral SII network that relates to frontoparietal areas during tactile object recognition. Therefore, we used event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI and a delayed match-to-sample (DMS task to investigate the contributions of bilateral SII during tactile object recognition. In the fMRI experiment, 14 healthy subjects were presented with tactile angle stimuli on their right index finger and asked to encode three sample stimuli during the encoding phase and one test stimulus during the recognition phase. Then, the subjects indicated whether the angle of test stimulus was presented during the encoding phase. The results showed that contralateral (left SII activity was greater than ipsilateral (right SII activity during the encoding phase, but there was no difference during the recognition phase. A subsequent psycho-physiological interaction (PPI analysis revealed distinct connectivity from the contra- and ipsilateral SII to other regions. The left SII functionally connected to the left SI and right primary and premotor cortex, while the right SII functionally connected to the left posterior parietal cortex (PPC. Our findings suggest that in situations involving unilateral tactile object recognition, contra- and ipsilateral SII will induce an asymmetrical functional connectivity to other brain areas, which may occur by the hand contralateral effect of SII.

  10. Role of silent information regulator 1 in the protective effect of hydrogen sulfide on homocysteine-induced cognitive dysfunction: Involving reduction of hippocampal ER stress.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tang, Yi-Yun; Wang, Ai-Ping; Wei, Hai-Jun; Li, Man-Hong; Zou, Wei; Li, Xiang; Wang, Chun-Yan; Zhang, Ping; Tang, Xiao-Qing

    2018-04-16

    Homocysteine (Hcy) causes cognitive deficits and hippocampal endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. Our previous study has confirmed that Hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) attenuates Hcy-induced cognitive dysfunction and hippocampal ER stress. Silent information regulator 1 (Sirt-1) is indispensable in the formation of learning and memory. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the role of Sirt-1 in the protective effect of H 2 S against Hcy-induced cognitive dysfunction. We found that NaHS (a donor of H 2 S) markedly up-regulated the expression of Sirt-1 in the hippocampus of Hcy-exposed rats. Sirtinol, a specific inhibitor of Sirt-1, reversed the improving role of NaHS in the cognitive function of Hcy-exposed rats, as evidenced by that sirtinol increased the escape latency and the swim distance in the acquisition trial of morris water maze (MWM) test, decreased the times crossed through and the time spent in the target quadrant in the probe trail of MWM test, and reduced the discrimination index in the novel object recognition test (NORT) in the rats cotreated with NaHS and Hcy. We also found that sirtinol reversed the protection of NaHS against Hcy-induced hippocampal ER-stress, as evidenced by up-regulating the expressions of GRP78, CHOP, and cleaved caspase-12 in the hippocampus of rats cotreated with NaHS and Hcy. These results suggested the contribution of upregulation of hippocampal Sirt-1 to the improving role of H 2 S in the cognitive function of Hcy-exposed rats, which involves suppression of hippocampal ER stress. Our finding provides a new insight into the mechanism underlying the inhibitory role of H 2 S in Hcy-induced cognitive dysfunction. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. Functional Activation in the Ventral Object Processing Pathway during the First Year

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Teresa eWilcox

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Infants' capacity to represent objects in visual working memory changes substantially during the first year of life. There is a growing body of research focused on identifying neural mechanisms that support this emerging capacity, and the extent to which visual object processing elicits different patterns of cortical activation in the infant as compared to the adult. Recent studies have identified areas in temporal and occipital cortex that mediate infants' developing capacity to track objects on the basis of their featural properties. The current research (Experiments 1 and 2 assessed patterns of activation in posterior temporal cortex and occipital cortex using fNIRS in infants 3 to 13 months of age as they viewed occlusion events. In the occlusion events, either the same object or featurally distinct objects emerged to each side of a screen. The outcome of these studies, combined, revealed that in infants 3 to 6 months, posterior temporal cortex was activated to all events, regardless of the featural properties of the objects and whether the event involved one object or two (featurally distinct objects. Infants 7 to 8 infants months showed a waning posterior temporal response and by 10 to 13 months this response was negligible. Additional analysis showed that the age groups did not differ in their visual attention to the events and that changes in HbO were better explained by age in days than head circumference. In contrast to posterior temporal cortex, robust activation was obtained in occipital cortex across all ages tested. One interpretation of these results is that they reflect pruning of the visual object-processing network during the first year. The functional contribution of occipital and posterior temporal cortex, along with higher-level temporal areas, to infants' capacity to keep track of distinct entities in visual working memory is discussed.

  12. A comparison of functional and object-orientedprogramming paradigms in JavaScript

    OpenAIRE

    Svensson Sand, Kim; Eliasson, Tord

    2017-01-01

    There are multiple programming paradigms that have their own set rules forhow code should be written. Programming languages utilize one or multiple ofthese paradigms. In this thesis, we will compare object-oriented programming,that is the most used today with languages such as C++ and Java, and functionalprogramming. Functional programming was introduced in the 1950's butsuered from performance issues, and has not been used much except for in theacademic world. However, for its ability to han...

  13. The shape gradient of the least-squares objective functional in optimal shape design problems of radiative heat transfer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rukolaine, Sergey A.

    2010-01-01

    Optimal shape design problems of steady-state radiative heat transfer are considered. The optimal shape design problem (in the three-dimensional space) is formulated as an inverse one, i.e., in the form of an operator equation of the first kind with respect to a surface to be optimized. The operator equation is reduced to a minimization problem via a least-squares objective functional. The minimization problem has to be solved numerically. Gradient minimization methods need the gradient of a functional to be minimized. In this paper the shape gradient of the least-squares objective functional is derived with the help of the shape sensitivity analysis and adjoint problem method. In practice a surface to be optimized may be (or, most likely, is to be) given in a parametric form by a finite number of parameters. In this case the objective functional is, in fact, a function in a finite-dimensional space and the shape gradient becomes an ordinary gradient. The gradient of the objective functional, in the case that the surface to be optimized is given in a finite-parametric form, is derived from the shape gradient. A particular case, that a surface to be optimized is a 'two-dimensional' polyhedral one, is considered. The technique, developed in the paper, is applied to a synthetic problem of designing a 'two-dimensional' radiant enclosure.

  14. Culturally sensitive strategies designed to target the silent epidemic of hepatitis B in a Filipino community.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marineau, Michelle; Tice, Alan D; Taylor-Garcia, David; Akinaka, Kenneth T; Lusk, Heather; Ona, Fernando

    2007-06-01

    Hepatitis B is frequent in the Philippines. A high rate of immigration to the United States has brought many Filipinos with infections who are asymptomatic yet will go on to develop liver cancer and cirrhosis unless diagnose and evaluated. Interventions are necessary to educate this ethnic community, identify those infected, and offer therapy. In an effort to reach this high risk population in Hawai'i an intervention program was designed to address the silent epidemic of hepatitis. Ethnic barriers were crossed through involvement of trusted, key stakeholders and individuals within the Filipino health care and church communities, along with groups that had joint missions to address viral hepatitis. After extensive planning and meetings with faith-based organizations and health care providers in the Filipino community, it was decided to hold a community health fair in the Filipino community to provide culturally appropriate health information and services. More than 500 individuals attended the health fair; 167 participated in a survey and were tested for hepatitis B. Significant knowledge gaps were found in relation to risk factors, prevention strategies, and transmission. Five individuals tested positive; all were immigrants and did not know of their disease. The objective to educate people and test them for hepatitis was successful through utilizing ethnic community leaders, religious organizations, health care professionals, and a collaborative health fair.

  15. The Incidence and the Risk Factors of Silent Embolic Cerebral Infarction After Coronary Angiography and Percutaneous Coronary Interventions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deveci, Onur Sinan; Celik, Aziz Inan; Ikikardes, Firat; Ozmen, Caglar; Caglıyan, Caglar Emre; Deniz, Ali; Bicakci, Kenan; Bicakci, Sebnem; Evlice, Ahmet; Demir, Turgay; Kanadasi, Mehmet; Demir, Mesut; Demirtas, Mustafa

    2016-05-01

    Silent embolic cerebral infarction (SECI) is a major complication of coronary angiography (CAG) and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD) who underwent CAG with or without PCI were recruited. Cerebral diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging was performed for SECI within 24 hours. Clinical and angiographic characteristics were compared between patients with and without SECI. Silent embolic cerebral infarction occurred in 12 (12%) of the 101 patients. Age, total cholesterol, SYNTAX score (SS), and coronary artery bypass history were greater in the SECI(+) group (65 ± 10 vs 58 ± 11 years,P= .037; 223 ± 85 vs 173 ± 80 mg/dL,P= .048; 30.1 ± 2 vs 15 ± 3,PSECI was more common in the PCI group (8/24 vs 4/77,P= .01). On subanalysis, the SS was significantly higher in the SECI(+) patients in both the CAG and the PCI groups (29.3 ± 1.9 vs 15 ± 3,PSECI after CAG and PCI increases with the complexity of CAD (represented by the SS). The SS is a predictor of the risk of SECI, a complication that should be considered more often after CAG. © The Author(s) 2015.

  16. SILENT MYOCARDIAL ISCHEMIA AND CARDIAC RHYTHM DISTURBANCES IN WOMEN WITH RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D. S. Novikova

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Objective: to assess the rate of silent myocardial ischemia (SMI and the pattern of cardiac rhythm disturbances in women with rheumatoidarthritis (RA, their association with traditional risk factors (TRF for cardiovascular diseases (CVD, with subclinical structural and functionalchanges in the heart and vessels, with the activity and severity of rheumatoid inflammation.Subjects and methods. Two hundred and ninety-one female patients aged less than 60 years with a valid diagnosis of RA and no clinicalsigns were examined. A control group consisted of 125 women without rheumatic diseases. In addition to the clinical manifestations, activity,and severity of RA, the authors assessed major TRFs for CVD, performed Holter ECG monitoring, common carotid artery duplex scanning, transthoracic echocardiographic study, and determined the levels of serum inflammatory markers.Results. The women with RA differ from the control group in the higher incidence of SMI, supraventricular arrhythmias (SVA and highgradepremature ventricular contractions (PVC. The patients with RA and SMI are characterized in terms of age-adjustment by higher disease activity (DAS28, systemic manifestations, cumulative larger-dose glucocorticoids (GC and a higher percentage of patients receiving disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs as compared with those with RA and no SMI with adjustment for age. High disease activity(DAS28, level of inflammatory markers, IgM rheumatoid arthritis seropositivity, and GC therapy are SVA-associated factors in women with RA; larger left ventricular end-diastolic dimension and serositis are factors associated with high-grade PVC.Conclusion. The RA women without clinical manifestations of CVD are recorded to have high rates of SMI, SVA, and high-grade PVC, which is primarily due to the activity and severity of rheumatoid inflammation.

  17. Occurrence of silent cerebral infarction in pre-senile, senile subjects with depressive states

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fujikawa, Tokumi; Yamawaki, Shigeto; Touhouda, Yoshikuni.

    1993-01-01

    We examined the relationship between pre-senile, senile depressive states and silent cerebral infarction (SCI) using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The diagnostic criteria of major depression according to DSM-3-R was used to diagnose. Patients in whom stroke had occurred or who had local neurologic symptoms were not included. About half of the patients with depressive states of pre-senile onset and most of the patients with those of senile onset had SCI, were considered to be organic-depressive states complicated with SCI. Because patients with depressive states with SCI are at high risk of occurrence of stroke, we designated this condition 'pre-stroke depression', and classified it with endogenous depression. At this time, it is important to begin therapy for cerebrovascular disease. (author)

  18. Automaticity and primacy of auditory streaming: Concurrent subjective and objective measures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Billig, Alexander J; Carlyon, Robert P

    2016-03-01

    Two experiments used subjective and objective measures to study the automaticity and primacy of auditory streaming. Listeners heard sequences of "ABA-" triplets, where "A" and "B" were tones of different frequencies and "-" was a silent gap. Segregation was more frequently reported, and rhythmically deviant triplets less well detected, for a greater between-tone frequency separation and later in the sequence. In Experiment 1, performing a competing auditory task for the first part of the sequence led to a reduction in subsequent streaming compared to when the tones were attended throughout. This is consistent with focused attention promoting streaming, and/or with attention switches resetting it. However, the proportion of segregated reports increased more rapidly following a switch than at the start of a sequence, indicating that some streaming occurred automatically. Modeling ruled out a simple "covert attention" account of this finding. Experiment 2 required listeners to perform subjective and objective tasks concurrently. It revealed superior performance during integrated compared to segregated reports, beyond that explained by the codependence of the two measures on stimulus parameters. We argue that listeners have limited access to low-level stimulus representations once perceptual organization has occurred, and that subjective and objective streaming measures partly index the same processes. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  19. The role of ion irradiation in activating silent Raman modes via tuning in plasmonic behaviour and surface disorder of Au/ZnO/Pt NFG system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Udai B.; Gautam, Subodh K.; Kumar, Sunil; Ojha, Sunil; Ghosh, Santanu; Singh, Fouran

    2017-09-01

    The perceptible progression of Raman modes of zinc oxide (ZnO) is studied in nanostructures film gap (Au (10 nm)/ZnO (70 nm)/Pt (50 nm)) system with 1.2 MeV Xe ion irradiation. Unattainable silent Raman modes of ZnO turn out to be strongly visible after ion irradiation. The creation of ion-beam-induced lattice disorder, defects, and impurities in a ZnO layer leads to breakdown the translational crystal symmetry that results in the origin of silent modes. The formation of hot-spots in the ZnO layer of the NFG system also supports the enhancement of the intensity of Raman modes. Overall results are attributed to combined effects of lattice disorder, defects, and impurities along with plasmonic effect and explained in the framework of elastic-thermal-spike formation.

  20. Case Study: On Objective Functions for the Peak Flow Calibration and for the Representative Parameter Estimation of the Basin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jungwook Kim

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available The objective function is usually used for verification of the optimization process between observed and simulated flows for the parameter estimation of rainfall–runoff model. However, it does not focus on peak flow and on representative parameter for various rain storm events of the basin, but it can estimate the optimal parameters by minimizing the overall error of observed and simulated flows. Therefore, the aim of this study is to suggest the objective functions that can fit peak flow in hydrograph and estimate the representative parameter of the basin for the events. The Streamflow Synthesis And Reservoir Regulation (SSARR model was employed to perform flood runoff simulation for the Mihocheon stream basin in Geum River, Korea. Optimization was conducted using three calibration methods: genetic algorithm, pattern search, and the Shuffled Complex Evolution method developed at the University of Arizona (SCE-UA. Two objective functions of the Sum of Squared of Residual (SSR and the Weighted Sum of Squared of Residual (WSSR suggested in this study for peak flow optimization were applied. Since the parameters estimated using a single rain storm event do not represent the parameters for various rain storms in the basin, we used the representative objective function that can minimize the sum of objective functions of the events. Six rain storm events were used for the parameter estimation. Four events were used for the calibration and the other two for validation; then, the results by SSR and WSSR were compared. Flow runoff simulation was carried out based on the proposed objective functions, and the objective function of WSSR was found to be more useful than that of SSR in the simulation of peak flow runoff. Representative parameters that minimize the objective function for each of the four rain storm events were estimated. The calibrated observed and simulated flow runoff hydrographs obtained from applying the estimated representative

  1. Neuronal SIRT1 (Silent Information Regulator 2 Homologue 1) Regulates Glycolysis and Mediates Resveratrol-Induced Ischemic Tolerance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koronowski, Kevin B; Khoury, Nathalie; Saul, Isabel; Loris, Zachary B; Cohan, Charles H; Stradecki-Cohan, Holly M; Dave, Kunjan R; Young, Juan I; Perez-Pinzon, Miguel A

    2017-11-01

    Resveratrol, at least in part via SIRT1 (silent information regulator 2 homologue 1) activation, protects against cerebral ischemia when administered 2 days before injury. However, it remains unclear if SIRT1 activation must occur, and in which brain cell types, for the induction of neuroprotection. We hypothesized that neuronal SIRT1 is essential for resveratrol-induced ischemic tolerance and sought to characterize the metabolic pathways regulated by neuronal Sirt1 at the cellular level in the brain. We assessed infarct size and functional outcome after transient 60 minute middle cerebral artery occlusion in control and inducible, neuronal-specific SIRT1 knockout mice. Nontargeted primary metabolomics analysis identified putative SIRT1-regulated pathways in brain. Glycolytic function was evaluated in acute brain slices from adult mice and primary neuronal-enriched cultures under ischemic penumbra-like conditions. Resveratrol-induced neuroprotection from stroke was lost in neuronal Sirt1 knockout mice. Metabolomics analysis revealed alterations in glucose metabolism on deletion of neuronal Sirt1 , accompanied by transcriptional changes in glucose metabolism machinery. Furthermore, glycolytic ATP production was impaired in acute brain slices from neuronal Sirt1 knockout mice. Conversely, resveratrol increased glycolytic rate in a SIRT1-dependent manner and under ischemic penumbra-like conditions in vitro. Our data demonstrate that resveratrol requires neuronal SIRT1 to elicit ischemic tolerance and identify a novel role for SIRT1 in the regulation of glycolytic function in brain. Identification of robust neuroprotective mechanisms that underlie ischemia tolerance and the metabolic adaptations mediated by SIRT1 in brain are crucial for the translation of therapies in cerebral ischemia and other neurological disorders. © 2017 American Heart Association, Inc.

  2. A Quasi-Dynamic Optimal Control Strategy for Non-Linear Multivariable Processes Based upon Non-Quadratic Objective Functions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jens G. Balchen

    1984-10-01

    Full Text Available The problem of systematic derivation of a quasi-dynamic optimal control strategy for a non-linear dynamic process based upon a non-quadratic objective function is investigated. The wellknown LQG-control algorithm does not lead to an optimal solution when the process disturbances have non-zero mean. The relationships between the proposed control algorithm and LQG-control are presented. The problem of how to constrain process variables by means of 'penalty' - terms in the objective function is dealt with separately.

  3. Treatment of Egyptian Maghara coal by plasma ozone synthesized by silent discharge

    CERN Document Server

    Salem, M A; Garamoon, A A; Hassouba, M A

    2003-01-01

    A sample of pyrite rich bituminous coal collected from the main coal seam of Maghara mine, northern sinai, was treated by ozone plasma. The latter was synthesized using silent discharge method (10 kv a.c. and 50 hz). The room temperature Moessbauer spectra of untreated coal sample was easily fitted to two doublet, whose parameters matched those of pyrite (FeS sub 2) and sulfate (FeSO sub 4.H sub 2 O) in addition to hematite. After treatment by ozone plasma, a doublet ascribed to pyrite was observed. The extent of pyrite oxidation to jarosite (Fe sub 2 (SO sub 4) sub 3. nH sub 2 O) was monitored by their relative spectral areas, the incomplete oxidation of pyrite may be attributed to the presence of calcium sulfate layer which acts a screen of ozone.

  4. Clinically silent subdural hemorrhage causes bilateral vocal fold paralysis in newborn infant.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alshammari, Jaber; Monnier, Yan; Monnier, Philippe

    2012-10-01

    Bilateral congenital vocal fold paralysis (BVFP) may result from multiple etiologies or remain idiopathic when no real cause can be identified. If obstructive dyspnea is significant and requires urgent stabilization of the airway, then intubation is performed first and an MRI of the brain is conducted to rule out an Arnold-Chiari malformation that can benefit from a shunt procedure and thus alleviate the need for a tracheostomy. Clinically silent subdural hemorrhage without any birth trauma represents another cause of neonatal BVFP that resolves spontaneously within a month. It is of clinical relevance to recognize this potential cause of BVFP as its short duration may alleviate the need for a tracheostomy. In this article, we present such a case and review the literature to draw the otolaryngologist's attention to this possible etiology. Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

  5. Modeling of the wind power plant using software DIgSILENT Power factory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mladenovski, Ljubisha; Iliev, Atanas; Fushtikj, Vangel

    2004-01-01

    This paper presents a method for creating a model of the wind power plant NORDEX N-60 in the DIgSILENT Power factory software. At the beginning, the characteristics of the wind power plant and the used software are shortly described. The next step is modeling the part of the power system where the wind power plant will be connected to the grid The modeling of the turbine part and the generator part of the wind power plant is made with blocks, which are part of the machine block of the composite model. Finally, the results obtained from performed practically oriented simulations are presented in graphical form. Design of the model of the wind power plant NORDEX N-60 was performed at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, at the University of Rostock, Germany, as a part of the DYSIMAC project. (Author)

  6. The interaction between hippocampal GABA-B and cannabinoid receptors upon spatial change and object novelty discrimination memory function.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nasehi, Mohammad; Alaghmandan-Motlagh, Niyousha; Ebrahimi-Ghiri, Mohaddeseh; Nami, Mohammad; Zarrindast, Mohammad-Reza

    2017-10-01

    Previous studies have postulated functional links between GABA and cannabinoid systems in the hippocampus. The aim of the present study was to investigate any possible interaction between these systems in spatial change and object novelty discrimination memory consolidation in the dorsal hippocampus (CA1 region) of NMRI mice. Assessment of the spatial change and object novelty discrimination memory function was carried out in a non-associative task. The experiment comprised mice exposure to an open field containing five objects followed by the examination of their reactivity to object displacement (spatial change) and object substitution (object novelty) after three sessions of habituation. Our results showed that the post-training intraperitoneal administration of the higher dose of ACPA (0.02 mg/kg) impaired both spatial change and novelty discrimination memory functions. Meanwhile, the higher dose of GABA-B receptor agonist, baclofen, impaired the spatial change memory by itself. Moreover, the post-training intra-CA1 microinjection of a subthreshold dose of baclofen increased the ACPA effect on spatial change and novelty discrimination memory at a lower and higher dose, respectively. On the other hand, the lower and higher but not mid-level doses of GABA-B receptor antagonist, phaclofen, could reverse memory deficits induced by ACPA. However, phaclofen at its mid-level dose impaired the novelty discrimination memory and whereas the higher dose impaired the spatial change memory. Based on our findings, GABA-B receptors in the CA1 region appear to modulate the ACPA-induced cannabinoid CB1 signaling upon spatial change and novelty discrimination memory functions.

  7. Tagging the didactic functionality of learning objects

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Per Skafte; Brostroem, Stig

    2002-01-01

    From a components-in-a-network point of view, the most important issues are: a didactically based typing of the learning objects themselves; the entire design superstructure, into which the learning objects must be fitted; and the symmetry of the interfaces, as seen by each pair of the triad...

  8. Controlled short-linkage assembly of functional nano-objects

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chaudhary, Shilpi; Kamra, Tripta [Division of Pure and Applied Biochemistry, Lund University, Box 124, 221 00 Lund (Sweden); ENI AB, Malmö (Sweden); Division of Synchrotron Radiation Research, Lund University, Box 118, 221 00 Lund (Sweden); Uddin, Khan Mohammad Ahsan [Division of Pure and Applied Biochemistry, Lund University, Box 124, 221 00 Lund (Sweden); Snezhkova, Olesia [Division of Synchrotron Radiation Research, Lund University, Box 118, 221 00 Lund (Sweden); Jayawardena, H. Surangi N. [Department of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts Lowell, 1 University Ave., Lowell, MA 01854 (United States); Yan, Mingdi [Department of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts Lowell, 1 University Ave., Lowell, MA 01854 (United States); Department of Chemistry, KTH – Royal Institute of Technology, Teknikringen 30, S-10044 Stockholm (Sweden); Montelius, Lars [ENI AB, Malmö (Sweden); Schnadt, Joachim, E-mail: joachim.schnadt@sljus.lu.se [Division of Synchrotron Radiation Research, Lund University, Box 118, 221 00 Lund (Sweden); Ye, Lei, E-mail: lei.ye@tbiokem.lth.se [Division of Pure and Applied Biochemistry, Lund University, Box 124, 221 00 Lund (Sweden)

    2014-05-01

    Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Fast photoconjugation of nanoparticles on surface. • Non-destructive feature guarantees intact function of nanoparticles. • Direct contact between nano-objects allows efficient photon and electron transfer. • Possibility of generating patterned nanoparticle assemblies on surface. • Open new opportunities for assembling chemical sensors. - Abstract: In this work, we report a method that allows the deterministic, photo-controlled covalent assembly of nanoparticles directly on surface. As a model system, we study the conjugation of molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) nanoparticles on a glass surface and confirm that the immobilized nanoparticles maintain their molecular recognition functionality. The glass slide was first modified with perfluorophenylazide and then used to bind MIP nanoparticles under UV irradiation. After each step the surface was analyzed by water contact angle measurement, fluorescence microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and/or synchrotron-based X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The MIP nanoparticles immobilized on the glass surface remained stable and maintained specific binding for the template molecule, propranolol. The method developed in this work allows MIP nanoparticles to be directly coupled to a flat surface, offering a straightforward means to construct robust chemical sensors. Using the reported photo conjugation method, it is possible to generate patterned assembly of nanoparticles using a photomask. Since perfluorophenylazide-based photochemistry works with all kinds of organic material, the method developed in this work is expected to enable immobilization of not only MIPs but also other kinds of organic and inorganic–organic core–shell particles for various applications involving photon or electron transfer.

  9. Controlled short-linkage assembly of functional nano-objects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chaudhary, Shilpi; Kamra, Tripta; Uddin, Khan Mohammad Ahsan; Snezhkova, Olesia; Jayawardena, H. Surangi N.; Yan, Mingdi; Montelius, Lars; Schnadt, Joachim; Ye, Lei

    2014-01-01

    Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Fast photoconjugation of nanoparticles on surface. • Non-destructive feature guarantees intact function of nanoparticles. • Direct contact between nano-objects allows efficient photon and electron transfer. • Possibility of generating patterned nanoparticle assemblies on surface. • Open new opportunities for assembling chemical sensors. - Abstract: In this work, we report a method that allows the deterministic, photo-controlled covalent assembly of nanoparticles directly on surface. As a model system, we study the conjugation of molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) nanoparticles on a glass surface and confirm that the immobilized nanoparticles maintain their molecular recognition functionality. The glass slide was first modified with perfluorophenylazide and then used to bind MIP nanoparticles under UV irradiation. After each step the surface was analyzed by water contact angle measurement, fluorescence microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and/or synchrotron-based X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The MIP nanoparticles immobilized on the glass surface remained stable and maintained specific binding for the template molecule, propranolol. The method developed in this work allows MIP nanoparticles to be directly coupled to a flat surface, offering a straightforward means to construct robust chemical sensors. Using the reported photo conjugation method, it is possible to generate patterned assembly of nanoparticles using a photomask. Since perfluorophenylazide-based photochemistry works with all kinds of organic material, the method developed in this work is expected to enable immobilization of not only MIPs but also other kinds of organic and inorganic–organic core–shell particles for various applications involving photon or electron transfer

  10. Harmonic Domain Modelling of Transformer Core Nonlinearities Using the DIgSILENT PowerFactory Software

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bak, Claus Leth; Bak-Jensen, Birgitte; Wiechowski, Wojciech

    2008-01-01

    This paper demonstrates the results of implementation and verification of an already existing algorithm that allows for calculating saturation characteristics of singlephase power transformers. The algorithm was described for the first time in 1993. Now this algorithm has been implemented using...... the DIgSILENT Programming Language (DPL) as an external script in the harmonic domain calculations of a power system analysis tool PowerFactory [10]. The algorithm is verified by harmonic measurements on a single-phase power transformer. A theoretical analysis of the core nonlinearities phenomena...... in single and three-phase transformers is also presented. This analysis leads to the conclusion that the method can be applied for modelling nonlinearities of three-phase autotransformers....

  11. Impact of cognitive function and dysarthria on spoken language and perceived speech severity in multiple sclerosis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feenaughty, Lynda

    Purpose: The current study sought to investigate the separate effects of dysarthria and cognitive status on global speech timing, speech hesitation, and linguistic complexity characteristics and how these speech behaviors impose on listener impressions for three connected speech tasks presumed to differ in cognitive-linguistic demand for four carefully defined speaker groups; 1) MS with cognitive deficits (MSCI), 2) MS with clinically diagnosed dysarthria and intact cognition (MSDYS), 3) MS without dysarthria or cognitive deficits (MS), and 4) healthy talkers (CON). The relationship between neuropsychological test scores and speech-language production and perceptual variables for speakers with cognitive deficits was also explored. Methods: 48 speakers, including 36 individuals reporting a neurological diagnosis of MS and 12 healthy talkers participated. The three MS groups and control group each contained 12 speakers (8 women and 4 men). Cognitive function was quantified using standard clinical tests of memory, information processing speed, and executive function. A standard z-score of ≤ -1.50 indicated deficits in a given cognitive domain. Three certified speech-language pathologists determined the clinical diagnosis of dysarthria for speakers with MS. Experimental speech tasks of interest included audio-recordings of an oral reading of the Grandfather passage and two spontaneous speech samples in the form of Familiar and Unfamiliar descriptive discourse. Various measures of spoken language were of interest. Suprasegmental acoustic measures included speech and articulatory rate. Linguistic speech hesitation measures included pause frequency (i.e., silent and filled pauses), mean silent pause duration, grammatical appropriateness of pauses, and interjection frequency. For the two discourse samples, three standard measures of language complexity were obtained including subordination index, inter-sentence cohesion adequacy, and lexical diversity. Ten listeners

  12. Executive Functions in Older Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder : Objective Performance and Subjective Complaints

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Davids, Roeliena C. D.; Groen, Yvonne; Berg, Ina J.; Tucha, Oliver M.; van Balkom, Ingrid D. C.

    Although deficits in Executive Functioning (EF) are reported frequently in young individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), they remain relatively unexplored later in life (> 50 years). We studied objective performance on EF measures (Tower of London, Zoo map, phonetic/semantic fluency) as

  13. An objective measure of physical function of elderly outpatients. The Physical Performance Test.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reuben, D B; Siu, A L

    1990-10-01

    Direct observation of physical function has the advantage of providing an objective, quantifiable measure of functional capabilities. We have developed the Physical Performance Test (PPT), which assesses multiple domains of physical function using observed performance of tasks that simulate activities of daily living of various degrees of difficulty. Two versions are presented: a nine-item scale that includes writing a sentence, simulated eating, turning 360 degrees, putting on and removing a jacket, lifting a book and putting it on a shelf, picking up a penny from the floor, a 50-foot walk test, and climbing stairs (scored as two items); and a seven-item scale that does not include stairs. The PPT can be completed in less than 10 minutes and requires only a few simple props. We then tested the validity of PPT using 183 subjects (mean age, 79 years) in six settings including four clinical practices (one of Parkinson's disease patients), a board-and-care home, and a senior citizens' apartment. The PPT was reliable (Cronbach's alpha = 0.87 and 0.79, interrater reliability = 0.99 and 0.93 for the nine-item and seven-item tests, respectively) and demonstrated concurrent validity with self-reported measures of physical function. Scores on the PPT for both scales were highly correlated (.50 to .80) with modified Rosow-Breslau, Instrumental and Basic Activities of Daily Living scales, and Tinetti gait score. Scores on the PPT were more moderately correlated with self-reported health status, cognitive status, and mental health (.24 to .47), and negatively with age (-.24 and -.18). Thus, the PPT also demonstrated construct validity. The PPT is a promising objective measurement of physical function, but its clinical and research value for screening, monitoring, and prediction will have to be determined.

  14. Osteoporosis - "a silent killer". A review of the current literature from clinician and physiotherapist perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Janusz Kocjan

    2015-07-01

    SUMMARY             Osteoporosis is a disease characterized by low bone mass and deterioration of bone structure that causes bone fragility and increases the risk of fracture. Individuals with osteoporosis are at high risk of suffering one or more fractures, which are often physically debilitating and can potentially lead to a downward spiral in physical and mental health. Article attempts to discuss this issue from the clinical and rehabilitation perspective. Following contents were included: diagnosis, types of osteoporosis, epidemiology, burden of osteoporosis, types of fractures, treatment and rehabilitation of osteoporosis.   Key words: osteoporosis, porous bone, low bone mass, silent disease.

  15. Implementation of IEC Generic Models of Type 1 Wind Turbine Generator in DIgSILENT PowerFactory

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Haoran ZHAO; Qiuwei WU; Ioannis MARGARIS; Poul S(O)RENSEN

    2013-01-01

    The implementation method for the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) generic models of Type 1 wind turbine generator (WTG) in DIgSILENT PowerFactory is presented.The following items are described,i.e.model structure,model blocks and how to implement these blocks in the PowerFactory environment.Case studies under both normal and fault conditions are done with the implemented IEC generic models of Type 1 WTG,and dynamic responses are captured and analyzed.The case study results show that the IEC generic models of Type 1 WTG can correctly represent the performances of Type 1 WTG under both normal and fault conditions.

  16. Co-simulation with DIgSILENT PowerFactory and Matlab: Optimal integration of plug-in electric vehicles in distribution networks

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    García-Villalobos, J.; Zamora, I.; Marinelli, Mattia

    2017-01-01

    Smart grid concept is gaining more and more importance in electric power systems. In near term, electric grids will be more intelligent, interconnected and decentralised. Dealing with a significant number of distributed resources in a smart way, frequently requires the use of optimal control tech...... mean square (RMS) simulations on DIgSILENT PowerFactory. As an example, the implementation of a smart charging control for plug-in electric vehicles in electric distribution networks is explained....

  17. A long-term controlled follow-up study of objective treatment need on young adults treated with functional appliances.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Faxén Sepanian, Varoojan; Paulsson-Björnsson, Liselotte; Kjellberg, Heidrun

    2014-01-01

    The aims of this study were to 1) evaluate the objective success rate of Class II malocclusion treatment with functional appliances five years after completion of treatment and 2) to compare the remaining objective treatment need with an untreated control group. Records of all listed patients between 18-20 years (n=1054) treated in a general practice were reviewed for the purpose of finding treatments with removable functional appliances. Among all subjects (n=61) who previously had been treated, 58 accepted to participate in the study.The test group was matched with an orthodontically untreated group with no history of objective treatment need. Clinical examination was performed and study casts and photos were taken from both groups.The objective treatment need was evaluated through clinical examination and study cast analysis with weighted Peer Assessment Rating index (wPAR). Twenty patients, (34.5%) (mean wPAR 13.8), succeeded with the functional appliance treatment.The wPAR score (mean 15.0) of the entire test group was significantly higher than the one of the control group (mean 7.3).The group that was treated exclusively with functional appliances had a mean wPAR score of 17.4. Eighteen patients (31.0%) who received retreatment with fixed appliances had a slightly higher mean wPAR (8.6) than the control group. Treatments with functional appliances in a general practice showed a high failure rate and a remaining treatment need. It is the treating dentist's responsibility to motivate the patient to cooperate to the treatment, because as it previously has been shown the treatment with functional appliances is a well-functioning treatment alternative with the cooperation of the patient being sufficient. It is also of importance, already before starting treatment, to estimate the child's cooperation ability and to avoid treatment with removable appliances if the child or parents are reluctant about such a treatment.

  18. Negotiating Colonial Korean Cinema in the Japanese Empire: From the Silent Era to the Talkies, 1923-1939

    OpenAIRE

    Chonghwa Chung

    2012-01-01

    This article examines what I call a “system of cooperation” (K. hyŏp’ŏp, J. kyōgyō, 協業) in the colonial Korean film industry from 1923, when silent films appeared, to the late 1930s, when colonial cinema was restructured within an imperial wartime system. In other words, this article examines the interworking of colonial Korean and imperial Japanese cinema from Yun Hae-dong’s “colonial modern” perspective in order to go beyond the long established lens on colonial Korean film and film histori...

  19. [Changes in functional state during occupational activities in workers at objects for chemical weapons destruction].

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    The authors studied functional state before and after the working shift in workers at objects for chemical weapons destruction, analyzed changes in central and peripheral hemodynamics parameters, vegetative regulation of heart rhythm, stabilographic and psychophysiologic values.

  20. Improvements in the sensibility of MSA-GA tool using COFFEE objective function

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Amorim, A R; Zafalon, G F D; Neves, L A; Valêncio, C R; Machado, J M; Pinto, A R

    2015-01-01

    The sequence alignment is one of the most important tasks in Bioinformatics, playing an important role in the sequences analysis. There are many strategies to perform sequence alignment, since those use deterministic algorithms, as dynamic programming, until those ones, which use heuristic algorithms, as Progressive, Ant Colony (ACO), Genetic Algorithms (GA), Simulated Annealing (SA), among others. In this work, we have implemented the objective function COFFEE in the MSA-GA tool, in substitution of Weighted Sum-of-Pairs (WSP), to improve the final results. In the tests, we were able to verify the approach using COFFEE function achieved better results in 81% of the lower similarity alignments when compared with WSP approach. Moreover, even in the tests with more similar sets, the approach using COFFEE was better in 43% of the times

  1. Objective Versus Subjective Measures of Executive Functions: Predictors of Participation and Quality of Life in Parkinson Disease?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vlagsma, Thialda T; Koerts, Janneke; Tucha, Oliver; Dijkstra, Hilde T; Duits, Annelien A; van Laar, Teus; Spikman, Jacoba M

    2017-11-01

    To determine whether objective (neuropsychological tests) and subjective measures (questionnaires) of executive functions (EFs) are associated in patients with Parkinson disease (PD), and to determine to what extent level of participation and quality of life (QoL) of patients with PD can be predicted by these measures of EFs. Correlational research design (case-control and prediction design). Departments of neuropsychology of 3 medical centers. A sample (N=136) of patients with PD (n=42) and their relatives, and controls without PD (n=94). Not applicable. A test battery measuring EFs. In addition, patients, their relatives, and controls completed the Dysexecutive Questionnaire, Brock Adaptive Functioning Questionnaire, and Barkley Deficits in Executive Functioning Scale - time management questionnaires measuring complaints about EFs. Participation and QoL were measured with the Impact on Participation and Autonomy scale and the Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire-39, respectively. Patients with PD showed impairments in EFs on objective tests and reported significantly more complaints about EFs than did controls without PD. No associations were found between patients' performances on objective and subjective measures of EFs. However, both objective and subjective measures predicted patients' level of participation. In addition, subjective measures of EFs predicted QoL in patients with PD. These findings show that objective and subjective measures of EFs are not interchangeable and that both approaches predict level of participation and QoL in patients with PD. However, within this context, sex needs to be taken into account. Copyright © 2017 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. Path Planning for Mobile Objects in Four-Dimension Based on Particle Swarm Optimization Method with Penalty Function

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yong Ma

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available We present one algorithm based on particle swarm optimization (PSO with penalty function to determine the conflict-free path for mobile objects in four-dimension (three spatial and one-time dimensions with obstacles. The shortest path of the mobile object is set as goal function, which is constrained by conflict-free criterion, path smoothness, and velocity and acceleration requirements. This problem is formulated as a calculus of variation problem (CVP. With parametrization method, the CVP is converted to a time-varying nonlinear programming problem (TNLPP. Constraints of TNLPP are transformed to general TNLPP without any constraints through penalty functions. Then, by using a little calculations and applying the algorithm PSO, the solution of the CVP is consequently obtained. Approach efficiency is confirmed by numerical examples.

  3. Incidence and predictors of silent embolic cerebral infarction following diagnostic coronary angiography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, In-Cheol; Hur, Seung-Ho; Park, Nam-Hee; Jun, Dong-Hwan; Cho, Yun-Kyeong; Nam, Chang-Wook; Kim, Hyungseop; Han, Seong-Wook; Choi, Sae-Young; Kim, Yoon-Nyun; Kim, Kwon-Bae

    2011-04-14

    Coronary angiography (CAG) is an invasive diagnostic procedure, which could lead to procedure related complications. One of the well known post-procedural complications is cerebral embolic infarction with or without symptoms. Silent embolic cerebral infarction (SECI) has clinical significance because it can progress to a decline in cognitive function and increase the risk of dementia in the long term. The aim of this study was to detect the incidence and predictors of SECI after diagnostic CAG using diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI). A total of 197 patients with coronary artery disease who underwent DW-MRI for evaluation of intracranial vasculopathy before coronary artery bypass graft surgery were retrospectively enrolled in the present study. DW-MRI was performed within 48 h after diagnostic CAG. SECI was diagnosed as presence of focal bright high signal intensity in DW-MRI. Patients were divided into groups according to presence/absence of SECI (+ SECI vs. - SECI, respectively). The clinical and angiographic characteristics were analyzed and independent predictors were evaluated. Of the 197 patients, SECI occurred in 20 patients (10.2%) after diagnostic CAG. Age, female gender, frequency of underlying atrial fibrillation, extent of coronary disease, and fluoroscopic time during diagnostic CAG were not different between the + SECI and - SECI groups. Left ventricular ejection fraction was significantly lower in the + SECI group than in the - SECI group (45.9 ± 8.5% vs. 51.4 ± 13.1%, p=0.014) and performance rate of internal mammary artery (IMA) angiography was significantly higher in the + SECI group compared with the - SECI group (85% vs. 37.2%, pSECI (OR=14.642; 95% CI=3.201 to 66.980, p=0.001). The incidence of SECI after diagnostic CAG was not infrequent. Diagnostic CAG with IMA angiography may increase the risk of SECI. Copyright © 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Quantifying kinematics of purposeful movements to real, imagined, or absent functional objects: implications for modelling trajectories for robot-assisted ADL tasks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wisneski, Kimberly J; Johnson, Michelle J

    2007-03-23

    Robotic therapy is at the forefront of stroke rehabilitation. The Activities of Daily Living Exercise Robot (ADLER) was developed to improve carryover of gains after training by combining the benefits of Activities of Daily Living (ADL) training (motivation and functional task practice with real objects), with the benefits of robot mediated therapy (repeatability and reliability). In combining these two therapy techniques, we seek to develop a new model for trajectory generation that will support functional movements to real objects during robot training. We studied natural movements to real objects and report on how initial reaching movements are affected by real objects and how these movements deviate from the straight line paths predicted by the minimum jerk model, typically used to generate trajectories in robot training environments. We highlight key issues that to be considered in modelling natural trajectories. Movement data was collected as eight normal subjects completed ADLs such as drinking and eating. Three conditions were considered: object absent, imagined, and present. This data was compared to predicted trajectories generated from implementing the minimum jerk model. The deviations in both the plane of the table (XY) and the sagittal plane of torso (XZ) were examined for both reaches to a cup and to a spoon. Velocity profiles and curvature were also quantified for all trajectories. We hypothesized that movements performed with functional task constraints and objects would deviate from the minimum jerk trajectory model more than those performed under imaginary or object absent conditions. Trajectory deviations from the predicted minimum jerk model for these reaches were shown to depend on three variables: object presence, object orientation, and plane of movement. When subjects completed the cup reach their movements were more curved than for the spoon reach. The object present condition for the cup reach showed more curvature than in the object

  5. Quantifying kinematics of purposeful movements to real, imagined, or absent functional objects: Implications for modelling trajectories for robot-assisted ADL tasks**

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wisneski Kimberly J

    2007-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Robotic therapy is at the forefront of stroke rehabilitation. The Activities of Daily Living Exercise Robot (ADLER was developed to improve carryover of gains after training by combining the benefits of Activities of Daily Living (ADL training (motivation and functional task practice with real objects, with the benefits of robot mediated therapy (repeatability and reliability. In combining these two therapy techniques, we seek to develop a new model for trajectory generation that will support functional movements to real objects during robot training. We studied natural movements to real objects and report on how initial reaching movements are affected by real objects and how these movements deviate from the straight line paths predicted by the minimum jerk model, typically used to generate trajectories in robot training environments. We highlight key issues that to be considered in modelling natural trajectories. Methods Movement data was collected as eight normal subjects completed ADLs such as drinking and eating. Three conditions were considered: object absent, imagined, and present. This data was compared to predicted trajectories generated from implementing the minimum jerk model. The deviations in both the plane of the table (XY and the saggital plane of torso (XZ were examined for both reaches to a cup and to a spoon. Velocity profiles and curvature were also quantified for all trajectories. Results We hypothesized that movements performed with functional task constraints and objects would deviate from the minimum jerk trajectory model more than those performed under imaginary or object absent conditions. Trajectory deviations from the predicted minimum jerk model for these reaches were shown to depend on three variables: object presence, object orientation, and plane of movement. When subjects completed the cup reach their movements were more curved than for the spoon reach. The object present condition for the cup

  6. Enteropathy-associated T cell lymphoma as a complication of silent celiac disease

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Margarida Dantas Brito

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder in which a genetic predisposition and the ingestion of wheat gluten triggers a deleterious immune response. This response is complex and may lead to manifestations other than enteropathyha: hepatitis, dermatitis and neuropathy. There is higher risk for neoplasia. We observed an atypical case, corresponding to a 69-year old female presenting with complicated celiac disease. The patient was referred following the histological examination of an enterectomy specimen, which unexpectedly revealed an enteropathy-associated T cell lymphoma in a background of celiac disease. Patient’s previous medical history comprised several abdominal surgical procedures, without other prior symptoms suggestive of celiac disease. Indeed, the patient was obese and no signs of malabsortion were apparent. This case draws our attention to clinically silent celiac disease, which represents a diagnostic challenge. Thus, this should be kept in mind whenever a patient presents with abdominal relapsing complications, otherwise unexplained.

  7. Inverse optimization of objective function weights for treatment planning using clinical dose-volume histograms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Babier, Aaron; Boutilier, Justin J.; Sharpe, Michael B.; McNiven, Andrea L.; Chan, Timothy C. Y.

    2018-05-01

    We developed and evaluated a novel inverse optimization (IO) model to estimate objective function weights from clinical dose-volume histograms (DVHs). These weights were used to solve a treatment planning problem to generate ‘inverse plans’ that had similar DVHs to the original clinical DVHs. Our methodology was applied to 217 clinical head and neck cancer treatment plans that were previously delivered at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Canada. Inverse plan DVHs were compared to the clinical DVHs using objective function values, dose-volume differences, and frequency of clinical planning criteria satisfaction. Median differences between the clinical and inverse DVHs were within 1.1 Gy. For most structures, the difference in clinical planning criteria satisfaction between the clinical and inverse plans was at most 1.4%. For structures where the two plans differed by more than 1.4% in planning criteria satisfaction, the difference in average criterion violation was less than 0.5 Gy. Overall, the inverse plans were very similar to the clinical plans. Compared with a previous inverse optimization method from the literature, our new inverse plans typically satisfied the same or more clinical criteria, and had consistently lower fluence heterogeneity. Overall, this paper demonstrates that DVHs, which are essentially summary statistics, provide sufficient information to estimate objective function weights that result in high quality treatment plans. However, as with any summary statistic that compresses three-dimensional dose information, care must be taken to avoid generating plans with undesirable features such as hotspots; our computational results suggest that such undesirable spatial features were uncommon. Our IO-based approach can be integrated into the current clinical planning paradigm to better initialize the planning process and improve planning efficiency. It could also be embedded in a knowledge-based planning or adaptive radiation therapy framework to

  8. Time-domain full waveform inversion of exponentially damped wavefield using the deconvolution-based objective function

    KAUST Repository

    Choi, Yun Seok

    2017-11-15

    Full waveform inversion (FWI) suffers from the cycle-skipping problem when the available frequency-band of data is not low enough. We apply an exponential damping to the data to generate artificial low frequencies, which helps FWI avoid cycle skipping. In this case, the least-square misfit function does not properly deal with the exponentially damped wavefield in FWI, because the amplitude of traces decays almost exponentially with increasing offset in a damped wavefield. Thus, we use a deconvolution-based objective function for FWI of the exponentially damped wavefield. The deconvolution filter includes inherently a normalization between the modeled and observed data, thus it can address the unbalanced amplitude of a damped wavefield. We, specifically, normalize the modeled data with the observed data in the frequency-domain to estimate the deconvolution filter and selectively choose a frequency-band for normalization that mainly includes the artificial low frequencies. We calculate the gradient of the objective function using the adjoint-state method. The synthetic and benchmark data examples show that our FWI algorithm generates a convergent long wavelength structure without low frequency information in the recorded data.

  9. Time-domain full waveform inversion of exponentially damped wavefield using the deconvolution-based objective function

    KAUST Repository

    Choi, Yun Seok; Alkhalifah, Tariq Ali

    2017-01-01

    Full waveform inversion (FWI) suffers from the cycle-skipping problem when the available frequency-band of data is not low enough. We apply an exponential damping to the data to generate artificial low frequencies, which helps FWI avoid cycle skipping. In this case, the least-square misfit function does not properly deal with the exponentially damped wavefield in FWI, because the amplitude of traces decays almost exponentially with increasing offset in a damped wavefield. Thus, we use a deconvolution-based objective function for FWI of the exponentially damped wavefield. The deconvolution filter includes inherently a normalization between the modeled and observed data, thus it can address the unbalanced amplitude of a damped wavefield. We, specifically, normalize the modeled data with the observed data in the frequency-domain to estimate the deconvolution filter and selectively choose a frequency-band for normalization that mainly includes the artificial low frequencies. We calculate the gradient of the objective function using the adjoint-state method. The synthetic and benchmark data examples show that our FWI algorithm generates a convergent long wavelength structure without low frequency information in the recorded data.

  10. Sonographically determined clues to the symptomatic or silent cholelithiasis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saba, S.; Iqbal, Z.

    2007-01-01

    To determine an association between sonographically determined contractility with the symptomatic or silent nature of gallstone. Adult gallstone patients without (group I) and with biliary symptoms (group II) were compared with age and gender-matched controls. Demographic data, body mass index, risk factors, size, number and mobility of gallstone, gallbladder wall thickness (GBWT), volume and Ejection Fraction (EF) were determined on ultrasound before and after a standardized fatty meal (BFM and AFM). Demographic data, risk factors and gallstone characteristics were analyzed by Pearson Chi-square test and the gallbladder characteristics were analyzed by One-way ANOVA and Post Hoc tests by multiple comparisons on SPSS 11 with significance p=0.05. The gallbladder contractility as measured by changes in wall thickness and volume changes BFM and AFM, and ejection fraction was similar in controls and asymptomatic cholelithiasis groups and significantly reduced in symptomatic patients (p<.001). Multiparity (p=0.002), female gender (p=0.018), age less than 50 years (0.05), impacted calculi (p=0.001), multiple calculi (<.001) and calculi 5 mm (p<0.001) were associated with pain. A sluggishly emptying gallbladder was more significantly associated with symptomatic cholelithiasis compared to controls and asymptomatic cholelithiasis state in this series. Consideration of age, gender, impaction of calculi, number and size of calculi is important in causing symptom state and management options. (author)

  11. Taming waveform inversion non-linearity through phase unwrapping of the model and objective functions

    KAUST Repository

    Alkhalifah, Tariq Ali

    2012-09-25

    Traveltime inversion focuses on the geometrical features of the waveform (traveltimes), which is generally smooth, and thus, tends to provide averaged (smoothed) information of the model. On other hand, general waveform inversion uses additional elements of the wavefield including amplitudes to extract higher resolution information, but this comes at the cost of introducing non-linearity to the inversion operator, complicating the convergence process. We use unwrapped phase-based objective functions in waveform inversion as a link between the two general types of inversions in a domain in which such contributions to the inversion process can be easily identified and controlled. The instantaneous traveltime is a measure of the average traveltime of the energy in a trace as a function of frequency. It unwraps the phase of wavefields yielding far less non-linearity in the objective function than that experienced with conventional wavefields, yet it still holds most of the critical wavefield information in its frequency dependency. However, it suffers from non-linearity introduced by the model (or reflectivity), as reflections from independent events in our model interact with each other. Unwrapping the phase of such a model can mitigate this non-linearity as well. Specifically, a simple modification to the inverted domain (or model), can reduce the effect of the model-induced non-linearity and, thus, make the inversion more convergent. Simple numerical examples demonstrate these assertions.

  12. Taming waveform inversion non-linearity through phase unwrapping of the model and objective functions

    KAUST Repository

    Alkhalifah, Tariq Ali; Choi, Yun Seok

    2012-01-01

    Traveltime inversion focuses on the geometrical features of the waveform (traveltimes), which is generally smooth, and thus, tends to provide averaged (smoothed) information of the model. On other hand, general waveform inversion uses additional elements of the wavefield including amplitudes to extract higher resolution information, but this comes at the cost of introducing non-linearity to the inversion operator, complicating the convergence process. We use unwrapped phase-based objective functions in waveform inversion as a link between the two general types of inversions in a domain in which such contributions to the inversion process can be easily identified and controlled. The instantaneous traveltime is a measure of the average traveltime of the energy in a trace as a function of frequency. It unwraps the phase of wavefields yielding far less non-linearity in the objective function than that experienced with conventional wavefields, yet it still holds most of the critical wavefield information in its frequency dependency. However, it suffers from non-linearity introduced by the model (or reflectivity), as reflections from independent events in our model interact with each other. Unwrapping the phase of such a model can mitigate this non-linearity as well. Specifically, a simple modification to the inverted domain (or model), can reduce the effect of the model-induced non-linearity and, thus, make the inversion more convergent. Simple numerical examples demonstrate these assertions.

  13. Abstract Objects of Verbs

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    2014-01-01

    Verbs do often take arguments of quite different types. In an orthodox type-theoretic framework this results in an extreme polysemy of many verbs. In this article, it is shown that this unwanted consequence can be avoided when a theory of "abstract objects" is adopted according to which...... these objects represent non-objectual entities in contexts from which they are excluded by type restrictions. Thus these objects are "abstract'' in a functional rather than in an ontological sense: they function as representatives of other entities but they are otherwise quite normal objects. Three examples...

  14. Scintigraphic diagnosis of silent aspiration following double-sided lung transplantation; Szintigraphischer Nachweis einer stillen Aspiration nach beidseitiger Lungentransplantation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Toenshoff, G. [Kiel Univ. (Germany). Klinik fuer Nuklearmedizin; Stock, U. [Kiel Univ. (Germany). Klinik fuer Herz- und Gefaesschirurgie; Bohuslavizki, K.H. [Kiel Univ. (Germany). Klinik fuer Nuklearmedizin; Brenner, W. [Kiel Univ. (Germany). Klinik fuer Nuklearmedizin; Costard-Jaeckle, A. [Kiel Univ. (Germany). Klinik fuer Herz- und Gefaesschirurgie; Cremer, J. [Kiel Univ. (Germany). Klinik fuer Herz- und Gefaesschirurgie; Clausen, M. [Kiel Univ. (Germany). Klinik fuer Nuklearmedizin

    1996-08-01

    We present a case of a 25 year old patient who underwent double-sided lung transplantation and suffered from recurrent pneumonia. Silent aspiration was suspected clinically. Aspiration was proved by scintigraphy enabling to discriminate between direct oro-pulmonal aspiration and aspiration after gastro-esophageal reflux. (orig.) [Deutsch] Vorgestellt wird der Fall einer 25jaehrigen Patientin nach beidseitiger Lungentransplantation und rezidivierenden Pneumonien. Klinisch bestand der Verdacht auf eine stille Aspiration. Szintigraphisch gelang sowohl der Aspirationsnachweis als auch eine Differenzierung hinsichtlich der Genese: Direkte oro-pulmonale Aspiration versus Aspiration nach gastrooesophagealem Reflux. (orig.)

  15. The Relations among Oral and Silent Reading Fluency and Comprehension in Middle School: Implications for Identification and Instruction of Students with Reading Difficulties

    Science.gov (United States)

    Denton, Carolyn A.; Barth, Amy E.; Fletcher, Jack M.; Wexler, Jade; Vaughn, Sharon; Cirino, Paul T.; Romain, Melissa; Francis, David J.

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate the relations among oral and silent reading fluency and reading comprehension for students in Grades 6 to 8 (n = 1,421) and the use of fluency scores to identify middle school students who are at risk for failure on a high-stakes reading test. Results indicated moderate positive relations between…

  16. Real-time Pipeline for Object Modeling and Grasping Pose Selection via Superquadric Functions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Giulia Vezzani

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available This work provides a novel real-time pipeline for modeling and grasping of unknown objects with a humanoid robot. Such a problem is of great interest for the robotic community, since conventional approaches fail when the shape, dimension, or pose of the objects are missing. Our approach reconstructs in real-time a model for the object under consideration and represents the robot hand both with proper and mathematically usable models, i.e., superquadric functions. The volume graspable by the hand is represented by an ellipsoid and is defined a priori, because the shape of the hand is known in advance. The superquadric representing the object is obtained in real-time from partial vision information instead, e.g., one stereo view of the object under consideration, and provides an approximated 3D full model. The optimization problem we formulate for the grasping pose computation is solved online by using the Ipopt software package and, thus, does not require off-line computation or learning. Even though our approach is for a generic humanoid robot, we developed a complete software architecture for executing this approach on the iCub humanoid robot. Together with that, we also provide a tutorial on how to use this framework. We believe that our work, together with the available code, is of a strong utility for the iCub community for three main reasons: object modeling and grasping are relevant problems for the robotic community, our code can be easily applied on every iCub, and the modular structure of our framework easily allows extensions and communications with external code.

  17. How learning might strengthen existing visual object representations in human object-selective cortex.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brants, Marijke; Bulthé, Jessica; Daniels, Nicky; Wagemans, Johan; Op de Beeck, Hans P

    2016-02-15

    Visual object perception is an important function in primates which can be fine-tuned by experience, even in adults. Which factors determine the regions and the neurons that are modified by learning is still unclear. Recently, it was proposed that the exact cortical focus and distribution of learning effects might depend upon the pre-learning mapping of relevant functional properties and how this mapping determines the informativeness of neural units for the stimuli and the task to be learned. From this hypothesis we would expect that visual experience would strengthen the pre-learning distributed functional map of the relevant distinctive object properties. Here we present a first test of this prediction in twelve human subjects who were trained in object categorization and differentiation, preceded and followed by a functional magnetic resonance imaging session. Specifically, training increased the distributed multi-voxel pattern information for trained object distinctions in object-selective cortex, resulting in a generalization from pre-training multi-voxel activity patterns to after-training activity patterns. Simulations show that the increased selectivity combined with the inter-session generalization is consistent with a training-induced strengthening of a pre-existing selectivity map. No training-related neural changes were detected in other regions. In sum, training to categorize or individuate objects strengthened pre-existing representations in human object-selective cortex, providing a first indication that the neuroanatomical distribution of learning effects depends upon the pre-learning mapping of visual object properties. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. Face Memory and Object Recognition in Children with High-Functioning Autism or Asperger Syndrome and in Their Parents

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuusikko-Gauffin, Sanna; Jansson-Verkasalo, Eira; Carter, Alice; Pollock-Wurman, Rachel; Jussila, Katja; Mattila, Marja-Leena; Rahko, Jukka; Ebeling, Hanna; Pauls, David; Moilanen, Irma

    2011-01-01

    Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) have reported to have impairments in face, recognition and face memory, but intact object recognition and object memory. Potential abnormalities, in these fields at the family level of high-functioning children with ASD remains understudied despite, the ever-mounting evidence that ASDs are genetic and…

  19. Functional dissociation between action and perception of object shape in developmental visual object agnosia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Freud, Erez; Ganel, Tzvi; Avidan, Galia; Gilaie-Dotan, Sharon

    2016-03-01

    According to the two visual systems model, the cortical visual system is segregated into a ventral pathway mediating object recognition, and a dorsal pathway mediating visuomotor control. In the present study we examined whether the visual control of action could develop normally even when visual perceptual abilities are compromised from early childhood onward. Using his fingers, LG, an individual with a rare developmental visual object agnosia, manually estimated (perceptual condition) the width of blocks that varied in width and length (but not in overall size), or simply picked them up across their width (grasping condition). LG's perceptual sensitivity to target width was profoundly impaired in the manual estimation task compared to matched controls. In contrast, the sensitivity to object shape during grasping, as measured by maximum grip aperture (MGA), the time to reach the MGA, the reaction time and the total movement time were all normal in LG. Further analysis, however, revealed that LG's sensitivity to object shape during grasping emerged at a later time stage during the movement compared to controls. Taken together, these results demonstrate a dissociation between action and perception of object shape, and also point to a distinction between different stages of the grasping movement, namely planning versus online control. Moreover, the present study implies that visuomotor abilities can develop normally even when perceptual abilities developed in a profoundly impaired fashion. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Importance of cutaneous silent period in fibromyalgia and its relationship with disease characteristics, psychological disorders and quality of life of patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Umay, Ebru; Ulas, Umit; Unlu, Ece; Akgun, Hakan; Cakci, Aytul; Odabasi, Zeki

    2013-01-01

    Cutaneous silent period (CSP) is an inhibitory spinal protective reflex and its afferents consist of A-delta nerve fibers. We aimed to evaluate patients with fibromyalgia (FM) and healthy controls to determine any differences between the groups in terms of CSP duration and latency, and if present, to determine whether there is any relationship with disease characteristics, psychological disorders and quality of life. Thirty-two patients with FM and 32 healthy volunteers were included in the study. The patient and control groups were compared in terms of CSP latency and duration in both upper and lower extremities. Disease characteristics, psychological disorders and quality of life of patients were assessed using the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ) and Short Form-36 (SF-36). Patients with CSP measurements equal to or lower than those of the control group were compared with those with higher values than controls in terms of disease characteristics, psychological status and quality of life. Significantly prolonged CSP latencies in both upper and lower extremities were determined in patients compared to controls. We found that prolongation of CSP latency in the lower extremity is associated with disease severity and functional disability. CSP latencies in both upper and lower extremities in patients with FM are longer than in healthy volunteers. Moreover, prolongation of CSP latency in the lower extremity is associated with disease severity and physical functional disability.

  1. A BASIC program for an IBM PC compatible computer for drawing the weak phase object contrast transfer function

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Olsen, A.; Skjerpe, P.

    1989-01-01

    This report describes a computer program which is useful in high resolution microscopy. The program is written in EBASIC and calculates the weak phase object contrast transfer function as function of instrumental and imaging parameters. The function is plotted on the PC graphics screen, and by a Print Screen command the function can be copied to the printer. The program runs on both the Hercules graphic card and the IBM CGA card. 2 figs

  2. Towards Finding the Global Minimum of the D-Wave Objective Function for Improved Neural Network Regressions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dorband, J. E.

    2017-12-01

    The D-Wave 2X has successfully been used for regression analysis to derive carbon flux data from OCO-2 CO2 concentration using neural networks. The samples returned from the D-Wave should represent the minimum of an objective function presented to it. An accurate as possible minimum function value is needed for this analysis. Samples from the D-Wave are near minimum, but seldom are the global minimum of the function due to quantum noise. Two methods for improving the accuracy of minimized values represented by the samples returned from the D-Wave are presented. The first method finds a new sample with a minimum value near each returned D-Wave sample. The second method uses all the returned samples to find a more global minimum sample. We present three use-cases performed using the former method. In the first use case, it is demonstrated that an objective function with random qubits and coupler coefficients had an improved minimum. In the second use case, the samples corrected by the first method can improve the training of a Boltzmann machine neural network. The third use case demonstrated that using the first method can improve virtual qubit accuracy.The later method was also performed on the first use case.

  3. Prevalence of silent vertebral fractures detected by vertebral fracture assessment in young Portuguese men with hyperthyroidism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barbosa, Ana Paula; Rui Mascarenhas, Mário; Silva, Carlos Francisco; Távora, Isabel; Bicho, Manuel; do Carmo, Isabel; de Oliveira, António Gouveia

    2015-02-01

    Hyperthyroidism is a risk factor for reduced bone mineral density (BMD) and osteoporotic fractures. Vertebral fracture assessment (VFA) by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is a radiological method of visualization of the spine, which enables patient comfort and reduced radiation exposure. This study was carried out to evaluate BMD and the prevalence of silent vertebral fractures in young men with hyperthyroidism. We conducted a cross-sectional study in a group of Portuguese men aged up to 50 years and matched in hyperthyroidism (n=24) and control (n=24) groups. A group of 48 Portuguese men aged up to 50 years was divided and matched in hyperthyroidism (n=24) and control (n=24) groups. BMD (g/cm(2)) at L1-L4, hip, radius 33%, and whole body as well as the total body masses (kg) were studied by DXA. VFA was used to detect fractures and those were classified by Genant's semiquantitative method. No patient had previously been treated for hyperthyroidism, osteoporosis, or low bone mass. Adequate statistical tests were used. The mean age, height, and total fat mass were similar in both groups (P≥0.05). The total lean body mass and the mean BMD at lumbar spine, hip, and whole body were significantly decreased in the hyperthyroidism group. In this group, there was also a trend for an increased prevalence of reduced BMD/osteoporosis and osteoporotic vertebral fractures. The results obtained using VFA technology (confirmed by X-ray) suggest that the BMD changes in young men with nontreated hyperthyroidism may lead to the development of osteoporosis and vertebral fractures. This supports the pertinence of using VFA in the routine of osteoporosis assessment to detect silent fractures precociously and consider early treatment. © 2015 European Society of Endocrinology.

  4. Objective and subjective psychosocial functioning in bipolar disorder: an investigation of the relative importance of neurocognition, social cognition and emotion regulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Rheenen, Tamsyn E; Rossell, Susan L

    2014-06-01

    People with bipolar disorder (BD) experience significant psychosocial impairment. Understandings of the nature and causes of such impairment is limited by the lack of research exploring the extent to which subjectively reported functioning should be valued as an indicator of objective dysfunction, or examining the relative influence of neurocognition, social cognition and emotion regulation on these important, but different aspects of psychosocial functioning in the context of mania and depression symptoms. This study aimed to address this paucity of research by conducting a comprehensive investigation of psychosocial functioning in a well characterised group of BD patients. Fifty-one BD patients were compared to 52 healthy controls on objectively and subjectively assessed psychosocial outcomes. Relationships between current mood symptoms, psychosocial function and neurocognitive, social cognitive and emotion regulation measures were also examined in the patient group. Patients had significantly worse scores on the global objective and subjective functioning measures relative to controls. In the patient group, although these scores were correlated, regression analyses showed that variance in each of the measures was explained by different predictors. Depressive symptomatology was the most important predictor of global subjective functioning, and neurocognition had a concurrent and important influence with depressive symptoms on objective psychosocial function. Emotion regulation also had an indirect effect on psychosocial functioning via its influence on depressive symptomatology. As this study was cross-sectional in nature, we are unable to draw precise conclusions regarding contributing pathways involved in psychosocial functioning in BD. These results suggest that patients' own evaluations of their subjective functioning represent important indicators of the extent to which their observable function is impaired. They also highlight the importance of

  5. Low fetal hemoglobin percentage is associated with silent brain lesions in adults with homozygous sickle cell disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Calvet, David; Tuilier, Titien; Mélé, Nicolas; Turc, Guillaume; Habibi, Anoosha; Abdallah, Nassim Ait; Majhadi, Loubna; Hemery, François; Edjlali, Myriam; Galacteros, Frédéric; Bartolucci, Pablo

    2017-12-12

    Silent white matter changes (WMCs) on brain imaging are common in individuals with sickle cell disease (SCD) and are associated with cognitive deficits in children. We investigated the factors predictive of WMCs in adults with homozygous SCD and no history of neurological conditions. Patients were recruited from a cohort of adults with homozygous SCD followed up at an adult sickle cell referral center for which steady-state measurements of biological parameters and magnetic resonance imaging scans of the brain were available. WMCs were rated by consensus, on a validated age-related WMC scale. The prevalence of WMCs was 49% (95% confidence interval [CI], 39%-60%) in the 83 patients without vasculopathy included. In univariable analysis, the patients who had WMCs were more likely to be older ( P = .003) and to have hypertension ( P = .02), a lower mean corpuscular volume ( P = .005), a lower corpuscular hemoglobin concentration ( P = .008), and a lower fetal hemoglobin percentage (%HbF) ( P = .003). In multivariable analysis, only a lower %HbF remained associated with the presence of WMCs (odds ratio [OR] per 1% increase in %HbF, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.72-0.97; P = .021). %HbF was also associated with WMC burden ( P for trend = .007). Multivariable ordinal logistic regression showed an inverse relationship between WMC burden (age-related WMC score divided into 4 strata) and HbF level (OR for 1% increase in %HbF, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.79-0.99; P = .039). Our study suggests that HbF may protect against silent WMCs, decreasing the likelihood of WMCs being present and their severity. It may therefore be beneficial to increase HbF levels in patients with WMCs.

  6. Subjective Cognitive Complaints and Objective Cognitive Function in Aging: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Recent Cross-Sectional Findings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burmester, Bridget; Leathem, Janet; Merrick, Paul

    2016-12-01

    Research investigating how subjective cognitive complaints (SCCs) might reliably indicate impairments in objective cognitive functioning has produced highly varied findings, and despite attempts to synthesise this literature (e.g., Jonker et al. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 15, 983-991, 2000; Reid and MacLullich Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, 22(5-6), 471-485, 2006; Crumley et al. Psychology and Aging, 29(2), 250-263, 2014), recent work continues to offer little resolution. This review provides both quantitative and qualitative synthesis of research conducted since the last comprehensive review in 2006, with the aim of identifying reasons for these discrepancies that might provide fruitful avenues for future exploration. Meta-analysis found a small but significant association between SCCs and objective cognitive function, although it was limited by large heterogeneity between studies and evidence of potential publication bias. Often, assessments of SCCs and objective cognitive function were brief or not formally validated. However, studies that employed more comprehensive SCC measures tended to find that SCCs were associated independently with both objective cognitive function and depressive symptoms. Further explicit investigation of how assessment measures relate to reports of SCCs, and the validity of the proposed 'compensation theory' of SCC aetiology, is recommended.

  7. Enhanced Attention to Speaking Faces Versus Other Event Types Emerges Gradually Across Infancy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bahrick, Lorraine E.; Todd, James Torrence; Castellanos, Irina; Sorondo, Barbara M.

    2017-01-01

    The development of attention to dynamic faces vs. objects providing synchronous audiovisual vs. silent visual stimulation was assessed in a large sample of infants. Maintaining attention to the faces and voices of people speaking is critical for perceptual, cognitive, social, and language development. However, no studies have systematically assessed when, if, or how attention to speaking faces emerges and changes across infancy. Two measures of attention maintenance, habituation time (HT) and look-away rate (LAR), were derived from cross-sectional data of 2- to 8-month-old infants (N = 801). Results indicated that attention to audiovisual faces and voices was maintained across age, whereas attention to each of the other event types (audiovisual objects, silent dynamic faces, silent dynamic objects) declined across age. This reveals a gradually emerging advantage in attention maintenance (longer habituation times, lower look-away rates) for audiovisual speaking faces compared with the other three event types. At 2 months, infants showed no attentional advantage for faces (with greater attention to audiovisual than to visual events), at 3 months, they attended more to dynamic faces than objects (in the presence or absence of voices), and by 4 to 5 and 6 to 8 months significantly greater attention emerged to temporally coordinated faces and voices of people speaking compared with all other event types. Our results indicate that selective attention to coordinated faces and voices over other event types emerges gradually across infancy, likely as a function of experience with multimodal, redundant stimulation from person and object events. PMID:27786526

  8. Object-based warping: an illusory distortion of space within objects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vickery, Timothy J; Chun, Marvin M

    2010-12-01

    Visual objects are high-level primitives that are fundamental to numerous perceptual functions, such as guidance of attention. We report that objects warp visual perception of space in such a way that spatial distances within objects appear to be larger than spatial distances in ground regions. When two dots were placed inside a rectangular object, they appeared farther apart from one another than two dots with identical spacing outside of the object. To investigate whether this effect was object based, we measured the distortion while manipulating the structure surrounding the dots. Object displays were constructed with a single object, multiple objects, a partially occluded object, and an illusory object. Nonobject displays were constructed to be comparable to object displays in low-level visual attributes. In all cases, the object displays resulted in a more powerful distortion of spatial perception than comparable non-object-based displays. These results suggest that perception of space within objects is warped.

  9. Detecting Silent Data Corruptions in Aerospace-Based Computing Using Program Invariants

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Junchi Ma

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Soft error caused by single event upset has been a severe challenge to aerospace-based computing. Silent data corruption (SDC is one of the results incurred by soft error. SDC occurs when a program generates erroneous output with no indications. SDC is the most insidious type of results and very difficult to detect. To address this problem, we design and implement an invariant-based system called Radish. Invariants describe certain properties of a program; for example, the value of a variable equals a constant. Radish first extracts invariants at key program points and converts invariants into assertions. It then hardens the program by inserting the assertions into the source code. When a soft error occurs, assertions will be found to be false at run time and warn the users of soft error. To increase the coverage of SDC, we further propose an extension of Radish, named Radish_D, which applies software-based instruction duplication mechanism to protect the uncovered code sections. Experiments using architectural fault injections show that Radish achieves high SDC coverage with very low overhead. Furthermore, Radish_D provides higher SDC coverage than that of either Radish or pure instruction duplication.

  10. Packed-bed reactor/silent-discharge plasma design data report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1996-05-01

    In 1992, Congress passed the Federal Facility Compliance Act requiring the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to treat and dispose of its mixed waste in accordance with Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) land disposal restrictions (LDRs). The DOE Albuquerque Operations Office (AL) currently does not have adequate systems to treat the mixed wastes generated and stored at the nine DOE-AL sites. In response to the need for mixed-waste treatment capacity, DOE-AL organized a Treatment Selection Team under the Mixed-Waste Treatment Program (MWTP) to match mixed wastes with treatment options and develop a strategy for treatment of its mixed waste. The strategy developed by the Treatment Selection Team, as described in the AL Mixed-Waste Treatment Plan (DOE 1994), is to use available off-site commercial treatment facilities for all wastes that can be successfully and cost-effectively treated by such facilities. Where no appropriate commercial treatment facilities exist, mobile treatment units (MTUs) would be developed to treat wastes at the sites where the wastes are generated. Treatment processes used for mixed waste must not only address the hazardous component (i.e., meet LDRs) but also must contain the radioactive component in a form that allows final disposal while protecting workers, the public, and the environment. The packed-bed reactor/silent discharge plasma was chosen as a potential candidate for the treatment of the mixed wastes. The process is described

  11. Packed-bed reactor/silent-discharge plasma design data report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1996-05-01

    In 1992, Congress passed the Federal Facility Compliance Act requiring the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to treat and dispose of its mixed waste in accordance with Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) land disposal restrictions (LDRs). The DOE Albuquerque Operations Office (AL) currently does not have adequate systems to treat the mixed wastes generated and stored at the nine DOE-AL sites. In response to the need for mixed-waste treatment capacity, DOE-AL organized a Treatment Selection Team under the Mixed-Waste Treatment Program (MWTP) to match mixed wastes with treatment options and develop a strategy for treatment of its mixed waste. The strategy developed by the Treatment Selection Team, as described in the AL Mixed-Waste Treatment Plan (DOE 1994), is to use available off-site commercial treatment facilities for all wastes that can be successfully and cost-effectively treated by such facilities. Where no appropriate commercial treatment facilities exist, mobile treatment units (MTUs) would be developed to treat wastes at the sites where the wastes are generated. Treatment processes used for mixed waste must not only address the hazardous component (i.e., meet LDRs) but also must contain the radioactive component in a form that allows final disposal while protecting workers, the public, and the environment. The packed-bed reactor/silent discharge plasma was chosen as a potential candidate for the treatment of the mixed wastes. The process is described.

  12. A novel approach for optimum allocation of FACTS devices using multi-objective function

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gitizadeh, M.; Kalantar, M.

    2009-01-01

    This paper presents a novel approach to find optimum type, location, and capacity of flexible alternating current transmission systems (FACTS) devices in a power system using a multi-objective optimization function. Thyristor controlled series compensator (TCSC) and static var compensator (SVC) are utilized to achieve these objectives: active power loss reduction, new introduced FACTS devices cost reduction, increase the robustness of the security margin against voltage collapse, and voltage deviation reduction. The operational and controlling constraints as well as load constraints are considered in the optimum allocation procedure. Here, a goal attainment method based on simulated annealing is used to approach the global optimum. In addition, the estimated annual load profile has been utilized to the optimum siting and sizing of FACTS devices to approach a practical solution. The standard IEEE 14-bus test system is used to validate the performance and effectiveness of the proposed method

  13. Rape Survivors' Experiences of the Silent Protest: Implications for Promoting Healing and Resilience.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Padmanabhanunni, Anita; Edwards, David

    2016-05-01

    This article examines the experiences of nine rape survivors who participated in the Silent Protest, an annual protest march at Rhodes University that aims to highlight the sexual abuse of women, validate the harm done, and foster solidarity among survivors. Participants responded to a semi-structured interview focusing on the context of their rape and its impact, and their experiences of participation in the Protest In the first phase of data analysis, synoptic case narratives were written. In the second, themes from participants' experience were identified using interpretative phenomenological analysis. In the third, the data were examined in light of questions around the extent to which participation contributed to healing. Participants reported experiences of validation and empowerment but the majority were suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder. In some cases, participation had exacerbated self-blame and avoidant coping. Recommendations are made about the provision of psychoeducation and counseling at such events. © The Author(s) 2015.

  14. Exercise-induced silent myocardial ischemia: Evaluation by thallium-201 emission computed tomography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kurata, C.; Sakata, K.; Taguchi, T.; Kobayashi, A.; Yamazaki, N.

    1990-01-01

    Factors associated with silent myocardial ischemia (SMI) during exercise testing were studied by means of thallium-201 emission computed tomography (ECT) in 471 patients. Coronary angiography was done in 290, of whom 167 were found to have significant coronary artery disease (CAD). Exercise-induced ischemia and its severity were defined with ECT. During exercise 108 (62%) of 173 patients with ischemia and 57 (50%) of 115 with ischemia and angiographically documented CAD had no chest pain. One third of the patients showed an inconsistency between scintigraphic ischemia and ischemia ST depression. Age, sex, prior myocardial infarction, and diabetes mellitus were not related to SMI. Patients with SMI had less severe ischemia despite a higher peak double product compared to those with painful ischemia. Among 91 with prior myocardial infarction and exercise-induced ischemia, 51 with periinfarction ischemia had a higher frequency of SMI than did 14 with ischemia remote from the prior infarct zone despite similarities in the severity of ischemia. In conclusion, factors localized within ischemic myocardium such as less severe ischemia or adjacency to a prior infarct made SMI more prevalent

  15. A comparison between 99Tcm-tetrofosmin and 99Tcm-MIBI myocardial perfusion imaging in detection of silent myocardial ischemia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fu Wei; Tang Yi; Liu Xuemei; Fan Yan; Liu Tao

    2012-01-01

    Objective: To compare 99 Tc m -tetrofosmin (TF) and 99 Tc m -MIBI adenosine stress/resting MPI in detection of silent myocardial ischemia (SMI). Methods: According to the WHO diagnostic criteria for coronary heart disease (CHD), 306 SMI patients were classified to three groups as type Ⅰ (n=122), type Ⅱ (n=112) and type Ⅲ (n=72). The subjects of each type were randomly divided into 2 subgroups; one subgroup underwent adenosine stress/rest MPI with 99 Tc m -MIBI and another subgroup with 99 Tc m -TF. The clinical diagnosis of CHD was proven with electrocardiogram (46 cases), dynamic electrocardiogram (219 cases) or CAG (41 cases). Comparison factors between the two tracers included image quality and diagnostic efficacy. The image quality was graded into three classes:excellent, good and moderate. χ 2 test and analysis of variance were used to analyze data. Results: The sensitivities of detecting myocardial ischemia with 99 Tc m -MIBI MPI and 99 Tc m -TF MPI in group type Ⅰ were 57.38% (35/61) vs 60.66% (37/61) (χ 2 =0.136, P>0.05); in group type Ⅱ 69.64% (39/56) vs 64.29% (36/56) (χ 2 =0.363, P>0.05) and in group type Ⅲ 83.33% (30/36) vs 88.89% (32/36) (χ 2 =0.465, P>0.05), respectively. There was no significant difference between the sensitivities of the two imaging modalities in all three types of SMI patients.In image quality grading, 99 Tc m -MIBI and 99 Tc m -TF demonstrated excellent images with 41.18% (63/153) vs 48.37% (74/153) (χ 2 =1.599, P=0.206), good with 45.10% (69/153) vs 34.64% (53/153) (χ 2 =3.489, P=0.062) and moderate with 13.72% (21/153) vs 16.99%(26/153) (χ 2 =0.628, P=0.428). There was no unqualified image with either modality. 99 Tc m -TF displayed quicker radioactivity clearance in liver and lungs. Thereby there was less interference or pitfalls present in the ventricle base or interior wall that may result from higher liver radioactivity retention. The waiting time between the tracer injection and imaging was at least 1 h

  16. The influence of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex on attentional behavior and decision making. A t-DCS study on emotionally vs. functionally designed objects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Colombo, Barbara; Balzarotti, Stefania; Mazzucchelli, Nicla

    2016-04-01

    Prior research has shown that right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex may be crucial in cognitive control of affective impulses during decision making. The present study examines whether modulation of r-DLPFC with transcranial direct current stimulation influences attentional behavior and decision-making in a purchase task requiring participants to choose either emotional/attractive or functional/useful objects. 30 participants were shown sixteen pairs of emotionally or functionally designed products while their eye-movements were recorded. Participants were asked to judge aesthetics and usefulness of each object, and to decide which object of each pair they would buy. Results revealed that participants decided to buy the functionally designed objects more often regardless of condition; however, participants receiving anodal stimulation were faster in decision making. Although stimulation of r-DLPFC did not affect the actual purchasing choice and had little effect on visual exploration during decision making, it influenced perceived usefulness and attractiveness, with temporary inhibition of r-DLPFC leading to evaluate functional objects as less attractive. Finally, anodal stimulation led to judge the objects as more useful. The implications of these results are discussed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. Objects of consciousness

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Donald David Hoffman

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Current models of visual perception typically assume that human vision estimates true properties of physical objects, properties that exist even if unperceived. However, recent studies of perceptual evolution, using evolutionary games and genetic algorithms, reveal that natural selection often drives true perceptions to extinction when they compete with perceptions tuned to fitness rather than truth: Perception guides adaptive behavior; it does not estimate a preexisting physical truth. Moreover, shifting from evolutionary biology to quantum physics, there is reason to disbelieve in preexist-ing physical truths: Certain interpretations of quantum theory deny that dynamical properties of physical objects have defi-nite values when unobserved. In some of these interpretations the observer is fundamental, and wave functions are com-pendia of subjective probabilities, not preexisting elements of physical reality. These two considerations, from evolutionary biology and quantum physics, suggest that current models of object perception require fundamental reformulation. Here we begin such a reformulation, starting with a formal model of consciousness that we call a conscious agent. We develop the dynamics of interacting conscious agents, and study how the perception of objects and space-time can emerge from such dynamics. We show that one particular object, the quantum free particle, has a wave function that is identical in form to the harmonic functions that characterize the asymptotic dynamics of conscious agents; particles are vibrations not of strings but of interacting conscious agents. This allows us to reinterpret physical properties such as position, momentum, and energy as properties of interacting conscious agents, rather than as preexisting physical truths. We sketch how this approach might extend to the perception of relativistic quantum objects, and to classical objects of macroscopic scale.

  18. Human brain mapping of language-related function on 1.5T magnetic resonance system: focused on motor language function

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jung, Hee Young; Kim, Jae Hyoung; Shin, Taemin; Piao, Xiang Hao; Kim, Jae Soo; Lee, Gyung Kyu; Park, Il Soon; Park, Ji Hoon; Kang, Su Jin; You, Jin Jong; Chung, Sung Hoon

    1998-01-01

    To investigate the feasibility of functional MR imaging of motor language function and its usefulness in the determination of hemispheric language dominance. In order to activate the motor center of language, six subjects ( 5 right-handed, 1 left-handed: 3 males: 3 females) generated words. They were requested to do this silently, without physical articulation, in response to English letters presented visually. Gradient-echo images (TR/TE/flip angle, 80/60/40 deg; 64 x 128 matrix; 10 mm thickness) were obtained in three axial planes including the inferior frontal gyrus. Functional maps were created by the postprocessing of gradient-echo images, including subtraction and statistics. Areas of activation were topographically analyzed and numbers of activated pixels in each region were compared between right and left sides. The reproducibility of functional maps was tested by repetition of functional imaging in the same subjects. Our results suggest that functional MR imaging can depict the activation of motor language function in the brain and can be used a useful non-invasive method for determining the hemispheric dominance of language. (author). 26 refs., 3 figs

  19. Phase-locking and chaos in a silent Hodgkin-Huxley neuron exposed to sinusoidal electric field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Che Yanqiu; Wang Jiang; Si Wenjie; Fei Xiangyang

    2009-01-01

    Neuronal firing patterns are related to the information processing in neural system. This paper investigates the response characteristics of a silent Hodgkin-Huxley neuron to the stimulation of externally-applied sinusoidal electric field. The neuron exhibits both p:q phase-locked (i.e. a periodic oscillation defined as p action potentials generated by q cycle stimulations) and chaotic behaviors, depending on the values of stimulus frequencies and amplitudes. In one-parameter space, a rich bifurcation structure including period-adding without chaos and phase-locking alternated with chaos suggests frequency discrimination of the neuronal firing patterns. Furthermore, by mapping out Arnold tongues, we partition the amplitude-frequency parameter space in terms of the qualitative behaviors of the neuron. Thus the neuron's information (firing patterns) encodes the stimulus information (amplitude and frequency), and vice versa

  20. Punctuation and Implicit Prosody in Silent Reading: An ERP Study Investigating English Garden-Path Sentences.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Drury, John E; Baum, Shari R; Valeriote, Hope; Steinhauer, Karsten

    2016-01-01

    This study presents the first two ERP reading studies of comma-induced effects of covert (implicit) prosody on syntactic parsing decisions in English. The first experiment used a balanced 2 × 2 design in which the presence/absence of commas determined plausibility (e.g., John, said Mary, was the nicest boy at the party vs. John said Mary was the nicest boy at the party ). The second reading experiment replicated a previous auditory study investigating the role of overt prosodic boundaries in closure ambiguities (Pauker et al., 2011). In both experiments, commas reliably elicited CPS components and generally played a dominant role in determining parsing decisions in the face of input ambiguity. The combined set of findings provides further evidence supporting the claim that mechanisms subserving speech processing play an active role during silent reading.

  1. Relations of Preschoolers' Visual-Motor and Object Manipulation Skills with Executive Function and Social Behavior

    Science.gov (United States)

    MacDonald, Megan; Lipscomb, Shannon; McClelland, Megan M.; Duncan, Rob; Becker, Derek; Anderson, Kim; Kile, Molly

    2016-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this article was to examine specific linkages between early visual-motor integration skills and executive function, as well as between early object manipulation skills and social behaviors in the classroom during the preschool year. Method: Ninety-two children aged 3 to 5 years old (M[subscript age] = 4.31 years) were…

  2. An objective evaluation framework for segmentation techniques of functional positron emission tomography studies

    CERN Document Server

    Kim, J; Eberl, S; Feng, D

    2004-01-01

    Segmentation of multi-dimensional functional positron emission tomography (PET) studies into regions of interest (ROI) exhibiting similar temporal behavior is useful in diagnosis and evaluation of neurological images. Quantitative evaluation plays a crucial role in measuring the segmentation algorithm's performance. Due to the lack of "ground truth" available for evaluating segmentation of clinical images, automated segmentation results are usually compared with manual delineation of structures which is, however, subjective, and is difficult to perform. Alternatively, segmentation of co-registered anatomical images such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be used as the ground truth to the PET segmentation. However, this is limited to PET studies which have corresponding MRI. In this study, we introduce a framework for the objective and quantitative evaluation of functional PET study segmentation without the need for manual delineation or registration to anatomical images of the patient. The segmentation ...

  3. An Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming with a Didactic Microworld: "objectKarel"

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xinogalos, Stelios; Satratzemi, Maya; Dagdilelis, Vassilios

    2006-01-01

    The objects-first strategy to teaching programming has prevailed over the imperative-first and functional-first strategies during the last decade. However, the objects-first strategy has created added difficulties to both the teaching and learning of programming. In an attempt to confront these difficulties and support the objects-first strategy…

  4. Analysis of a silent voice: a qualitative inquiry of embroidery created by a patient with schizophrenia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blakeman, John R; Samuelson, Sheryl J; McEvoy, Kimberly N

    2013-06-01

    A poster-sized piece of embroidery, completed in the 1960s, hangs in the Glore Psychiatric Museum, a testament to the daily experience of a woman who rarely spoke and was diagnosed with schizophrenia. The embroidery document was analyzed by three researchers who came to agreement on themes via triangulation and constant comparison. The woman's lived experience was considered. The analysis found that although the patient was silent, she was connected in interesting ways to the environment around her. Implications for nursing care include awareness of the importance of milieu to patients, that silence should not be inferred to be detachment, and nurses should continue to develop creative ways to engage patients who may communicate in nontraditional ways. Copyright 2013, SLACK Incorporated.

  5. Non-convex multi-objective optimization

    CERN Document Server

    Pardalos, Panos M; Žilinskas, Julius

    2017-01-01

    Recent results on non-convex multi-objective optimization problems and methods are presented in this book, with particular attention to expensive black-box objective functions. Multi-objective optimization methods facilitate designers, engineers, and researchers to make decisions on appropriate trade-offs between various conflicting goals. A variety of deterministic and stochastic multi-objective optimization methods are developed in this book. Beginning with basic concepts and a review of non-convex single-objective optimization problems; this book moves on to cover multi-objective branch and bound algorithms, worst-case optimal algorithms (for Lipschitz functions and bi-objective problems), statistical models based algorithms, and probabilistic branch and bound approach. Detailed descriptions of new algorithms for non-convex multi-objective optimization, their theoretical substantiation, and examples for practical applications to the cell formation problem in manufacturing engineering, the process design in...

  6. Sounds from seeing silent motion: Who hears them, and what looks loudest?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fassnidge, Christopher J; Freeman, Elliot D

    2018-03-09

    Some people hear what they see: car indicator lights, flashing neon shop signs, and people's movements as they walk may all trigger an auditory sensation, which we call the visual-evoked auditory response (vEAR or 'visual ear'). We have conducted the first large-scale online survey (N > 4000) of this little-known phenomenon. We analysed the prevalence of vEAR, what induces it, and what other traits are associated with it. We assessed prevalence by asking whether respondents had previously experienced vEAR. Participants then rated silent videos for vividness of evoked auditory sensations, and answered additional trait questions. Prevalence appeared higher relative to other typical synaesthesias. Prior awareness and video ratings were associated with greater frequency of other synaesthesias, including flashes evoked by sounds, and musical imagery. Higher-rated videos often depicted meaningful events that predicted sounds (e.g., collisions). However, even videos containing abstract flickering or moving patterns could also elicit higher ratings, despite having no predictable association with sounds. Such videos had higher levels of raw 'motion energy' (ME), which we quantified using a simple computational model of motion processing in early visual cortex. Critically, only respondents reporting prior awareness of vEAR tended to show a positive correlation between video ratings and ME. This specific sensitivity to ME suggests that in vEAR, signals from visual motion processing may affect audition relatively directly without requiring higher-level interpretative processes. Our other findings challenge the popular assumption that individuals with synaesthesia are rare and have ideosyncratic patterns of brain hyper-connectivity. Instead, our findings of apparently high prevalence and broad associations with other synaesthesias and traits are jointly consistent with a common dependence on normal variations in physiological mechanisms of disinhibition or excitability of

  7. Study of tonotopic brain changes with functional MRI and FDG-PET in a patient with unilateral objective cochlear tinnitus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guinchard, A-C; Ghazaleh, Naghmeh; Saenz, M; Fornari, E; Prior, J O; Maeder, P; Adib, S; Maire, R

    2016-11-01

    We studied possible brain changes with functional MRI (fMRI) and fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) in a patient with a rare, high-intensity "objective tinnitus" (high-level SOAEs) in the left ear of 10 years duration, with no associated hearing loss. This is the first case of objective cochlear tinnitus to be investigated with functional neuroimaging. The objective cochlear tinnitus was measured by Spontaneous Otoacoustic Emissions (SOAE) equipment (frequency 9689 Hz, intensity 57 dB SPL) and is clearly audible to anyone standing near the patient. Functional modifications in primary auditory areas and other brain regions were evaluated using 3T and 7T fMRI and FDG-PET. In the fMRI evaluations, a saturation of the auditory cortex at the tinnitus frequency was observed, but the global cortical tonotopic organization remained intact when compared to the results of fMRI of healthy subjects. The FDG-PET showed no evidence of an increase or decrease of activity in the auditory cortices or in the limbic system as compared to normal subjects. In this patient with high-intensity objective cochlear tinnitus, fMRI and FDG-PET showed no significant brain reorganization in auditory areas and/or in the limbic system, as reported in the literature in patients with chronic subjective tinnitus. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. Influences of Economic Theories on Accounting Theory: the case of the Objective Function of the Firm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lineker Costa Passos

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available This essay aims to establish the relationship between the theoretical precepts that guide the accounting disclosure procedures for its stakeholders, both internal and external, and the two main theoretical trends that address the firm’s objective function: the Shareholder theory and the Stakeholder theory. In the perspective of the Shareholder theory, the firm has to define a single objective, which is to maximize shareholder wealth. In the context of Stakeholders theory, the firm must establish a multiple objective, which is to meet the interests of all those involved with its activities. We discuss to what extent theories, standards and accounting practices emanate from the concepts of the two models, especially regarding the users’ demand for useful and relevant information. There is a predominance of Shareholder theory in influencing accounting principles that guide the disclosure of information, although different accounting reports are already discussed and presented, oriented to the Stakeholders of the firm, without establishing a set of concepts that explain and justify them within the scope of Accounting theory. Additionally, it is argued that, all things taken into consideration, both currents of the Economic theory point in the same direction: to seek the wellbeing of the firm’s stakeholders. The research contributes to the accounting literature, in the sense of clarifying the impacts arising from the two economic models that deal with the objective function of the firm in the evolution of Accounting theory, not yet captured directly in the discussion of the fundamentals of accounting theory.

  9. Multiple utility constrained multi-objective programs using Bayesian theory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abbasian, Pooneh; Mahdavi-Amiri, Nezam; Fazlollahtabar, Hamed

    2018-03-01

    A utility function is an important tool for representing a DM's preference. We adjoin utility functions to multi-objective optimization problems. In current studies, usually one utility function is used for each objective function. Situations may arise for a goal to have multiple utility functions. Here, we consider a constrained multi-objective problem with each objective having multiple utility functions. We induce the probability of the utilities for each objective function using Bayesian theory. Illustrative examples considering dependence and independence of variables are worked through to demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed model.

  10. The electrically silent Kv6.4 subunit confers hyperpolarized gating charge movement in Kv2.1/Kv6.4 heterotetrameric channels.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elke Bocksteins

    Full Text Available The voltage-gated K(+ (Kv channel subunit Kv6.4 does not form functional homotetrameric channels but co-assembles with Kv2.1 to form functional Kv2.1/Kv6.4 heterotetrameric channels. Compared to Kv2.1 homotetramers, Kv6.4 exerts a ~40 mV hyperpolarizing shift in the voltage-dependence of Kv2.1/Kv6.4 channel inactivation, without a significant effect on activation gating. However, the underlying mechanism of this Kv6.4-induced modulation of Kv2.1 channel inactivation, and whether the Kv6.4 subunit participates in the voltage-dependent gating of heterotetrameric channels is not well understood. Here we report distinct gating charge movement of Kv2.1/Kv6.4 heterotetrameric channels, compared to Kv2.1 homotetramers, as revealed by gating current recordings from mammalian cells expressing these channels. The gating charge movement of Kv2.1/Kv6.4 heterotetrameric channels displayed an extra component around the physiological K(+ equilibrium potential, characterized by a second sigmoidal relationship of the voltage-dependence of gating charge movement. This distinct gating charge displacement reflects movement of the Kv6.4 voltage-sensing domain and has a voltage-dependency that matches the hyperpolarizing shift in Kv2.1/Kv6.4 channel inactivation. These results provide a mechanistic basis for the modulation of Kv2.1 channel inactivation gating kinetics by silent Kv6.4 subunits.

  11. Exhibiting Epistemic Objects

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tybjerg, Karin

    2017-01-01

    of exhibiting epistemic objects that utilize their knowledge-generating potential and allow them to continue to stimulate curiosity and generate knowledge in the exhibition. The epistemic potential of the objects can then be made to work together with the function of the exhibition as a knowledge-generating set...

  12. The Functional Architecture of Visual Object Recognition

    Science.gov (United States)

    1991-07-01

    different forms of agnosia can provide clues to the representations underlying normal object recognition (Farah, 1990). For example, the pair-wise...patterns of deficit and sparing occur. In a review of 99 published cases of agnosia , the observed patterns of co- occurrence implicated two underlying

  13. The not-so-silent couple in the individual.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Solomon, H M

    1997-07-01

    This paper aims to examine two often separate areas of analytical enquiry, the nature of the self, with its foundation in the concept of a primary self which may achieve a sense of coherence over time, and the nature of internal objects, a concept that forms the basis of theories concerning part selves and sub-personalities. It is argued that these concepts might be integrated to provide a unified model of the self, thereby integrating theoretically disparate aspects of mental structure and functioning. Through an examination of clinical material, the archetype of the coniunctio is evoked to offer an understanding of how, in the absence of a stable conjunction of (maternal) reverie and (paternal) thinking functions, a series of linked but oppositional internal couples may be created which lends to the self the experience of a combined and sustaining inner couple. The internal couple creates a source of psychological survival for the self, with the function of providing a reliable structure in which the processes of the self may unfold, but equally requiring strict adherence to a pernicious system of internal defences that allows for very little interaction with others outside the self. At the same time, these defences inevitably become blocks to further development, and the work of transformation is thwarted. For transformation to occur, it is necessary for the self to find another, often the analyst, who may be allowed to partake in the internal conjunction, thereby promoting a better grounding for the self.

  14. Abstract Objects of Verbs

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Robering, Klaus

    2014-01-01

    Verbs do often take arguments of quite different types. In an orthodox type-theoretic framework this results in an extreme polysemy of many verbs. In this article, it is shown that this unwanted consequence can be avoided when a theory of "abstract objects" is adopted according to which these obj......Verbs do often take arguments of quite different types. In an orthodox type-theoretic framework this results in an extreme polysemy of many verbs. In this article, it is shown that this unwanted consequence can be avoided when a theory of "abstract objects" is adopted according to which...... these objects represent non-objectual entities in contexts from which they are excluded by type restrictions. Thus these objects are "abstract'' in a functional rather than in an ontological sense: they function as representatives of other entities but they are otherwise quite normal objects. Three examples...

  15. Contribution of silent mutations to thermal adaptation of RNA bacteriophage Qβ.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kashiwagi, Akiko; Sugawara, Ryu; Sano Tsushima, Fumie; Kumagai, Tomofumi; Yomo, Tetsuya

    2014-10-01

    Changes in protein function and other biological properties, such as RNA structure, are crucial for adaptation of organisms to novel or inhibitory environments. To investigate how mutations that do not alter amino acid sequence may be positively selected, we performed a thermal adaptation experiment using the single-stranded RNA bacteriophage Qβ in which the culture temperature was increased from 37.2°C to 41.2°C and finally to an inhibitory temperature of 43.6°C in a stepwise manner in three independent lines. Whole-genome analysis revealed 31 mutations, including 14 mutations that did not result in amino acid sequence alterations, in this thermal adaptation. Eight of the 31 mutations were observed in all three lines. Reconstruction and fitness analyses of Qβ strains containing only mutations observed in all three lines indicated that five mutations that did not result in amino acid sequence changes but increased the amplification ratio appeared in the course of adaptation to growth at 41.2°C. Moreover, these mutations provided a suitable genetic background for subsequent mutations, altering the fitness contribution from deleterious to beneficial. These results clearly showed that mutations that do not alter the amino acid sequence play important roles in adaptation of this single-stranded RNA virus to elevated temperature. Recent studies using whole-genome analysis technology suggested the importance of mutations that do not alter the amino acid sequence for adaptation of organisms to novel environmental conditions. It is necessary to investigate how these mutations may be positively selected and to determine to what degree such mutations that do not alter amino acid sequences contribute to adaptive evolution. Here, we report the roles of these silent mutations in thermal adaptation of RNA bacteriophage Qβ based on experimental evolution during which Qβ showed adaptation to growth at an inhibitory temperature. Intriguingly, four synonymous mutations and

  16. Punctuation and Implicit Prosody in Silent Reading: An ERP Study Investigating English Garden-Path Sentences

    Science.gov (United States)

    Drury, John E.; Baum, Shari R.; Valeriote, Hope; Steinhauer, Karsten

    2016-01-01

    This study presents the first two ERP reading studies of comma-induced effects of covert (implicit) prosody on syntactic parsing decisions in English. The first experiment used a balanced 2 × 2 design in which the presence/absence of commas determined plausibility (e.g., John, said Mary, was the nicest boy at the party vs. John said Mary was the nicest boy at the party). The second reading experiment replicated a previous auditory study investigating the role of overt prosodic boundaries in closure ambiguities (Pauker et al., 2011). In both experiments, commas reliably elicited CPS components and generally played a dominant role in determining parsing decisions in the face of input ambiguity. The combined set of findings provides further evidence supporting the claim that mechanisms subserving speech processing play an active role during silent reading. PMID:27695428

  17. Punctuation and implicit prosody in silent reading: An ERP study investigating English garden-path sentences

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John E. Drury

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available This study presents the first two ERP reading studies of comma-induced effects of covert (implicit prosody on syntactic parsing decisions in English. The first experiment used a balanced 2 x 2 design in which the presence/absence of commas determined plausibility (e.g., John, said Mary, was the nicest boy at the party versus John said Mary was the nicest boy at the party. The second reading experiment replicated a previous auditory study investigating the role of overt prosodic boundaries in closure ambiguities (Pauker et al., 2011. In both experiments, commas reliably elicited CPS components and generally played a dominant role in determining parsing decisions in the face of input ambiguity. The combined set of findings provides further evidence supporting the claim that mechanisms subserving speech processing play an active role during silent reading.

  18. Toward General Software Level Silent Data Corruption Detection for Parallel Applications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Berrocal, Eduardo; Bautista-Gomez, Leonardo; Di, Sheng; Lan, Zhiling; Cappello, Franck

    2017-12-01

    Silent data corruption (SDC) poses a great challenge for high-performance computing (HPC) applications as we move to extreme-scale systems. Mechanisms have been proposed that are able to detect SDC in HPC applications by using the peculiarities of the data (more specifically, its “smoothness” in time and space) to make predictions. However, these data-analytic solutions are still far from fully protecting applications to a level comparable with more expensive solutions such as full replication. In this work, we propose partial replication to overcome this limitation. More specifically, we have observed that not all processes of an MPI application experience the same level of data variability at exactly the same time. Thus, we can smartly choose and replicate only those processes for which the lightweight data-analytic detectors would perform poorly. In addition, we propose a new evaluation method based on the probability that a corruption will pass unnoticed by a particular detector (instead of just reporting overall single-bit precision and recall). In our experiments, we use four applications dealing with different explosions. Our results indicate that our new approach can protect the MPI applications analyzed with 7–70% less overhead (depending on the application) than that of full duplication with similar detection recall.

  19. Evaluation of the sympathetic nervous system in silent ischemia with 123I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guertner, C.; Schacherer, C.; Krause, B.J.; Zickmann, J.; Klepzig, H. Jr.; Hoer, G.

    1996-01-01

    Stress and rest myocardial perfusion scintigraphy using either Thallium-201 or 99m Tc-isonitrile was performed in SPECT technique in order to localize ischemia or scar associated perfusion defects. 15 min and 4 h p.i. static anterior 123 I-MIBG uptake was acquired. In order to localize norepinephrine depletion 4 h p.i. additional 123 I-MIBG SPECT acquistion was performed. Incidence of arrhythmias was investigated by Holter ECG. Patients with diabetes mellitus were excluded. SPECT images showed in all patients regional 123 I-MIBG depletion which corresponded with scintigraphically infarcted or ischemic regions. Well perfused myocardial regions matched with regular 123 I-MIBG utpake. There was no evidence of increased arrhythmias in long-term ECG. The finding of regular 123 I-MIBG uptake in well-perfused myocardium and infarction- or ischemia-associated regional 123 I-MIBG depletion confirms that silent ischemia is not caused by a global sympathetic nervous dysfunction in a sense of cardiac polyneuropathy. (orig.) [de

  20. Is the lack of association between cognitive complaints and objective cognitive functioning in patients with bipolar disorder moderated by depressive symptoms?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van der Werf-Eldering, Marieke J.; Burger, Huibert; Jabben, Nienke; Holthausen, Esther A. E.; Aleman, Andre; Nolen, Willem A.

    Objectives: To investigate the association between cognitive complaints and objective cognitive functioning in bipolar patients, with a focus on the moderating role of depressive symptoms. Methods: The association between cognitive complaints (measured by the total score and four subscales of the

  1. A Linear Programming Model to Optimize Various Objective Functions of a Foundation Type State Support Program.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matzke, Orville R.

    The purpose of this study was to formulate a linear programming model to simulate a foundation type support program and to apply this model to a state support program for the public elementary and secondary school districts in the State of Iowa. The model was successful in producing optimal solutions to five objective functions proposed for…

  2. The silent mass extinction of insect herbivores in biodiversity hotspots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fonseca, Carlos Roberto

    2009-12-01

    Habitat loss is silently leading numerous insects to extinction. Conservation efforts, however, have not been designed specifically to protect these organisms, despite their ecological and evolutionary significance. On the basis of species-host area equations, parameterized with data from the literature and interviews with botanical experts, I estimated the number of specialized plant-feeding insects (i.e., monophages) that live in 34 biodiversity hotspots and the number committed to extinction because of habitat loss. I estimated that 795,971-1,602,423 monophagous insect species live in biodiversity hotspots on 150,371 endemic plant species, which is 5.3-10.6 monophages per plant species. I calculated that 213,830-547,500 monophagous species are committed to extinction in biodiversity hotspots because of reduction of the geographic range size of their endemic hosts. I provided rankings of biodiversity hotspots on the basis of estimated richness of monophagous insects and on estimated number of extinctions of monophagous species. Extinction rates were predicted to be higher in biodiversity hotspots located along strong environmental gradients and on archipelagos, where high spatial turnover of monophagous species along the geographic distribution of their endemic plants is likely. The results strongly support the overall strategy of selecting priority conservation areas worldwide primarily on the basis of richness of endemic plants. To face the global decline of insect herbivores, one must expand the coverage of the network of protected areas and improve the richness of native plants on private lands.

  3. Mass media effect on vaccines uptake during silent polio outbreak.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sagy, Iftach; Novack, Victor; Gdalevich, Michael; Greenberg, Dan

    2018-03-14

    During 2013, isolation of a wild type 1 poliovirus from routine sewage sample in Israel, led to a national OPV campaign. During this period, there was a constant cover of the outbreak by the mass media. To investigate the association of media exposure and OPV and non-OPV vaccines uptake during the 2013 silent polio outbreak in Israel. We received data on daily immunization rates during the outbreak period from the Ministry of Health (MoH). We conducted a multivariable time trend analysis to assess the association between daily media exposure and vaccines uptake. Analysis was stratified by ethnicity and socio-economic status (SES). During the MoH supplemental immunization activity, 138,799 OPV vaccines were given. There was a significant association between media exposure and OPV uptake, most prominent in a lag of 3-5 days from the exposure among Jews (R.R 1.79C.I 95% 1.32-2.41) and high SES subgroups (R.R 1.71C.I 95% 1.27-2.30). These subgroups also showed increased non-OPV uptake in a lag of 3-5 days from the media exposure, in all vaccines except for MMR. Lower SES and non-Jewish subgroups did not demonstrate the same association. Our findings expand the understanding of public behaviour during outbreaks. The public response shows high variability within specific subgroups. These findings highlight the importance of tailored communication strategies for each subgroup. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Violence Against Health Care Workers: A Silent Problem

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vahideh Ghorbani sani

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Background and objectives: Considering the importance of process improvement and support system,we tried to take a step to clarify logistics processes and initiate quality improvement in health and nutrition faculty of Tabriz Medical Science University using process mapping and decision making matrix. Material and Methods: This study is qualitative and was done in 2012. The data were gathered by interview with those involving in the process and direct observation. In this study we clarified logistics processes of financial and administration deputy using block diagram and detailed flowchart. After clarifying the process, research team analyzed the data and proposed an improved way for process as a suggestive detailed flowchart. At the next stage we compared the processes in decision making matrix and finally the best option for intervention was chose between 10 worst functioned processes in decision making matrix of prioritization. Results: In this study we documented 35 processes using process mapping in general affairs, personnel affairs, secretariat, archive deputy, storage department, accounting, properties, services, supply and financial department. The accounting documenting process had the worst function according to comparison matrix and the purchase and supply process was selected as the best option of intervention. Conclusion: The research's results showed that most of the processes in this deputy have problems in theory and practice, and system improvement is in need of reforming which will improve quality and prevent organization sources to be wasted. Due to the multi department function of processes, the unity of departments and a qualified management is required for better reform.

  5. Pitting type of pretibial edema in a patient with silent thyroiditis successfully treated by angiotensin ii receptor blockade.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kazama, Itsuro; Mori, Yoko; Baba, Asuka; Nakajima, Toshiyuki

    2014-01-01

    Female, 56 FINAL DIAGNOSIS: Thyroiditis - silent Symptoms: Palpitations • pretibial pitting edema • short of breath • sweating - Clinical Procedure: - Specialty: Endocrinology and Metabolic. Unknown etiology. Hyper- or hypothyroidism sometimes causes pretibial myxedema characterized by non-pitting infiltration of a proteinaceous ground substance. However, in those patients, the "pitting" type of pretibial edema as a result of increased sodium and fluid retention or vascular hyper-permeability rarely occurs, except in cases complicated by heart failures due to severe cardiomyopathy or pulmonary hypertension. A 56-year-old woman developed bilateral pretibial pitting edema, followed by occasional sweating, palpitations, and shortness of breath, which persisted for more than 2 months. The diagnosis of hyperthyroidism due to silent thyroiditis was supported by elevated levels of free thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3), with a marked decrease in thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), and the negative results for TSH receptor antibodies with typical findings of destructive thyrotoxicosis. Despite her "pitting" type of pretibial edema, a chest radio-graph demonstrated the absence of cardiomyopathy or congestive heart failure. Oral administration of angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) was initiated for her systolic hypertension, with a relatively higher elevation of plasma renin activity compared to that of the aldosterone level. Although the symptoms characteristic to hyperthyroidism, such as increased sweating, palpitations and shortness of breath, slowly improved with a spontaneous resolution of the disease, ARB quickly resolved the pretibial pitting edema shortly after the administration.. In this case, increased activity of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system stimulated by thyroid hormone was likely responsible for the patient's pitting type of edema. The pharmacological blockade of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system was thought to be effective for

  6. Sonolytic and Silent Polymerization of Methacrlyic Acid Butyl Ester Catalyzed by a New Onium Salt with bis-Active Sites in a Biphasic System — A Comparative Investigation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Perumberkandgai A. Vivekanand

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available Currently, ingenious new analytical and process experimental techniques which are environmentally benign techniques, viz., ultrasound irradiation, have become immensely popular in promoting various reactions. In this work, a novel soluble multi-site phase transfer catalyst (PTC viz., 1,4-bis-(propylmethyleneammounium chloridebenzene (BPMACB was synthesized and its catalytic efficiency was assessed by observing the kinetics of sonolytic polymerization of methacrylic acid butyl ester (MABE using potassium persulphate (PPS as an initiator. The ultrasound–multi-site phase transfer catalysis (US-MPTC-assisted polymerization reaction was compared with the silent (non-ultrasonic polymerization reaction. The effects of the catalyst and various reaction parameters on the catalytic performance were in detail investigated by following the kinetics of polymerization of MABE in an ethyl acetate-water biphasic system. From the detailed kinetic investigation we propose a plausible mechanism. Further the kinetic results demonstrate clearly that ultrasound-assisted phase-transfer catalysis significantly increased the reaction rate when compared to silent reactions. Notably, this environmentally benign and cost-effective process has great potential to be applied in various polymer industries.

  7. De novo amplification within a silent human cholinesterase gene in a family subjected to prolonged exposure to organophosphorus insecticides

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Prody, C.A.; Dreyfus, P.; Soreq, H.; Zamir, R.; Zakut, H.

    1989-01-01

    A 100-fold DNA amplification in the CHE gene, coding for serum butyrylcholinesterase (BtChoEase), was found in a farmer expressing silent CHE phenotype. Individuals homozygous for this gene display a defective serum BtChoEase and are particularly vulnerable to poisoning by agricultural organophosphorus insecticides, to which all members of this family had long been exposed. DNA blot hybridization with regional BtChoEase cDNA probes suggested that the amplification was most intense in regions encoding central sequences within BtChoEase cDNA, whereas distal sequences were amplified to a much lower extent. This is in agreement with the onion skin model, based on amplification of genes in cultured cells and primary tumors. The amplification was absent in the grandparents but present at the same extent in one of their sons and in a grandson, with similar DNA blot hybridization patterns. In situ hybridization experiments localized the amplified sequences to the long arm of chromosome 3, close to the site where the authors previously mapped the CHE gene. Altogether, these observations suggest that the initial amplification event occurred early in embryogenesis, spermatogenesis, or oogenesis, where the CHE gene is intensely active and where cholinergic functioning was indicated to be physiologically necessary. These findings demonstrate a de novo amplification in apparently healthy individuals within an autosomal gene producing a target protein to an inhibitor

  8. Silent films and strange stories: theory of mind, gender, and social experiences in middle childhood.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Devine, Rory T; Hughes, Claire

    2013-01-01

    In this study of two hundred and thirty 8- to 13-year-olds, a new "Silent Films" task is introduced, designed to address the dearth of research on theory of mind in older children by providing a film-based analogue of F. G. E. Happé's (1994) Strange Stories task. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that all items from both tasks loaded onto a single theory-of-mind latent factor. With effects of verbal ability and family affluence controlled, theory-of-mind latent factor scores increased significantly with age, indicating that mentalizing skills continue to develop through middle childhood. Girls outperformed boys on the theory-of-mind latent factor, and the correlates of individual differences in theory of mind were gender specific: Low scores were related to loneliness in girls and to peer rejection in boys. © 2012 The Authors. Child Development © 2012 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

  9. Aural localization of silent objects by active human biosonar: neural representations of virtual echo-acoustic space.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wallmeier, Ludwig; Kish, Daniel; Wiegrebe, Lutz; Flanagin, Virginia L

    2015-03-01

    Some blind humans have developed the remarkable ability to detect and localize objects through the auditory analysis of self-generated tongue clicks. These echolocation experts show a corresponding increase in 'visual' cortex activity when listening to echo-acoustic sounds. Echolocation in real-life settings involves multiple reflections as well as active sound production, neither of which has been systematically addressed. We developed a virtualization technique that allows participants to actively perform such biosonar tasks in virtual echo-acoustic space during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Tongue clicks, emitted in the MRI scanner, are picked up by a microphone, convolved in real time with the binaural impulse responses of a virtual space, and presented via headphones as virtual echoes. In this manner, we investigated the brain activity during active echo-acoustic localization tasks. Our data show that, in blind echolocation experts, activations in the calcarine cortex are dramatically enhanced when a single reflector is introduced into otherwise anechoic virtual space. A pattern-classification analysis revealed that, in the blind, calcarine cortex activation patterns could discriminate left-side from right-side reflectors. This was found in both blind experts, but the effect was significant for only one of them. In sighted controls, 'visual' cortex activations were insignificant, but activation patterns in the planum temporale were sufficient to discriminate left-side from right-side reflectors. Our data suggest that blind and echolocation-trained, sighted subjects may recruit different neural substrates for the same active-echolocation task. © 2015 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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

    Science.gov (United States)

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

    2018-02-01

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

  11. Dynamic multi-objective optimization using PSO

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Helbig, M

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available by replacing objective functions with new ones at specific times. DMOOPs based on the static MOO two- objective ZDT functions [9] and the scalable DTLZ functions [10] was presented by Farina et al. [5]. Some adaptions to these test functions were proposed.... if space in archive 9. add new solutions to archive 10. else 11. remove solutions from archive 12. add new solutions to archive 13. select sentry particles The default configuration of DVEPSO algorithm that is used for this research is as follows...

  12. Lifetime suicide attempt history, quality of life, and objective functioning among HIV/AIDS patients with alcohol and illicit substance use disorders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walter, Kimberly N; Petry, Nancy M

    2016-05-01

    This cross-sectional study evaluated lifetime prevalence of suicide attempts in 170 HIV/AIDS patients with substance use disorders and the impact of suicide attempt history on subjective indices of quality of life and objective indices of cognitive and physical functioning. All patients met the diagnostic criteria for past-year cocaine or opioid use disorders and 27% of patients also had co-occurring alcohol use disorders. Compared to their counterparts without a history of a suicide attempt, patients with a history of a suicide attempt (n = 60, 35.3%) had significantly poorer emotional and cognitive quality of life scores (ps quality-of-life scores. Lifetime suicide attempt status was unrelated to objective indices of cognitive functioning, but there was a non-significant trend (p = .07) toward lower viral loads in those with a lifetime suicide attempt relative to those without. The findings indicate that suicide attempt histories are prevalent among HIV/AIDS patients with substance use disorders and relate to poorer perceived emotional and cognitive quality of life, but not objective functioning. HIV/AIDS patients with substance use disorders should be screened for lifetime histories of suicide attempts and offered assistance to improve perceived emotional and cognitive functioning. © The Author(s) 2016.

  13. Objective Provision Trees of Reactivity Control Safety Function for Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactor

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kang, Bongsuk; Yang, Huichang [TUEV Rheinland Korea Ltd., Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Suh, Namduk [Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2014-05-15

    The purpose of this OPT is first to assure the DiD design during the licensing of Sf, but it will also contribute in evaluating the completeness of regulatory requirements under development by Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS). Based on the definition of Defense-in-Depth (DiD) levels and safety functions for KALIMER Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactor (SFR), suggested in the reference and, Objective Provision Trees (OPTs) of reactivity control function for level 1, 2, 3 and 4 DiD were developed and suggested in this paper. The challenges and mechanisms and provisions were briefly explained in this paper. Comparing the mechanisms and provisions with the requirements will contribute in identifying the missing requirements. Since the design of Prototype Gen-IV Sf (PGSFR) is not mature yet, the OPT is developed for KALIMER design. Developed level 1 to 4 OPTs in this study can be used for the identification of potential design vulnerabilities. When detailed identification of provisions in terms of design features were achieved through the next step of this study, it can contribute to the establishment of defense-in-depth evaluation frame for the regulatory reviews for the licensing process. In the next stage of this study, other safety function will be researched and findings can be suggested as recommendations for the safety improvement.

  14. Objective Provision Trees of Reactivity Control Safety Function for Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kang, Bongsuk; Yang, Huichang; Suh, Namduk

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of this OPT is first to assure the DiD design during the licensing of Sf, but it will also contribute in evaluating the completeness of regulatory requirements under development by Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS). Based on the definition of Defense-in-Depth (DiD) levels and safety functions for KALIMER Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactor (SFR), suggested in the reference and, Objective Provision Trees (OPTs) of reactivity control function for level 1, 2, 3 and 4 DiD were developed and suggested in this paper. The challenges and mechanisms and provisions were briefly explained in this paper. Comparing the mechanisms and provisions with the requirements will contribute in identifying the missing requirements. Since the design of Prototype Gen-IV Sf (PGSFR) is not mature yet, the OPT is developed for KALIMER design. Developed level 1 to 4 OPTs in this study can be used for the identification of potential design vulnerabilities. When detailed identification of provisions in terms of design features were achieved through the next step of this study, it can contribute to the establishment of defense-in-depth evaluation frame for the regulatory reviews for the licensing process. In the next stage of this study, other safety function will be researched and findings can be suggested as recommendations for the safety improvement

  15. Synthetic mimetics of the endogenous gastrointestinal nanomineral: Silent constructs that trap macromolecules for intracellular delivery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pele, Laetitia C; Haas, Carolin T; Hewitt, Rachel E; Robertson, Jack; Skepper, Jeremy; Brown, Andy; Hernandez-Garrido, Juan Carlos; Midgley, Paul A; Faria, Nuno; Chappell, Helen; Powell, Jonathan J

    2017-02-01

    Amorphous magnesium-substituted calcium phosphate (AMCP) nanoparticles (75-150nm) form constitutively in large numbers in the mammalian gut. Collective evidence indicates that they trap and deliver luminal macromolecules to mucosal antigen presenting cells (APCs) and facilitate gut immune homeostasis. Here, we report on a synthetic mimetic of the endogenous AMCP and show that it has marked capacity to trap macromolecules during formation. Macromolecular capture into AMCP involved incorporation as shown by STEM tomography of the synthetic AMCP particle with 5nm ultra-fine iron (III) oxohydroxide. In vitro, organic cargo-loaded synthetic AMCP was taken up by APCs and tracked to lysosomal compartments. The AMCP itself did not regulate any gene, or modify any gene regulation by its cargo, based upon whole genome transcriptomic analyses. We conclude that synthetic AMCP can efficiently trap macromolecules and deliver them to APCs in a silent fashion, and may thus represent a new platform for antigen delivery. Copyright © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. Physical functioning in patients with ankylosing spondylitis: comparing approaches of experienced ability with self-reported and objectively measured physical activity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Genderen, Simon; van den Borne, Carlie; Geusens, Piet; van der Linden, Sjef; Boonen, Annelies; Plasqui, Guy

    2014-04-01

    Physical functioning can be assessed by different approaches that are characterized by increasing levels of individual appraisal. There is insufficient insight into which approach is the most informative in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) compared with control subjects. The objective of this study was to compare patients with AS and control subjects regarding 3 approaches of functioning: experienced ability to perform activities (Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index [BASFI]), self-reported amount of physical activity (PA) (Baecke questionnaire), and the objectively measured amount of PA (triaxial accelerometer). This case-control study included 24 AS patients and 24 control subjects (matched for age, gender, and body mass index). Subjects completed the BASFI and Baecke questionnaire and wore a triaxial accelerometer. Subjects also completed other self-reported measures on disease activity (Bath AS Disease Activity Index), fatigue (Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory), and overall health (EuroQol visual analog scale). Both groups included 14 men (58%), and the mean age was 48 years. Patients scored significantly worse on the BASFI (3.9 vs 0.2) than their healthy peers, whereas PA assessed by Baecke and the accelerometer did not differ between groups. Correlations between approaches of physical functioning were low to moderate. Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index was associated with disease activity (r = 0.49) and physical fatigue (0.73) and Baecke with physical and activity related fatigue (r = 0.54 and r = 0.54), but total PA assessed by accelerometer was not associated with any of these experience-based health outcomes. Different approaches of the concept physical functioning in patients with AS provide different information. Compared with matched control subjects, patients with AS report more difficulties but report and objectively perform the same amount of PA.

  17. Rough Music and Skimmington in Navarre during the Old Regime: Functions and Objectives

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Javier Ruiz Astiz

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available During the Old Regime rough musics ones acted in the majority of the occasions like control mechanisms and repression of the collective behaviors. In them their causes were worth of a series of instruments to heighten their activities, being tried this way to legitimize their actions. The present article has as an aim to study these events rendering a special attention to its functions and objectives. Nevertheless, the main task will consist of deepening in the cases seen in the kingdom of Navarre, organizing them in two groups: 1. weedings; 2. immoral behaviors; 3. government actions. All this with the intention to understand of a satisfactory way these practices of communitarian justice.

  18. Análisis de la operación del sistema nacional interconectado del ecuador utilizando programación en DIgSILENT-DPL

    OpenAIRE

    Canchiña Santana, José Miguel; Hinojosa, Víctor Hugo

    2009-01-01

    La planificación, diseño y el análisis de la operación de sistemas de potencia requieren estudios a fin de evaluar el desempeño del sistema existente, confiabilidad, seguridad y economía. Los estudios identifican y alertan potenciales deficiencias en el sistema factibles de corregir o prevenir. En el presente trabajo se presenta el estudio de las funcionalidades disponibles en el programa DIgSILENT Power Factory, y la implementación y automatización del proceso “Analizar la Operación en Condi...

  19. Methodology based in the fuzzy logic for constructing the objective functions in optimization problems of nuclear fuel: application to the cells radial design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barragan M, A.M.; Martin del Campo M, C.; Palomera P, M.A.

    2005-01-01

    A methodology based on Fuzzy Logic for the construction of the objective function of the optimization problems of nuclear fuel is described. It was created an inference system that responds, in certain form, as a human expert when it has the task of qualifying different radial designs of fuel cells. Specifically it is detailed how an inference system based based on Fuzzy Logic that has five enter variables and one exit variable was built, which corresponds to the objective function for the radial design of a fuel cell for a BWR. The use of Fuzzy with Mat lab offered the visualization capacity of the exit variable in function of one or two enter variables at the same time. This allowed to build, in appropriate way, the combination of the inference rules and the membership functions of those diffuse sets used for each one of the enter variables. The obtained objective function was used in an optimization process based on Taboo search. The new methodology was proven for the design of a cell used in a fuel assemble of the Laguna Verde reactor obtaining excellent results. (Author)

  20. 201Tl myocardial SPECT and β-endorphin levels in patients with suspected silent ischemia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lind, P.; Binter, G.; Koeltringer, P.; Eber, O.; Eber, B.; Klein, W.; Brandt, D.

    1990-01-01

    Today silent myocardial ischemia (SMI) is a well-recognized phenomenon. Treadmill exercise according to the Bruce protocol, 201 Tl myocardial SPECT and coronary angiography were performed in a total of 106 patients with suspected SMI. In group I (high probability of ischemia; n=46), reversible defects detected by SPECT correlated well with significant stenoses and irreversible defects with subtotal stenoses or complete occlusions. SPECT sensitivity in the detection of ischemia was 91%, its specificity 96%. In group II (low probability of ischemia; n=60), SPECT sensitivity was as high as in group I (94%) but due to a high number of false-positive results (e.g. cardiomyopathy) specificity was only 75%. However, SPECT was superior to exercise ECG (sensitivity 70%; specificity 56%) in the detection of SMI. In addition, β-endorphin levels were determined in 180 healthy subjects, 37 patients with symptomatic CAD and in 34 patients with SMI before and during maximum exercise. Exercise values in patients with SMI were significantly higher than in healthy subjects or in patients with symptomatic CAD. (orig./MG) [de

  1. Occurrence of silent cerebral infarction in pre-senile, senile subjects with depressive states; MRI findings and its distribution

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fujikawa, Tokumi; Yamawaki, Shigeto (Hiroshima Univ. (Japan). School of Medicine); Touhouda, Yoshikuni

    1993-02-01

    We examined the relationship between pre-senile, senile depressive states and silent cerebral infarction (SCI) using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The diagnostic criteria of major depression according to DSM-3-R was used to diagnose. Patients in whom stroke had occurred or who had local neurologic symptoms were not included. About half of the patients with depressive states of pre-senile onset and most of the patients with those of senile onset had SCI, were considered to be organic-depressive states complicated with SCI. Because patients with depressive states with SCI are at high risk of occurrence of stroke, we designated this condition 'pre-stroke depression', and classified it with endogenous depression. At this time, it is important to begin therapy for cerebrovascular disease. (author).

  2. Immunological profile of silent brain infarction and lacunar stroke.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paola Sarchielli

    Full Text Available Neuroinflammation is believed to be involved in the pathophysiological mechanisms of silent brain infarcts (SBI. However, the immunological profile of SBI has been scarcely investigated. In the context of a national research project named SILENCE, aimed at investigating clinical, biochemical and pathogenic features of SBI, we have measured the plasma profile of some inflammatory-related molecules in SBI patients (n = 21, patients with recent lacunar infarcts (LI, n = 28 and healthy controls (n = 31, consecutively enrolled in four Italian centres. A panel of chemokines (MIG, CTACK, IL16, SDF1a, MCP1, growth factors (SCF, SCGFb, HGF, IL3, immunoglobulin-type adhesion molecules (ICAM1, VCAM1, proinflammatory cytokines (IL18, INFa2, MIF, IL12p40, cell surface receptors on T-cells (IL2Ra, and inductors of apoptosis (TRAIL was assessed in plasma samples by Luminex xMAP™ technology. Immunological parameters were compared using non-parametric statistics and performance to distinguish SBI and LI was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC analysis. Plasma levels of ICAM1 were significantly higher in both SBI and LI patients as compared to controls (SBI≥LI>Ctrl. A different trend was observed for IL16 (SBICtrl, SCF (LICtrl and SCGFb (SBI>LICtrl and IL18 when compared to LI patients (Ctrl≤SBI>LI. All the other immunological markers did not significantly differ among groups. According to ROC analysis, the best predictor for SBI condition was the chemokine MIG (AUC = 0.84, sensitivity 86%, specificity 77%, while SCF had the best performance in distinguishing LI patients (AUC = 0.84, sensitivity 86%, specificity 68%. These results confirm the involvement of inflammatory processes in cerebrovascular disorders, particularly in SBI, a very common age-related condition. The differences in plasma profile of inflammatory molecules may underlie different pathological mechanisms in SBI and LI patients.

  3. Activity and function recognition for moving and static objects in urban environments from wide-area persistent surveillance inputs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Levchuk, Georgiy; Bobick, Aaron; Jones, Eric

    2010-04-01

    In this paper, we describe results from experimental analysis of a model designed to recognize activities and functions of moving and static objects from low-resolution wide-area video inputs. Our model is based on representing the activities and functions using three variables: (i) time; (ii) space; and (iii) structures. The activity and function recognition is achieved by imposing lexical, syntactic, and semantic constraints on the lower-level event sequences. In the reported research, we have evaluated the utility and sensitivity of several algorithms derived from natural language processing and pattern recognition domains. We achieved high recognition accuracy for a wide range of activity and function types in the experiments using Electro-Optical (EO) imagery collected by Wide Area Airborne Surveillance (WAAS) platform.

  4. Embedding objects during 3D printing to add new functionalities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yuen, Po Ki

    2016-07-01

    A novel method for integrating and embedding objects to add new functionalities during 3D printing based on fused deposition modeling (FDM) (also known as fused filament fabrication or molten polymer deposition) is presented. Unlike typical 3D printing, FDM-based 3D printing could allow objects to be integrated and embedded during 3D printing and the FDM-based 3D printed devices do not typically require any post-processing and finishing. Thus, various fluidic devices with integrated glass cover slips or polystyrene films with and without an embedded porous membrane, and optical devices with embedded Corning(®) Fibrance™ Light-Diffusing Fiber were 3D printed to demonstrate the versatility of the FDM-based 3D printing and embedding method. Fluid perfusion flow experiments with a blue colored food dye solution were used to visually confirm fluid flow and/or fluid perfusion through the embedded porous membrane in the 3D printed fluidic devices. Similar to typical 3D printed devices, FDM-based 3D printed devices are translucent at best unless post-polishing is performed and optical transparency is highly desirable in any fluidic devices; integrated glass cover slips or polystyrene films would provide a perfect optical transparent window for observation and visualization. In addition, they also provide a compatible flat smooth surface for biological or biomolecular applications. The 3D printed fluidic devices with an embedded porous membrane are applicable to biological or chemical applications such as continuous perfusion cell culture or biocatalytic synthesis but without the need for any post-device assembly and finishing. The 3D printed devices with embedded Corning(®) Fibrance™ Light-Diffusing Fiber would have applications in display, illumination, or optical applications. Furthermore, the FDM-based 3D printing and embedding method could also be utilized to print casting molds with an integrated glass bottom for polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) device replication

  5. The Impact of Silent and Freeze-Frame Viewing Techniques of Video Materials on the Intermediate EFL Learners’ Listening Comprehension

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sara Shahani

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available The use of modern technologies has been widely prevalent among language learners, and video, in particular, as a valuable learning tool provides learners with comprehensible input. The present study investigated the effect of silent and freeze-frame viewing techniques of video materials on the intermediate English as a foreign language (EFL learners’ listening comprehension. To this end, 45 intermediate EFL learners participated in this quasi-experimental study. The results of one-way ANOVA revealed that there was a statistically significant difference between the experimental groups (using two types of viewing techniques and the control group. While the difference between the two experimental groups was not statistically significant, the experimental groups outperformed the control group significantly.

  6. The first family with Tay-Sachs disease in Cyprus: Genetic analysis reveals a nonsense (c.78G>A) and a silent (c.1305C>T) mutation and allows preimplantation genetic diagnosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Georgiou, Theodoros; Christopoulos, George; Anastasiadou, Violetta; Hadjiloizou, Stavros; Cregeen, David; Jackson, Marie; Mavrikiou, Gavriella; Kleanthous, Marina; Drousiotou, Anthi

    2014-12-01

    Tay-Sachs disease (TSD) is a recessively inherited neurodegenerative disorder caused by mutations in the HEXA gene resulting in β-hexosaminidase A (HEX A) deficiency and neuronal accumulation of GM2 ganglioside. We describe the first patient with Tay-Sachs disease in the Cypriot population, a juvenile case which presented with developmental regression at the age of five. The diagnosis was confirmed by measurement of HEXA activity in plasma, peripheral leucocytes and fibroblasts. Sequencing the HEXA gene resulted in the identification of two previously described mutations: the nonsense mutation c.78G>A (p.Trp26X) and the silent mutation c.1305C>T (p.=). The silent mutation was reported once before in a juvenile TSD patient of West Indian origin with an unusually mild phenotype. The presence of this mutation in another juvenile TSD patient provides further evidence that it is a disease-causing mutation. Successful preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) and prenatal follow-up were provided to the couple.

  7. Brain regions involved in subprocesses of small-space episodic object-location memory: a systematic review of lesion and functional neuroimaging studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zimmermann, Kathrin; Eschen, Anne

    2017-04-01

    Object-location memory (OLM) enables us to keep track of the locations of objects in our environment. The neurocognitive model of OLM (Postma, A., Kessels, R. P. C., & Van Asselen, M. (2004). The neuropsychology of object-location memory. In G. L. Allen (Ed.), Human spatial memory: Remembering where (pp. 143-160). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, Postma, A., Kessels, R. P. C., & Van Asselen, M. (2008). How the brain remembers and forgets where things are: The neurocognition of object-location memory. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 32, 1339-1345. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2008.05.001 ) proposes that distinct brain regions are specialised for different subprocesses of OLM (object processing, location processing, and object-location binding; categorical and coordinate OLM; egocentric and allocentric OLM). It was based mainly on findings from lesion studies. However, recent episodic memory studies point to a contribution of additional or different brain regions to object and location processing within episodic OLM. To evaluate and update the neurocognitive model of OLM, we therefore conducted a systematic literature search for lesion as well as functional neuroimaging studies contrasting small-space episodic OLM with object memory or location memory. We identified 10 relevant lesion studies and 8 relevant functional neuroimaging studies. We could confirm some of the proposals of the neurocognitive model of OLM, but also differing hypotheses from episodic memory research, about which brain regions are involved in the different subprocesses of small-space episodic OLM. In addition, we were able to identify new brain regions as well as important research gaps.

  8. MULTIPLE OBJECTS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. A. Bosov

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Purpose. The development of complicated techniques of production and management processes, information systems, computer science, applied objects of systems theory and others requires improvement of mathematical methods, new approaches for researches of application systems. And the variety and diversity of subject systems makes necessary the development of a model that generalizes the classical sets and their development – sets of sets. Multiple objects unlike sets are constructed by multiple structures and represented by the structure and content. The aim of the work is the analysis of multiple structures, generating multiple objects, the further development of operations on these objects in application systems. Methodology. To achieve the objectives of the researches, the structure of multiple objects represents as constructive trio, consisting of media, signatures and axiomatic. Multiple object is determined by the structure and content, as well as represented by hybrid superposition, composed of sets, multi-sets, ordered sets (lists and heterogeneous sets (sequences, corteges. Findings. In this paper we study the properties and characteristics of the components of hybrid multiple objects of complex systems, proposed assessments of their complexity, shown the rules of internal and external operations on objects of implementation. We introduce the relation of arbitrary order over multiple objects, we define the description of functions and display on objects of multiple structures. Originality.In this paper we consider the development of multiple structures, generating multiple objects.Practical value. The transition from the abstract to the subject of multiple structures requires the transformation of the system and multiple objects. Transformation involves three successive stages: specification (binding to the domain, interpretation (multiple sites and particularization (goals. The proposed describe systems approach based on hybrid sets

  9. Development of a Wrapper Object for MARS TH Systems Code and Its Applications in Object Oriented Programs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, Sun Byung; Lee, Young Jin; Kim, Hyong Chol; Han, Sam Hee; Kim, Hyun Jik

    2013-01-01

    TMARS is written for the object pascal program language, and 'wraps' the Dynamic Link Library (DLL) manifestation of the MARS-KS code written in Fortran 90. TMARS behaves as a true object and it can be instantiated, inherited, and its methods overloaded. The functionality of TMARS was verified and demonstrated using two programs built under object oriented program environment. One is a text based program for reviewing the data interface of TMARS, and the other is a graphic intensive prototype NPA program for testing the overall performance of TMARS. The prototype NPA was also used to assess the real-time capability of TMARS. The demonstration programs show that application of TMARS is straight forward and that its functions facilitate easy application developments. TMARS, a wrapper object class encapsulating the calculation functions of MARS-KS code, was successfully developed and verification of its functionality was carried out using custom made programs. The verification results show that TMARS is capable of providing reliable TH calculation results and sufficient performance to realize real time calculations

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

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. C. Demirel

    2018-02-01

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

  11. Objectives and functions of ionizing radiation metrology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rothe, H.

    1981-01-01

    Proceeding from the fundamental objectives of ionizing radiation metrology, the main tasks of metrological research and assurances of accurate measurements in dosimetry and activity determination are summarized. With a view to the technical performance of these tasks the state-of-the-art and the trends in reproduction and dissemination of dosimetric and activity units are outlined. Problems are derived that should be solved within the framework of the CMEA Standing Commissions on Standardization and on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy. (author)

  12. Digital fabrication of multi-material biomedical objects

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cheung, H H; Choi, S H, E-mail: shchoi@hku.h [Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road (Hong Kong)

    2009-12-15

    This paper describes a multi-material virtual prototyping (MMVP) system for modelling and digital fabrication of discrete and functionally graded multi-material objects for biomedical applications. The MMVP system consists of a DMMVP module, an FGMVP module and a virtual reality (VR) simulation module. The DMMVP module is used to model discrete multi-material (DMM) objects, while the FGMVP module is for functionally graded multi-material (FGM) objects. The VR simulation module integrates these two modules to perform digital fabrication of multi-material objects, which can be subsequently visualized and analysed in a virtual environment to optimize MMLM processes for fabrication of product prototypes. Using the MMVP system, two biomedical objects, including a DMM human spine and an FGM intervertebral disc spacer are modelled and digitally fabricated for visualization and analysis in a VR environment. These studies show that the MMVP system is a practical tool for modelling, visualization, and subsequent fabrication of biomedical objects of discrete and functionally graded multi-materials for biomedical applications. The system may be adapted to control MMLM machines with appropriate hardware for physical fabrication of biomedical objects.

  13. Digital fabrication of multi-material biomedical objects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cheung, H H; Choi, S H

    2009-01-01

    This paper describes a multi-material virtual prototyping (MMVP) system for modelling and digital fabrication of discrete and functionally graded multi-material objects for biomedical applications. The MMVP system consists of a DMMVP module, an FGMVP module and a virtual reality (VR) simulation module. The DMMVP module is used to model discrete multi-material (DMM) objects, while the FGMVP module is for functionally graded multi-material (FGM) objects. The VR simulation module integrates these two modules to perform digital fabrication of multi-material objects, which can be subsequently visualized and analysed in a virtual environment to optimize MMLM processes for fabrication of product prototypes. Using the MMVP system, two biomedical objects, including a DMM human spine and an FGM intervertebral disc spacer are modelled and digitally fabricated for visualization and analysis in a VR environment. These studies show that the MMVP system is a practical tool for modelling, visualization, and subsequent fabrication of biomedical objects of discrete and functionally graded multi-materials for biomedical applications. The system may be adapted to control MMLM machines with appropriate hardware for physical fabrication of biomedical objects.

  14. Semantic memory in object use.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silveri, Maria Caterina; Ciccarelli, Nicoletta

    2009-10-01

    We studied five patients with semantic memory disorders, four with semantic dementia and one with herpes simplex virus encephalitis, to investigate the involvement of semantic conceptual knowledge in object use. Comparisons between patients who had semantic deficits of different severity, as well as the follow-up, showed that the ability to use objects was largely preserved when the deficit was mild but progressively decayed as the deficit became more severe. Naming was generally more impaired than object use. Production tasks (pantomime execution and actual object use) and comprehension tasks (pantomime recognition and action recognition) as well as functional knowledge about objects were impaired when the semantic deficit was severe. Semantic and unrelated errors were produced during object use, but actions were always fluent and patients performed normally on a novel tools task in which the semantic demand was minimal. Patients with severe semantic deficits scored borderline on ideational apraxia tasks. Our data indicate that functional semantic knowledge is crucial for using objects in a conventional way and suggest that non-semantic factors, mainly non-declarative components of memory, might compensate to some extent for semantic disorders and guarantee some residual ability to use very common objects independently of semantic knowledge.

  15. THE INDIRECT OBJECT (IO) – ALBANIAN AND ENGLISH

    OpenAIRE

    Shkelqim Millaku; Xhevahire Topanica

    2016-01-01

    The aim of this study is too corporate the function of the indirect object between Albanian and English language. The function and the Albanian typical case for indirect object are dative and ablative. This grammatical phenomena is the full contrast between two languages because in English language doesn’t exist dative and ablative us in Albanian. In Albanian and English language, the indirect object is more heterogenic than the direct object. The indirect (direct) object in both of languages...

  16. Epistaxis as the First Manifestation of Silent Renal Cell Carcinoma: A Case Report with Relevant Literature Review

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Seung Min; Kim, You Me; Kim, Bong Man

    2016-01-01

    The paranasal sinuses are known to be a rare location for metastasis. Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is the most frequent primary tumor to metastasize to the sinonasal region, followed by lung and breast cancer. In particular, clear cell type RCC, which represents approximately 85% of RCCs, is characterized by early metastasis, and it sometimes spreads to unusual sites (1, 2). Metastatic tumors in the paranasal sinuses are distributed in the maxillary, sphenoid, ethmoid, and frontal sinuses, in order of decreasing frequency. Symptoms are usually nonspecific, but epistaxis is the most common sign, due to the hypervascularity of the primary tumor. The prognosis is uncertain, but the 5-year survival rate fluctuates between 15% and 30%. The purpose of this case report is to document a rare case of silent RCC that first presented as epistaxis due to nasal cavity and ethmoid sinus metastasis

  17. Objects, materiality and meaning

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lenau, Torben Anker; Lindegaard, Hanne

    2008-01-01

    The present research work investigates the relation between physical objects, their materiality, understood as the physical substances they are made from, and the communication from the objects. In product design of physical objects the communicative aspects are just as important as the function...... of the object, and the designers aim is therefore to tune both in order to achieve a desired goal. To do so the designer basically has 2 options: Alteration of the physical shape of the object and the selection of materials. Through the manipulation of shape and materials can symbolic and sensory information...... be written into the object. The materials are therefore carriers of communication, even though this is dependent of the cultural context and the environment which the object will be part of. However the designer has only minor influence on those....

  18. A generalized quantitative antibody homeostasis model: maintenance of global antibody equilibrium by effector functions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prechl, József

    2017-11-01

    The homeostasis of antibodies can be characterized as a balanced production, target-binding and receptor-mediated elimination regulated by an interaction network, which controls B-cell development and selection. Recently, we proposed a quantitative model to describe how the concentration and affinity of interacting partners generates a network. Here we argue that this physical, quantitative approach can be extended for the interpretation of effector functions of antibodies. We define global antibody equilibrium as the zone of molar equivalence of free antibody, free antigen and immune complex concentrations and of dissociation constant of apparent affinity: [Ab]=[Ag]=[AbAg]= K D . This zone corresponds to the biologically relevant K D range of reversible interactions. We show that thermodynamic and kinetic properties of antibody-antigen interactions correlate with immunological functions. The formation of stable, long-lived immune complexes correspond to a decrease of entropy and is a prerequisite for the generation of higher-order complexes. As the energy of formation of complexes increases, we observe a gradual shift from silent clearance to inflammatory reactions. These rules can also be applied to complement activation-related immune effector processes, linking the physicochemical principles of innate and adaptive humoral responses. Affinity of the receptors mediating effector functions shows a wide range of affinities, allowing the continuous sampling of antibody-bound antigen over the complete range of concentrations. The generation of multivalent, multicomponent complexes triggers effector functions by crosslinking these receptors on effector cells with increasing enzymatic degradation potential. Thus, antibody homeostasis is a thermodynamic system with complex network properties, nested into the host organism by proper immunoregulatory and effector pathways. Maintenance of global antibody equilibrium is achieved by innate qualitative signals modulating a

  19. Atherogenic dyslipidemia and risk of silent coronary artery disease in asymptomatic patients with type 2 diabetes: a cross-sectional study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Valensi, Paul; Avignon, Antoine; Sultan, Ariane; Chanu, Bernard; Nguyen, Minh Tuan; Cosson, Emmanuel

    2016-07-22

    To investigate whether atherogenic dyslipidemia, a dyslipidemic profile combining elevated triglycerides and low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, is predictive of risk of silent myocardial ischemia (SMI) or angiographic coronary artery disease (CAD) in asymptomatic patients with type 2 diabetes. Cohort study in 1080 asymptomatic patients with type 2 diabetes with a normal resting electrocardiogram, at least one additional cardiovascular risk factor and low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol dyslipidemia (triglycerides ≥2.26 mmol/L and HDL cholesterol ≤0.88 mmol/L). In multivariate analyses taking into account the parameters associated in univariate analyses with SMI and then CAD, atherogenic dyslipidemia was associated with SMI (odds ratio 1.8[1.0-3.3]), as were male gender (OR 2.1[1.5-2.9]), BMI (OR 0.97[0.94-0.997]), retinopathy (OR 1.4[1.1-1.9]), peripheral occlusive arterial disease (POAD: OR 2.5[1.6-3.8]) and mean blood pressure (OR 1.01[1.00-1.03]); atherogenic dyslipidemia was associated with CAD (OR 4.0[1.7-9.2]), as were male gender (OR 3.0[1.6-5.6]), BMI (OR 0.94[0.90-0.995]), retinopathy (OR 1.7[1.0-2.9], POAD (OR 4.0[2.1-7.4]) and mean blood pressure (OR 1.03[1.01-1.05]). In the subgroup of 584 patients with LDL cholesterol dyslipidemia was also associated with CAD (OR 3.6[1.5-9.0]). Atherogenic dyslipidemia was associated with an increased risk of SMI and silent CAD in patients with type 2 diabetes and LDL cholesterol levels dyslipidemia might help reducing the high residual burden of cardiovascular disease.

  20. Crossmodal object recognition in rats with and without multimodal object pre-exposure: no effect of hippocampal lesions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reid, James M; Jacklin, Derek L; Winters, Boyer D

    2012-10-01

    The neural mechanisms and brain circuitry involved in the formation, storage, and utilization of multisensory object representations are poorly understood. We have recently introduced a crossmodal object recognition (CMOR) task that enables the study of such questions in rats. Our previous research has indicated that the perirhinal and posterior parietal cortices functionally interact to mediate spontaneous (tactile-to-visual) CMOR performance in rats; however, it remains to be seen whether other brain regions, particularly those receiving polymodal sensory inputs, contribute to this cognitive function. In the current study, we assessed the potential contribution of one such polymodal region, the hippocampus (HPC), to crossmodal object recognition memory. Rats with bilateral excitotoxic HPC lesions were tested in two versions of crossmodal object recognition: (1) the original CMOR task, which requires rats to compare between a stored tactile object representation and visually-presented objects to discriminate the novel and familiar stimuli; and (2) a novel 'multimodal pre-exposure' version of the CMOR task (PE/CMOR), in which simultaneous exploration of the tactile and visual sensory features of an object 24 h prior to the sample phase enhances CMOR performance across longer retention delays. Hippocampus-lesioned rats performed normally on both crossmodal object recognition tasks, but were impaired on a radial arm maze test of spatial memory, demonstrating the functional effectiveness of the lesions. These results strongly suggest that the HPC, despite its polymodal anatomical connections, is not critically involved in tactile-to-visual crossmodal object recognition memory. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Object recognition and concept learning with Confucius

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cohen, B; Sammut, C

    1982-01-01

    A learning program produces, as its output, a Boolean function which describes a concept. The function returns true if and only if the argument is an object which satisfies the logical expression in the body of the function. The learning program's input is a set of objects which are instances of the concept to be learnt. The paper describes an algorithm devised to learn concept descriptions in this form. 15 references.

  2. Assessing the performance of a differential evolution algorithm in structural damage detection by varying the objective function

    OpenAIRE

    Villalba-Morales, Jesús Daniel; Laier, José Elias

    2014-01-01

    Structural damage detection has become an important research topic in certain segments of the engineering community. These methodologies occasionally formulate an optimization problem by defining an objective function based on dynamic parameters, with metaheuristics used to find the solution. In this study, damage localization and quantification is performed by an Adaptive Differential Evolution algorithm, which solves the associated optimization problem. Furthermore, this paper looks at the ...

  3. The bottom-up approach to defining life : deciphering the functional organization of biological cells via multi-objective representation of biological complexity from molecules to cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sathish ePeriyasamy

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available In silico representation of cellular systems needs to represent the adaptive dynamics of biological cells, recognizing a cell’s multi-objective topology formed by spatially and temporally cohesive intracellular structures. The design of these models needs to address the hierarchical and concurrent nature of cellular functions and incorporate the ability to self-organise in response to transitions between healthy and pathological phases, and adapt accordingly. The functions of biological systems are constantly evolving, due to the ever changing demands of their environment. Biological systems meet these demands by pursuing objectives, aided by their constituents, giving rise to biological functions. A biological cell is organised into an objective/task hierarchy. These objective hierarchy corresponds to the nested nature of temporally cohesive structures and representing them will facilitate in studying pleiotropy and polygeny by modeling causalities propagating across multiple interconnected intracellular processes. Although biological adaptations occur in physiological, developmental and reproductive timescales, the paper is focused on adaptations that occur within physiological timescales, where the biomolecular activities contributing to functional organisation, play a key role in cellular physiology. The paper proposes a multi-scale and multi-objective modelling approach from the bottom-up by representing temporally cohesive structures for multi-tasking of intracellular processes. Further the paper characterises the properties and constraints that are consequential to the organisational and adaptive dynamics in biological cells.

  4. SU-F-BRD-01: A Logistic Regression Model to Predict Objective Function Weights in Prostate Cancer IMRT

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boutilier, J; Chan, T; Lee, T; Craig, T; Sharpe, M

    2014-01-01

    Purpose: To develop a statistical model that predicts optimization objective function weights from patient geometry for intensity-modulation radiotherapy (IMRT) of prostate cancer. Methods: A previously developed inverse optimization method (IOM) is applied retrospectively to determine optimal weights for 51 treated patients. We use an overlap volume ratio (OVR) of bladder and rectum for different PTV expansions in order to quantify patient geometry in explanatory variables. Using the optimal weights as ground truth, we develop and train a logistic regression (LR) model to predict the rectum weight and thus the bladder weight. Post hoc, we fix the weights of the left femoral head, right femoral head, and an artificial structure that encourages conformity to the population average while normalizing the bladder and rectum weights accordingly. The population average of objective function weights is used for comparison. Results: The OVR at 0.7cm was found to be the most predictive of the rectum weights. The LR model performance is statistically significant when compared to the population average over a range of clinical metrics including bladder/rectum V53Gy, bladder/rectum V70Gy, and mean voxel dose to the bladder, rectum, CTV, and PTV. On average, the LR model predicted bladder and rectum weights that are both 63% closer to the optimal weights compared to the population average. The treatment plans resulting from the LR weights have, on average, a rectum V70Gy that is 35% closer to the clinical plan and a bladder V70Gy that is 43% closer. Similar results are seen for bladder V54Gy and rectum V54Gy. Conclusion: Statistical modelling from patient anatomy can be used to determine objective function weights in IMRT for prostate cancer. Our method allows the treatment planners to begin the personalization process from an informed starting point, which may lead to more consistent clinical plans and reduce overall planning time

  5. SU-F-BRD-01: A Logistic Regression Model to Predict Objective Function Weights in Prostate Cancer IMRT

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Boutilier, J; Chan, T; Lee, T [University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario (Canada); Craig, T; Sharpe, M [University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario (Canada); The Princess Margaret Cancer Centre - UHN, Toronto, ON (Canada)

    2014-06-15

    Purpose: To develop a statistical model that predicts optimization objective function weights from patient geometry for intensity-modulation radiotherapy (IMRT) of prostate cancer. Methods: A previously developed inverse optimization method (IOM) is applied retrospectively to determine optimal weights for 51 treated patients. We use an overlap volume ratio (OVR) of bladder and rectum for different PTV expansions in order to quantify patient geometry in explanatory variables. Using the optimal weights as ground truth, we develop and train a logistic regression (LR) model to predict the rectum weight and thus the bladder weight. Post hoc, we fix the weights of the left femoral head, right femoral head, and an artificial structure that encourages conformity to the population average while normalizing the bladder and rectum weights accordingly. The population average of objective function weights is used for comparison. Results: The OVR at 0.7cm was found to be the most predictive of the rectum weights. The LR model performance is statistically significant when compared to the population average over a range of clinical metrics including bladder/rectum V53Gy, bladder/rectum V70Gy, and mean voxel dose to the bladder, rectum, CTV, and PTV. On average, the LR model predicted bladder and rectum weights that are both 63% closer to the optimal weights compared to the population average. The treatment plans resulting from the LR weights have, on average, a rectum V70Gy that is 35% closer to the clinical plan and a bladder V70Gy that is 43% closer. Similar results are seen for bladder V54Gy and rectum V54Gy. Conclusion: Statistical modelling from patient anatomy can be used to determine objective function weights in IMRT for prostate cancer. Our method allows the treatment planners to begin the personalization process from an informed starting point, which may lead to more consistent clinical plans and reduce overall planning time.

  6. Sensitivity and Uncertainty Analysis for Streamflow Prediction Using Different Objective Functions and Optimization Algorithms: San Joaquin California

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paul, M.; Negahban-Azar, M.

    2017-12-01

    The hydrologic models usually need to be calibrated against observed streamflow at the outlet of a particular drainage area through a careful model calibration. However, a large number of parameters are required to fit in the model due to their unavailability of the field measurement. Therefore, it is difficult to calibrate the model for a large number of potential uncertain model parameters. This even becomes more challenging if the model is for a large watershed with multiple land uses and various geophysical characteristics. Sensitivity analysis (SA) can be used as a tool to identify most sensitive model parameters which affect the calibrated model performance. There are many different calibration and uncertainty analysis algorithms which can be performed with different objective functions. By incorporating sensitive parameters in streamflow simulation, effects of the suitable algorithm in improving model performance can be demonstrated by the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) modeling. In this study, the SWAT was applied in the San Joaquin Watershed in California covering 19704 km2 to calibrate the daily streamflow. Recently, sever water stress escalating due to intensified climate variability, prolonged drought and depleting groundwater for agricultural irrigation in this watershed. Therefore it is important to perform a proper uncertainty analysis given the uncertainties inherent in hydrologic modeling to predict the spatial and temporal variation of the hydrologic process to evaluate the impacts of different hydrologic variables. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the sensitivity and uncertainty of the calibrated parameters for predicting streamflow. To evaluate the sensitivity of the calibrated parameters three different optimization algorithms (Sequential Uncertainty Fitting- SUFI-2, Generalized Likelihood Uncertainty Estimation- GLUE and Parameter Solution- ParaSol) were used with four different objective functions (coefficient of determination

  7. Migraine, the heart and the brain

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Koppen, H.

    2018-01-01

    The association between migraine and silent ischemic brain lesions was investigated. Also the occurence of right-to-left shunts in different migraine groups and controls. The functional consequences of silent ischemic brain lesions were investigated.

  8. Inhibitory Control of Feature Selectivity in an Object Motion Sensitive Circuit of the Retina

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tahnbee Kim

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Object motion sensitive (OMS W3-retinal ganglion cells (W3-RGCs in mice respond to local movements in a visual scene but remain silent during self-generated global image motion. The excitatory inputs that drive responses of W3-RGCs to local motion were recently characterized, but which inhibitory neurons suppress W3-RGCs’ responses to global motion, how these neurons encode motion information, and how their connections are organized along the excitatory circuit axis remains unknown. Here, we find that a genetically identified amacrine cell (AC type, TH2-AC, exhibits fast responses to global motion and slow responses to local motion. Optogenetic stimulation shows that TH2-ACs provide strong GABAA receptor-mediated input to W3-RGCs but only weak input to upstream excitatory neurons. Cell-type-specific silencing reveals that temporally coded inhibition from TH2-ACs cancels W3-RGC spike responses to global but not local motion stimuli and, thus, controls the feature selectivity of OMS signals sent to the brain.

  9. Importance of 201Tl scintigraphy during exercise for diagnosis of silent myocardial ischemia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kasalicky, J.; Kidery, J.; Svacinka, J.; Vanko, J.; Brunova, J.; Bartos, V.

    1990-01-01

    Using thallium scintigraphy during exercise (TSE), suspect silent myocardial ischemia (SIM) was diagnosed in subjects without angina pectoris. 21 active pilots with suspect SIM were examined after previous exercise ECG as well as 33 patients with diabetes type I and II. In six pilots (28.6%) TSE showed accumulation defects suggesting ischemic disorders of the large coronary arteries. Five pilots showed obvious depressions of the ST segment in ECG during submaximal exercise TSE. In another group of five pilots small depressions of the ST segment were associated with normal TSE. Twelve diabetic patients (36.4%) had minor accumulation defects on TSE. Only two showed a ST depression under 2 mm in ECG during TSE. Based on data in the literature suggesting higher sensitivity and specificity of exercise thallium scintigraphy as compared with exercise ECG and the possibility of a false positive diagnosis of SIM from exercise ECG alone, it is recommended to also use TSE. A more detailed diagnosis of SIM is essential not only with regard to the assessment of work capacity but also for a long-term follow-up of patients with SIM for assessment of its incidence, impact and prognosis in the population. (author). 4 figs., 4 tabs., 25 refs

  10. A functional analysis of photo-object matching skills of severely retarded adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dixon, L S

    1981-01-01

    Matching-to-sample procedures were used to assess picture representation skills of severely retarded, nonverbal adolescents. Identity matching within the classes of objects and life-size, full-color photos of the objects was first used to assess visual discrimination, a necessary condition for picture representation. Picture representation was then assessed through photo-object matching tasks. Five students demonstrated visual discrimination (identity matching) within the two classes of photos and the objects. Only one student demonstrated photo-object matching. The results of the four students who failed to demonstrate photo-object matching suggested that physical properties of photos (flat, rectangular) and depth dimensions of objects may exert more control over matching than the similarities of the objects and images within the photos. An analysis of figure-ground variables was conducted to provide an empirical basis for program development in the use of pictures. In one series of tests, rectangular shape and background were removed by cutting out the figures in the photos. The edge shape of the photo and the edge shape of the image were then identical. The results suggest that photo-object matching may be facilitated by using cut-out figures rather than the complete rectangular photo.

  11. The Right to Remain Silent in Criminal Trial

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gianina Anemona Radu

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available A person's right not to incriminate oneself or to remain silent and not contribute to their own incrimination is a basic requirement of due process, although the right not to testify against oneself is not expressly guaranteed. This legal right is intended to protect the accused/ the defendant against the authorities’ abusive coercion. The scope of the right not to incriminate oneself is related to criminal matter under the Convention, and thus susceptible or applicable to criminal proceedings concerning all types of crimes as a guarantee to a fair trial. The European Court of Justice ruled that despite the fact that art. 6 paragraph 2 of the Convention does not expressly mention the right not to incriminate oneself and the right not to contribute to their own incrimination (nemo tenetur are ipsum accusare these are generally recognized international rules that are in consistence with the notion of “fair trial” stipulated in art. 6. By virtue of the right to silence, the person charged with a crime is free to answer the questions or not, as he/she believes it is in his/her interest. Therefore, the right to silence involves not only the right not to testify against oneself, but also the right of the accused/ defendant not to incriminate oneself. Thus, the accused/defendant cannot be compelled to assist in the production of evidence and cannot be sanctioned for failing to provide certain documents or other evidence. Obligation to testify against personal will, under the constraint of a fine or any other form of coercion constitutes an interference with the negative aspect of the right to freedom of expression which must be necessary in a democratic society. It is essential to clarify certain issues as far as this right is concerned. First of all, the statutory provision in question is specific to adversarial systems, which are found mainly in Anglo-Saxon countries and are totally different from that underlying the current Romanian Criminal

  12. Objectives of Financial Statements. Report of the Study Group on the Objectives of Financial Statements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    American Inst. of Certified Public Accountants, New York, NY.

    This report discusses the objectives of financial statements. Emphasis is placed on the function of objectives; users, their goals, and their information needs; the primary enterprise goal and earning power; accountability and financial statements; financial statements--reporting on the goal attainment of business enterprises; financial…

  13. 29 CFR 1960.87 - Objectives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... relationship with local community leaders by informing them of the existing functions and objectives of the... 29 Labor 9 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Objectives. 1960.87 Section 1960.87 Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR (CONTINUED...

  14. Silent Crooke’s cell corticotroph adenoma of the pituitary gland presenting as delayed puberty

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dinesh Giri

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Corticotroph adenomas are extremely rare in children and adolescents. We present a 15-year-old boy who was investigated for delayed puberty (A1P2G1, bilateral testicular volumes of 3 mL each. There was no clinical or laboratory evidence suggestive of chronic illness, and the initial clinical impression was constitutional delay in puberty. Subsequently, MRI scan of the brain revealed the presence of a mixed cystic and solid pituitary lesion slightly displacing the optic chiasma. The lesion was removed by transphenoidal surgery and the biopsy confirmed the lesion to be pituitary adenoma. Furthermore, the adenoma cells also had Crooke’s hyaline changes and were intensely positive for ACTH. However there was no clinical/biochemical evidence of ACTH excess. There was a spontaneous pubertal progression twelve months after the surgery (A2P4G4, with bilateral testicular volume of 8 mL. Crooke’s cell adenoma is an extremely rare and aggressive variant of corticotroph adenoma that can uncommonly present as a silent corticotroph adenoma in adults. We report for the first time Crooke’s cell adenoma in an adolescent boy presenting with delayed puberty.

  15. SODA: Smart Objects, Dumb Archives

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nelson, Michael L.; Maly, Kurt; Zubair, Mohammad; Shen, Stewart N. T.

    2004-01-01

    We present the Smart Object, Dumb Archive (SODA) model for digital libraries (DLs). The SODA model transfers functionality traditionally associated with archives to the archived objects themselves. We are exploiting this shift of responsibility to facilitate other DL goals, such as interoperability, object intelligence and mobility, and heterogeneity. Objects in a SODA DL negotiate presentation of content and handle their own terms and conditions. In this paper we present implementations of our smart objects, buckets, and our dumb archive (DA). We discuss the status of buckets and DA and how they are used in a variety of DL projects.

  16. Defect induced activation of Raman silent modes in rf co-sputtered Mn doped ZnO thin films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yadav, Harish Kumar [Department of Physics and Astrophysics, University of Delhi, Delhi-110007 (India); Sreenivas, K [Department of Physics and Astrophysics, University of Delhi, Delhi-110007 (India); Katiyar, R S [Department of Physics, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR 00931-3343 (Puerto Rico); Gupta, Vinay [Department of Physics and Astrophysics, University of Delhi, Delhi-110007 (India)

    2007-10-07

    We study the influence of Mn doping on the vibrational properties of rf sputtered ZnO thin films. Raman spectra of the Mn doped ZnO samples reveal two additional vibrational modes, in addition to the host phonon modes, at 252 and 524 cm{sup -1}. The intensity of the additional modes increases continuously with Mn concentration in ZnO and can be used as an indication of Mn incorporation in ZnO. The modes are assigned to the activation of ZnO silent modes due to relaxation of Raman selection rules produced by the breakdown of the translational symmetry of the crystal lattice with the incorporation of Mn at the Zn site. Furthermore, the A{sub 1} (LO) mode is observed with very high intensity in the Raman spectra of undoped ZnO thin film and is attributed to the built-in electric field at the grain boundaries.

  17. Defect induced activation of Raman silent modes in rf co-sputtered Mn doped ZnO thin films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yadav, Harish Kumar; Sreenivas, K; Katiyar, R S; Gupta, Vinay

    2007-01-01

    We study the influence of Mn doping on the vibrational properties of rf sputtered ZnO thin films. Raman spectra of the Mn doped ZnO samples reveal two additional vibrational modes, in addition to the host phonon modes, at 252 and 524 cm -1 . The intensity of the additional modes increases continuously with Mn concentration in ZnO and can be used as an indication of Mn incorporation in ZnO. The modes are assigned to the activation of ZnO silent modes due to relaxation of Raman selection rules produced by the breakdown of the translational symmetry of the crystal lattice with the incorporation of Mn at the Zn site. Furthermore, the A 1 (LO) mode is observed with very high intensity in the Raman spectra of undoped ZnO thin film and is attributed to the built-in electric field at the grain boundaries

  18. Objective-guided image annotation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mao, Qi; Tsang, Ivor Wai-Hung; Gao, Shenghua

    2013-04-01

    Automatic image annotation, which is usually formulated as a multi-label classification problem, is one of the major tools used to enhance the semantic understanding of web images. Many multimedia applications (e.g., tag-based image retrieval) can greatly benefit from image annotation. However, the insufficient performance of image annotation methods prevents these applications from being practical. On the other hand, specific measures are usually designed to evaluate how well one annotation method performs for a specific objective or application, but most image annotation methods do not consider optimization of these measures, so that they are inevitably trapped into suboptimal performance of these objective-specific measures. To address this issue, we first summarize a variety of objective-guided performance measures under a unified representation. Our analysis reveals that macro-averaging measures are very sensitive to infrequent keywords, and hamming measure is easily affected by skewed distributions. We then propose a unified multi-label learning framework, which directly optimizes a variety of objective-specific measures of multi-label learning tasks. Specifically, we first present a multilayer hierarchical structure of learning hypotheses for multi-label problems based on which a variety of loss functions with respect to objective-guided measures are defined. And then, we formulate these loss functions as relaxed surrogate functions and optimize them by structural SVMs. According to the analysis of various measures and the high time complexity of optimizing micro-averaging measures, in this paper, we focus on example-based measures that are tailor-made for image annotation tasks but are seldom explored in the literature. Experiments show consistency with the formal analysis on two widely used multi-label datasets, and demonstrate the superior performance of our proposed method over state-of-the-art baseline methods in terms of example-based measures on four

  19. "Silent" Sleep Apnea in Dentofacial Deformities and Prevalence of Daytime Sleepiness After Orthognathic and Intranasal Surgery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Posnick, Jeffrey C; Adachie, Anayo; Singh, Neeru; Choi, Elbert

    2018-04-01

    The purposes of this study were to determine the occurrence of undiagnosed "silent" obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in dentofacial deformity (DFD) patients at initial surgical presentation and to report on the level of daytime sleepiness in DFD patients with OSA and chronic obstructive nasal breathing (CONB) after undergoing bimaxillary, chin, and intranasal surgery. A retrospective cohort study of patients with a bimaxillary DFD and CONB was implemented. Patients were divided into those with no OSA (group I) and those with OSA (group II). Group II was further subdivided into patients referred with polysomnogram (PSG)-confirmed OSA (group IIa) and those with a diagnosis of OSA only after surgical consultation, airway evaluation, and a positive PSG (group IIb). Group II patients were analyzed at a minimum of 1 year after surgery (range, 1 to 10 years) for daytime sleepiness with the Epworth Sleepiness Scale. Patients with postoperative excessive daytime sleepiness were assessed for risk factors and continued need for OSA treatment. Patients in group II were studied to determine which DFD patterns were most associated with OSA. We compared the prevalence of OSA between our study population and the general population. Two hundred sixty-two patients met the inclusion criteria. Of these, 23% (60 of 262) had PSG-confirmed OSA (group II). This rate was much higher than that found in the general population. Of the patients, 7% (19 of 262) were known to have OSA at initial surgical consultation (group IIa). An additional 16% (41 of 262) were later confirmed by PSG to have OSA (group IIb). Patients with primary mandibular deficiency and short face DFDs were most likely to have OSA (P surgery. A significant association was found between group II patients with postoperative excessive daytime sleepiness ("sleepy" or "very sleepy") and a preoperative body mass index category of overweight (P = .026). Our study found silent OSA to be frequent in the DFD population. The

  20. Inaudible functional MRI using a truly mute gradient echo sequence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Marcar, V.L.; Girard, F.; Rinkel, Y.; Schneider, J.F.; Martin, E.

    2002-01-01

    We performed functional MRI experiments using a mute version of a gradient echo sequence on adult volunteers using either a simple visual stimulus (flicker goggles: 4 subjects) or an auditory stimulus (music: 4 subjects). Because the mute sequence delivers fewer images per unit time than a fast echo planar imaging (EPI) sequence, we explored our data using a parametric ANOVA test and a non-parametric Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test in addition to performing a cross-correlation analysis. All three methods were in close agreement regarding the location of the BOLD contrast signal change. We demonstrated that, using appropriate statistical analysis, functional MRI using an MR sequence that is acoustically inaudible to the subject is feasible. Furthermore compared with the ''silent'' event-related procedures involving an EPI protocol, our mGE protocol compares favourably with respect to experiment time and the BOLD signal. (orig.)

  1. Intuitive modeling of vaporish objects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sokolov, Dmitry; Gentil, Christian

    2015-01-01

    Attempts to model gases in computer graphics started in the late 1970s. Since that time, there have been many approaches developed. In this paper we present a non-physical method allowing to create vaporish objects like clouds or smoky characters. The idea is to create a few sketches describing the rough shape of the final vaporish object. These sketches will be used as condensation sets of Iterated Function Systems, providing intuitive control over the object. The advantages of the new method are: simplicity, good control of resulting shapes and ease of eventual object animation.

  2. Stimulus familiarity modulates functional connectivity of the perirhinal cortex and anterior hippocampus during visual discrimination of faces and objects

    Science.gov (United States)

    McLelland, Victoria C.; Chan, David; Ferber, Susanne; Barense, Morgan D.

    2014-01-01

    Recent research suggests that the medial temporal lobe (MTL) is involved in perception as well as in declarative memory. Amnesic patients with focal MTL lesions and semantic dementia patients showed perceptual deficits when discriminating faces and objects. Interestingly, these two patient groups showed different profiles of impairment for familiar and unfamiliar stimuli. For MTL amnesics, the use of familiar relative to unfamiliar stimuli improved discrimination performance. By contrast, patients with semantic dementia—a neurodegenerative condition associated with anterolateral temporal lobe damage—showed no such facilitation from familiar stimuli. Given that the two patient groups had highly overlapping patterns of damage to the perirhinal cortex, hippocampus, and temporal pole, the neuroanatomical substrates underlying their performance discrepancy were unclear. Here, we addressed this question with a multivariate reanalysis of the data presented by Barense et al. (2011), using functional connectivity to examine how stimulus familiarity affected the broader networks with which the perirhinal cortex, hippocampus, and temporal poles interact. In this study, healthy participants were scanned while they performed an odd-one-out perceptual task involving familiar and novel faces or objects. Seed-based analyses revealed that functional connectivity of the right perirhinal cortex and right anterior hippocampus was modulated by the degree of stimulus familiarity. For familiar relative to unfamiliar faces and objects, both right perirhinal cortex and right anterior hippocampus showed enhanced functional correlations with anterior/lateral temporal cortex, temporal pole, and medial/lateral parietal cortex. These findings suggest that in order to benefit from stimulus familiarity, it is necessary to engage not only the perirhinal cortex and hippocampus, but also a network of regions known to represent semantic information. PMID:24624075

  3. Heightened visual attention does not affect inner ear function as measured by otoacoustic emissions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    W. Wiktor Jedrzejczak

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Previous research has indicated that inner ear function might be modulated by visual attention, although the results have not been totally conclusive. Conceivably, modulation of hearing might occur due to stimulation of the cochlea via descending medial olivocochlear (MOC neurons. The aim of the present study was to test whether increased visual attention caused corresponding changes in inner ear function, which was measured by the strength of otoacoustic emissions (OAEs recorded from the ear canal in response to a steady train of clicks. To manipulate attention, we asked subjects to attend to, or ignore, visual stimuli delivered according to an odd-ball paradigm. The subjects were presented with two types of visual stimuli: standard and deviant (20% of all stimuli, randomly presented. During a passive part of the experiment, subjects had to just observe a pattern of squares on a computer screen. In an active condition, the subject’s task was to silently count the occasional inverted (deviant pattern on the screen. At all times, visual evoked potentials (VEPs were used to objectively gauge the subject’s state of attention, and OAEs in response to clicks (transiently evoked OAEs, TEOAEs were used to gauge inner ear function. As a test of descending neural activity, TEOAE levels were evaluated with and without contralateral acoustic stimulation (CAS by broadband noise, a paradigm known to activate the MOC pathway. Our results showed that the recorded VEPs were, as expected, a good measure of visual attention, but even when attention levels changed there was no corresponding change in TEOAE levels. We conclude that visual attention does not significantly affect inner ear function.

  4. The emerging causal understanding of institutional objects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Noyes, Alexander; Keil, Frank C; Dunham, Yarrow

    2018-01-01

    Institutional objects, such as money, drivers' licenses, and borders, have functions because of their social roles rather than their immediate physical properties. These objects are causally different than standard artifacts (e.g. hammers, chairs, and cars), sharing more commonality with other social roles. Thus, they inform psychological theories of human-made objects as well as children's emerging understanding of social reality. We examined whether children (N=180, ages 4-9) differentiate institutional objects from standard artifacts. Specifically, we examine whether children understand that mutual intentions (i.e., the intentions of a social collective) underlie the functional affordances of institutional objects in ways that they do not for standard artifacts. We find that young children assimilate institutional objects into their intuitive theories of standard artifacts; children begin to differentiate between the domains in the elementary school years. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  5. Motor Skills and Exercise Capacity Are Associated with Objective Measures of Cognitive Functions and Academic Performance in Preadolescent Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas, Richard; Larsen, Malte Nejst; Dahn, Ida Marie; Andersen, Josefine Needham; Krause-Jensen, Matilde; Korup, Vibeke; Nielsen, Claus Malta; Wienecke, Jacob; Ritz, Christian; Krustrup, Peter; Lundbye-Jensen, Jesper

    2016-01-01

    Objective To investigate associations between motor skills, exercise capacity and cognitive functions, and evaluate how they correlate to academic performance in mathematics and reading comprehension using standardised, objective tests. Methods This cross-sectional study included 423 Danish children (age: 9.29±0.35 years, 209 girls). Fine and gross motor skills were evaluated in a visuomotor accuracy-tracking task, and a whole-body coordination task, respectively. Exercise capacity was estimated from the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery level 1 children's test (YYIR1C). Selected tests from the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) were used to assess different domains of cognitive functions, including sustained attention, spatial working memory, episodic and semantic memory, and processing speed. Linear mixed-effects models were used to investigate associations between these measures and the relationship with standard tests of academic performance in mathematics and reading comprehension. Results Both fine and gross motor skills were associated with better performance in all five tested cognitive domains (all Pperformance in mathematics and reading comprehension. Conclusions The data demonstrate that fine and gross motor skills are positively correlated with several aspects of cognitive functions and with academic performance in both mathematics and reading comprehension. Moreover, exercise capacity was associated with academic performance and performance in some cognitive domains. Future interventions should investigate associations between changes in motor skills, exercise capacity, cognitive functions, and academic performance to elucidate the causality of these associations. PMID:27560512

  6. Three New and Eleven Known Unusual C25 Steroids: Activated Production of Silent Metabolites in a Marine-Derived Fungus by Chemical Mutagenesis Strategy using Diethyl Sulphate

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ming-Wen Xia

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Three new (1–3 and 11 known (4–14 C25 steroids with an unusual bicyclo[4.4.1]A/B ring system were isolated by tracing newly produced metabolites in the EtOAc extract of an antitumor mutant AD-1-2 obtained by the diethyl sulphate (DES mutagenesis of a marine-derived Penicillium purpurogenum G59. HPLC-PDAD-UV and HPLC-ESI-MS analyses indicated that the G59 strain did not produce these metabolites and the production of 1–14 in the mutant AD-1-2 extract was caused by the activation of silent metabolites in the original G59 strain by DES mutagenesis. The structures of the new compounds, named antineocyclocitrinols A (1 and B (2 and 23-O-methylantineocyclocitrinol (3, including their absolute configurations were determined by various spectroscopic methods, especially the NMR and Mo2-induced CD analyses. Compounds 1–3 provide the first examples of the C25 bicyclo[4.4.1]A/B ring steroids with the Z-configuration of 20,22-double bond. All of 1–14 weakly inhibited several human cancer cell lines to varying extents. These results provided additional examples for the successful application of the chemical mutagenesis strategy using DES to discover new compounds by activating silent metabolites in fungal isolates and supported also the effectiveness and usefulness of this new strategy.

  7. Variability in perceived satisfaction of reservoir management objectives

    Science.gov (United States)

    Owen, W.J.; Gates, T.K.; Flug, M.

    1997-01-01

    Fuzzy set theory provides a useful model to address imprecision in interpreting linguistically described objectives for reservoir management. Fuzzy membership functions can be used to represent degrees of objective satisfaction for different values of management variables. However, lack of background information, differing experiences and qualifications, and complex interactions of influencing factors can contribute to significant variability among membership functions derived from surveys of multiple experts. In the present study, probabilistic membership functions are used to model variability in experts' perceptions of satisfaction of objectives for hydropower generation, fish habitat, kayaking, rafting, and scenery preservation on the Green River through operations of Flaming Gorge Dam. Degree of variability in experts' perceptions differed among objectives but resulted in substantial uncertainty in estimation of optimal reservoir releases.

  8. Structure Optimization of Stand-Alone Renewable Power Systems Based on Multi Object Function

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jae-Hoon Cho

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a methodology for the size optimization of a stand-alone hybrid PV/wind/diesel/battery system while considering the following factors: total annual cost (TAC, loss of power supply probability (LPSP, and the fuel cost of the diesel generator required by the user. A new optimization algorithm and an object function (including a penalty method are also proposed; these assist with designing the best structure for a hybrid system satisfying the constraints. In hybrid energy system sources such as photovoltaic (PV, wind, diesel, and energy storage devices are connected as an electrical load supply. Because the power produced by PV and wind turbine sources is dependent on the variation of the resources (sun and wind and the load demand fluctuates, such a hybrid system must be able to satisfy the load requirements at any time and store the excess energy for use in deficit conditions. Therefore, reliability and cost are the two main criteria when designing a stand-alone hybrid system. Moreover, the operation of a diesel generator is important to achieve greater reliability. In this paper, TAC, LPSP, and the fuel cost of the diesel generator are considered as the objective variables and a hybrid teaching–learning-based optimization algorithm is proposed and used to choose the best structure of a stand-alone hybrid PV/wind/diesel/battery system. Simulation results from MATLAB support the effectiveness of the proposed method and confirm that it is more efficient than conventional methods.

  9. Silent information regulator T1 in aqueous humor of patients with cataract

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kondo A

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Aki Kondo,1 Mari Goto,2 Tatsuya Mimura,1 Masao Matsubara1 1Department of Ophthalmology, Tokyo Women’s Medical University Medical Center East, 2Tokyo Metropolitan Cancer and Infectious Diseases Center, Komagome Hospital, Tokyo, Japan Purpose: Silent information regulator T1 (SIRT1, a member of the sirtuin family, has a preventive role in various ocular diseases. We evaluated the relations between the aqueous humor level of SIRT1 and age, sex, systemic diseases, the severity of lens opacity, and other factors. Setting: This study was conducted at a university teaching hospital in Tokyo, Japan. Design: This study was designed based on the consecutive case series. Methods: Aqueous humor samples were obtained from 29 eyes of the 21 consecutive patients undergoing surgery for age-related cataract (ARC. SIRT1 levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: Aqueous humor levels of SIRT1 showed a positive correlation with visual acuity (logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution and with the severity of nuclear cataract (r=0.32 and 0.30, respectively, P<0.05. However, only visual acuity was correlated with SIRT1 according to the stepwise multiple regression analysis (P<0.05. Conclusion: These findings suggest that SIRT1 may have an effect on the formation of ARC, acting as a defensive factor against ARC. Keywords: SIRT1, sirtuin, cataract surgery, oxidative stress, resveratrol, ocular aging

  10. Silent Speech Recognition as an Alternative Communication Device for Persons with Laryngectomy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meltzner, Geoffrey S; Heaton, James T; Deng, Yunbin; De Luca, Gianluca; Roy, Serge H; Kline, Joshua C

    2017-12-01

    Each year thousands of individuals require surgical removal of their larynx (voice box) due to trauma or disease, and thereby require an alternative voice source or assistive device to verbally communicate. Although natural voice is lost after laryngectomy, most muscles controlling speech articulation remain intact. Surface electromyographic (sEMG) activity of speech musculature can be recorded from the neck and face, and used for automatic speech recognition to provide speech-to-text or synthesized speech as an alternative means of communication. This is true even when speech is mouthed or spoken in a silent (subvocal) manner, making it an appropriate communication platform after laryngectomy. In this study, 8 individuals at least 6 months after total laryngectomy were recorded using 8 sEMG sensors on their face (4) and neck (4) while reading phrases constructed from a 2,500-word vocabulary. A unique set of phrases were used for training phoneme-based recognition models for each of the 39 commonly used phonemes in English, and the remaining phrases were used for testing word recognition of the models based on phoneme identification from running speech. Word error rates were on average 10.3% for the full 8-sensor set (averaging 9.5% for the top 4 participants), and 13.6% when reducing the sensor set to 4 locations per individual (n=7). This study provides a compelling proof-of-concept for sEMG-based alaryngeal speech recognition, with the strong potential to further improve recognition performance.

  11. Syntactically Silent Subjects: Luis Muñoz and the Poetry of Ellipsis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Judith Nantell

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available Luis Muñoz (1966 is one of contemporary Spain’s most salient poets. His work has been described as demonstrating a discourse of ellipsis; yet no study has examined in detail his masterful use of syntactic and figurative omission. In fact, even though Muñoz’s published collections to date span two centuries, no single study has been devoted to his decidedly innovative expressivity. His work has been commented on in various panoramic essays considering contemporary poetry published in Spain at this temporal intersection and a number of his poems have been gathered into noteworthy anthologies of this same era. His poetry has been nominated for prestigious awards in Spain and in 2001 Correspondencias ‘Correspondences’ received the fourth Premio Internacional de Poesía del 27 as well as the Premio de Ojo Crítico de Poesía . The present study examines Muñoz’s most recent Querido silencio (2006 ‘Dear Silence’ where ellipsis figures prominently as the poet maximizes and exploits conceptual and linguistic efficiency. In one exemplary poem, “Dejar la poesía” ‘Leave Poetry,’ two syntactically silent subjects engage in an innovative conversation concerning the nature of poetry. At the same time this intriguing dialogue also offers a unique response to the essential question framing this poem and the collection as a whole: Why is poetry an addiction?

  12. Resveratrol Protects Against Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension in Rats via Activation of Silent Information Regulator 1

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lei Yu

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Background/Objectives: The polyphenol resveratrol (Rev has been found to exhibit various beneficial effects including prevention of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH. The present study was designed to investigate the action and potential mechanism of Rev on PAH, focusing on the role of SIRT1 (Silent Information Regulator 1 in apoptosis of pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs. Methods: PAH rats were established by exposure to hypoxia for 21 days. Rev and SRT1720 (a selective SIRT1 activator were used to reverse PAH by gavaging rats. PASMCs were confronted with hypoxia for 24 h or 48 h and were then treated with Rev or SRT1720 in vitro. Western blot was performed to detect the protein expression of SIRT1. CCK-8 and scratch wound experiments were carried out to verify cell proliferation. In addition, the TUNEL positive assay and flow cytometry assay were used to measure PASMC apoptosis. Mitochondrial permeability transition (mPT was identified by confocal microscopy. Right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP was determined with a Gould pressure transducer, and right ventricular hypertrophy (RVH was determined by weighing the cardiac muscle. Results: We demonstrated that Rev could reverse the remodelling of the pulmonary vasculature, thus contributing to alleviating the severity of PAH. Down-regulation of SIRT1 was observed in PAH, but administration of Rev had no obvious effect on the protein expression of SIRT1. In addition, Rev could induce mitochondrial swelling and nuclear pyknosis, leading to small, dense, and dysmorphic mitochondria in rats exposed to hypoxia alone. Rev treatment inhibited PASMC proliferation in a dose-dependent manner in vitro. Incubation with SRT1720, a specific activator of SIRT1, significantly retarded PASMC proliferation and promoted PASMC apoptosis in vitro. The mechanism could be associated with inducing mPT damage in PASMCs. Rev and SRT1720 treatment mitigated RVSP and reduced RVH. Conclusion: Rev produced

  13. Local acceptance by people with unvoiced opinions living close to a wind farm: A case study from Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Motosu, Memi; Maruyama, Yasushi

    2016-01-01

    The local acceptance of wind energy projects has received significant attention because local opposition is a barrier to implementing a wind energy project. To decrease objections from local residents, previous studies identified factors that evoke negative attitudes. However, little research has focused on the acceptance of people who remain silent. Therefore, the situation in which there is no marked opposition has been regarded as a success for the project. This research focused on the acceptance of people who are not objecting to a wind farm in their backyard and clarifies the implications of the silent situation. One of the principal findings is that while most of the respondents accept the existing local wind farm, they have negative attitudes towards a new wind farm. This result means that the silent situation does not support further wind development. We conclude that the purpose of consensus building needs to be set to encouraging local residents to express their opinions instead of simply aiming for the absence of opposing opinions. Finally, we discuss a council model through a budgetary provision, eliciting opinions from people who remain silent, and adaptable management as the policy implications for sustainable wind development. - Highlights: •We examined the acceptance of people with unvoiced opinions toward a wind project. •The silent situation does not support further wind farm construction. •Two factors were identified to maintain a receptive attitude. •A council model and eliciting opinions from people who remain silent are essential. •Adaptable management would contribute to promote further wind project development.

  14. NINJ2 SNP may affect the onset age of first-ever ischemic stroke without increasing silent cerebrovascular lesions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kim Dong-Eog

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background To investigate if single nucleotide polymorphisms on chromosome 12p13 and within 11 kb of the gene NINJ2 would be associated with earlier-onset (vs. late-onset first-ever ischemic stroke and increase silent cerebrovascular lesions prior to the manifestation of the stroke. Methods We prospectively enrolled 164 patients (67.6 ± 12.9 years, 92 men admitted with first-ever ischemic strokes. All patients underwent genotyping of rs11833579 and rs12425791 as well as systemic investigations including magnetic resonance (MR imaging and other vascular workup. Stroke-related MR lesions were registered on a brain-template-set using a custom-built software package 'Image_QNA': high-signal-intensity ischemic lesions on diffusion, T2-weighted, or fluid attenuation inversion recovery (FLAIR MR images, and low signal intensity hemorrhagic lesions on gradient-echo MR images. Results The rs11833579 A/A or G/A genotype was independently associated with the first-ever ischemic stroke before the age 59 vs. 59 or over, after adjusting for cardiovascular risk factors and prior medication of antiplatelet or anticoagulant drugs, increasing the risk by about 2.5 fold. In the quantitative MR lesion maps from age-sex matched subgroups (n = 124 or 126, there was no difference between the patients with the rs11833579 A/A or G/A genotype and those with the G/G genotype. Unexpectedly, the extent of leukoaraiosis on FLAIR-MR images tended to be smaller in the corona radiata and centrum semiovale of the patients with the rs12425791 A/A or G/A genotype than in those with the G/G genotype (P = 0.052. Neither the rs11833579 nor the rs12425791 genotype significantly affected initial stroke severity; however the latter was associated with relatively low modified Rankin scale scores at 1 year after stroke. Conclusions The rs11833579 A/A or G/A genotype may bring forward the onset age of first-ever ischemic stroke without increasing silent cerebrovascular lesions

  15. The discordance between subjectively and objectively measured physical function in women with fibromyalgia: association with catastrophizing and self-efficacy cognitions : The al-Ándalus project

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Estévez-López, F.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/412501031; Álvarez-Gallardo, I.C.; Segura-Jiménez, V.; Soriano-Maldonado, A.; Borges-Cosic, M; Pulido-Martos, M.; Aparicio, V.A.; Carbonell-Baeza, A.; Delgado-Fernández, M.; Geenen, R.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/087017571

    2018-01-01

    Purpose: People with fibromyalgia experience a disagreement between patient-reported (i.e., subjective) and performance-based (i.e., objective) status. This study aimed to (i) corroborate the discordance between subjectively and objectively measured physical function and (ii) examine whether

  16. Open Issues in Object-Oriented Programming

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Madsen, Ole Lehrmann

    1995-01-01

    We discuss a number of open issues within object-oriented programming. The central mechanisms of object-oriented programming appeared with Simula, developed more than 30 years ago; these include class, subclass, virtual function, active object and the first application framework, Class Simulation....... The core parts of object-oriented programming should be well understood, but there are still a large number of issues where there is no consensus. The term object-orientation has been applied to many subjects, such as analysis, design implementation, data modeling in databases, and distribution...

  17. BioBlend.objects: metacomputing with Galaxy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leo, Simone; Pireddu, Luca; Cuccuru, Gianmauro; Lianas, Luca; Soranzo, Nicola; Afgan, Enis; Zanetti, Gianluigi

    2014-10-01

    BioBlend.objects is a new component of the BioBlend package, adding an object-oriented interface for the Galaxy REST-based application programming interface. It improves support for metacomputing on Galaxy entities by providing higher-level functionality and allowing users to more easily create programs to explore, query and create Galaxy datasets and workflows. BioBlend.objects is available online at https://github.com/afgane/bioblend. The new object-oriented API is implemented by the galaxy/objects subpackage. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press.

  18. Shortened cortical silent period in adductor spasmodic dysphonia: evidence for widespread cortical excitability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Samargia, Sharyl; Schmidt, Rebekah; Kimberley, Teresa Jacobson

    2014-02-07

    The purpose of this study was to compare cortical inhibition in the hand region of the primary motor cortex between subjects with focal hand dystonia (FHD), adductor spasmodic dysphonia (AdSD), and healthy controls. Data from 28 subjects were analyzed (FHD n=11, 53.25 ± 8.74 y; AdSD: n=8, 56.38 ± 7.5 y; and healthy controls: n=941.67 ± 10.85 y). All subjects received single pulse TMS to the left motor cortex to measure cortical silent period (CSP) in the right first dorsal interosseus (FDI) muscle. Duration of the CSP was measured and compared across groups. A one-way ANCOVA with age as a covariate revealed a significant group effect (p<0.001). Post hoc analysis revealed significantly longer CSP duration in the healthy group vs. AdSD group (p<0.001) and FHD group (p<0.001). These results suggest impaired intracortical inhibition is a neurophysiologic characteristic of FHD and AdSD. In addition, the shortened CSP in AdSD provides evidence to support a widespread decrease in cortical inhibition in areas of the motor cortex that represent an asymptomatic region of the body. These findings may inform future investigations of differential diagnosis as well as alternative treatments for focal dystonias. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Relationship between manic state after presenile onset and silent cerebral infarction; MRI findings and its distribution

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fujikawa, Tokumi; Yamawaki, Shigeto (Hiroshima Univ. (Japan). School of Medicine); Touhouda, Yoshikuni

    1993-11-01

    Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging was performed in 12 patients who incurred manic state after the age of 50 (manic group). Twelve other age- and sex-matched patients who incurred emotional disturbance at the young age served as controls. Patients with a history of cerebral stroke and local neurologic symptoms were excluded. Silent cerebral infarction (SCI) were concomitantly seen on MR images in 66.7% in the manic group, which was significantly higher than the control group (16.7%). Approximately half of the patients in the manic group seemed to be in the parenchymal manic state associated with SCI. Patients in the manic state associated with SCI was at a risk for developing cerebral stroke. Therefore, the treatment such as antithrombin therapy for cerebrovascular disorder was considered important, from the viewpoint of early treatment of cerebral infarction. Since lesions were frequently observed in the right frontal lobe and basal nucleus in manic patients with the associated SCI, these sites may be in part involved in the occurrence of manic state. (N.K.).

  20. Concurrent Models for Object Execution

    OpenAIRE

    Diertens, Bob

    2012-01-01

    In previous work we developed a framework of computational models for the concurrent execution of functions on different levels of abstraction. It shows that the traditional sequential execution of function is just a possible implementation of an abstract computational model that allows for the concurrent execution of functions. We use this framework as base for the development of abstract computational models that allow for the concurrent execution of objects.