Revised Estimates of Dimension and Exercise Variance Components in Assessment Center Postexercise Dimension Ratings.

The authors reanalyzed assessment center (AC) multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) matrices containing correlations among postexercise dimension ratings (PEDRs) reported by F. Lievens and J. M. Conway (2001). Unlike F. Lievens and J. M. Conway, who used a correlated dimension-correlated uniqueness model, we used a different set of confirmatory-factor-analysis-based models (1-dimension-correlated Exercise and 1-dimension-correlated uniqueness models) to estimate dimension and exercise variance components in AC PEDRs. Results of reanalyses suggest that, consistent with previous narrative reviews, exercise variance components dominate over dimension variance components after all. Implications for AC construct validity and possible redirections of research on the validity of ACs are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Improved RNS FIR filter architectures

A new architecture for implementing finite-impulse response (FIR) filters using the residue number system (RNS) is detailed. The design is based on using a restricted modulus set, with moduli of the form 2/sup n/,2/sup n/-1, and 2/sup n/+1. This does not restrict the modulus set to the common 3 modulus set {2/sup n/-1,2/sup n/,2/sup n/+1}, but any number of pairwise relatively prime moduli of this form, for example, {5,7,17,31,32,33}. Based on a comparison with a 2's complement design, the new RNS design can offer a significant speed improvement. The gain is obtained by using a set of small moduli, selected so as to minimize critical path delay and area. An algorithmic approach is used to obtain full adder based architectures that are optimized for area and delay. The modulus set is optimum based on cost parameters for each modulus. This new architecture presents a practical approach to implementing a fast RNS FIR filter.     

National survey of mammographic facilities in 1985, 1988, and 1992

PURPOSE: To determine trends in mammography in the United States. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A sample of mammographic facilities was selected for each year of the Nationwide Evaluation of X-ray Trends. The same protocol was followed for the 1985, 1988, and 1992 surveys. Data were collected with use of the same imaging phantom for all three surveys and also with a different phantom in the 1988 and 1992 surveys. RESULTS: Of the 356 facilities surveyed in 1992, 59% claimed to be in compliance with the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) mammography requirements, 42% were accredited by the American College of Radiology (ACR), and 23% did not hold credentials from either the HCFA or the ACR. Since 1985, there has been a 34% improvement in acceptable phantom image quality score and a 20% decrease in the mean glandular dose. CONCLUSION: Mammography as practiced today is essentially a screen-film technique. Mammographic phantom image quality has improved considerably. The overall mean glandular dose has decreased primarily because of the elimination of xeroradiography.     

The organization and animal-vegetal asymmetry of cytokeratin filaments in stage VI Xenopus oocytes is dependent upon F-actin and microtubules

Confocal immunofluorescence microscopy with anti-cytokeratin antibodies revealed a continuous and polarized network of cytokeratin (CK) filaments in the cortex of stage VI Xenopus oocytes. In the animal cortex, CK filaments formed a dense meshwork that both was thicker and exhibited a finer mesh than the network of CK filaments previously observed in the vegetal cortex (Klymkowsky et al., 1987). CK filaments first appeared in association with germinal vesicle (GV) and mitochondrial mass (MM) of oocytes in early mid stage I, indicating that CK filaments are the last of the three cytoskeletal networks to be assembled. By late stage I, CK filaments formed complex networks surrounding the GV, surrounding and penetrating the MM, and linking these networks to a meshwork of CK filaments in the oocyte cortex. During stage III-early IV, CK filaments formed a highly interconnected, apparently unpolarized, radial array linking the perinuclear and cortical CK filament networks. Polarization of the CK filament network was observed during mid stage IV-stage V, as first the animal, then the vegetal CK filament networks adopted the organization characteristic of stage VI oocytes. Treatment of stage VI oocytes with cytochalasin B disrupted the organization of both cortical and cytoplasmic CK filaments, releasing CK filaments from the oocyte cortex and inducing formation of numerous cytoplasmic CK filament aggregates. CB also disrupted the organization of cytoplasmic microtubules (MTs) in stage VI oocytes. Disassembly of oocyte MTs with nocodazole resulted in loss of the characteristic A-V polarity of the cortical CK filament network. In contrast, disruption of cytoplasmic CK filaments by microinjection of anti-CK antibodies had no apparent effect on cytoplasmic or MT organization. We propose a model in which the organization and polarization of the cortical network of CK filaments in stage VI Xenopus oocytes are dependent upon a hierarchy of interactions with actin filaments and microtubules.     

Secobarbital in humans discriminating triazolam under two-response and novel-response procedures

The percentage of long-term survivors after intensive chemotherapy and the outcome of MDS patients who achieve partial remission (PR) with intensive chemotherapy (IC) are not known. Between 1981 and 1996 we treated 99 patients with de novo MDS who had high-risk MDS or progression to AML, with IC. 41 (41%) achieved CR, 16 (16%) achieved partial remission (PR), 26 (26%) had failure, and 16 (16%) died in aplasia. Eight of the patients who achieved CR were autografted, three were allografted and the remaining cases received moderate consolidation chemotherapy. After IC, the 16 PR patients fulfilled the criteria for RA in 15 cases and CMML in one case. Median PR duration was 17 months, and three PR were > 3 years (39, 50+, 82+ months). Median actuarial survival of patients who achieved PR and CR was 18 months and 20 months from the onset of IC, respectively (difference not significant). Of the 71 patients treated before 1993, with sufficient follow-up, 10 (14%) had survived > 4 years (long-term survivors). Four of them were alive in first CR after 49+ to 110+ months and probably cured, two were alive in PR after 50+ and 82+ months and four had died after 49-78 months. Long-term survivors were characterized by a significantly higher incidence of RAEB-T at diagnosis, and with normal or favourable cytogenetic findings. In patients with RAEB-T at diagnosis included before 1993, 8/23 (35%) cases who had no unfavourable karyotype had survived > 4 years. Our findings suggest that MDS patients who achieve PR with IC, and not only those who achieve CR, can benefit from this type of treatment. The percentage of long-term survivors remains low, however, and is almost restricted to patients with RAEB-T at diagnosis and no unfavourable karyotype.     

Scarring trachoma is associated with polymorphism in the tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) gene promoter and with elevated TNF-alpha levels in tear fluid

Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) may play a central role in the disease pathogenesis which occurs as a consequence of chlamydial infection. To investigate the importance of TNF-alpha gene promoter polymorphisms and TNF-alpha levels in tear fluid in scarring trachoma, a large matched-pair case-control study was performed in The Gambia. The -308A allele was present in a higher proportion of patients (28.4%) than controls (18.4%), with an increasing association for homozygotes (chi2 for trend, P = 0.032; allele frequency, 0.163 in patients and 0.099 in controls; chi2, P = 0.025). For the -238A allele, the association was similar but not significant. The disease association was highly significant when the number of either -308A or -238A sites in an individual was considered (P = 0.003). TNF-alpha promoter alleles are tightly linked to some HLA class I and II alleles, but multivariate analysis confirmed that the disease associations were independent of HLA, although a class I allele, A*6802, is also associated with disease. TNF-alpha was more frequently detected in tear samples from patients (27.6%) than from controls (15.9%), increasingly so for higher levels of detectable TNF-alpha (P = 0.015). Among patients, detectable TNF-alpha in tears was highly associated with the presence of ocular chlamydial infection (P < 0.001). The results indicate that TNF-alpha plays a major role in the tissue damage and scarring which occurs as a consequence of Chlamydia trachomatis infection.     

Another false alarm? apnea monitor activation in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit graduate

Neonatal emergencies have become more common as increasingly sophisticated Neonatal Intensive Care Units graduate lower birth-weight babies born at younger gestational ages. These patients present a number of challenges to emergency physicians. They are often discharged with apnea monitors, which generate a high number of false alarms. Neonatal Intensive Care Unit graduates, however, are predisposed to a number of conditions that can result in true episodes of apnea. We present such a case and will discuss the unusual underlying cause of apnea, the utility of apnea monitors, and the need for emergency physicians to be prepared to evaluate and treat these potentially complicated patients.