"The association between emotional upset and cardiac arrhythmia during daily life": Correction to Carels et al. (2003).

Reports an error in the original article by R. A. Carels et al (Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psychology, 2003[Jun], Vol 71[3], 613-618). On page 615, Lines 18, 20, 22, of Table 1, the data in the rows that read "Tachycardia in min per hr," "Repetitive PVCs per hr," and "PVCs per hr" are incorrectly reported in the n and % columns. They should have been reported in the M and SD columns. The corrected table is provided. (The following abstract of this article originally appeared in record 2003-00756-023.) Ventricular arrhythmia exhibits considerable within-subject variability that cannot be attributed to clinical status alone. This investigation examined the extent to which cardiac arrhythmia was associated with psychological and physical factors assessed during the hour preceding arrhythmic or nonarrhythmic activity. Approximately twice hourly, 46 patients randomly completed a diary assessing mood and physical symptoms during 24-hr electrocardiographic monitoring. Greater negative emotion was associated with increased arrhythmia. Additionally, greater negative emotion was significantly associated with increased arrhythmia among participants in a low left ventricular ejection fraction group (LVEF). However, this relationship between negative emotion and arrhythmia was not... (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fe-substituted (La,Sr)TiO3 as potential electrodes for symmetrical fuel cells (SFCs)

In the work presented herein, the potential use of La₄Sr₈Ti_12−xFe_xO_38−δ (LSTF) materials as electrodes for a new concept of solid oxide fuel cells, symmetrical fuel cells (SFCs), is considered. Such fuel cells use simultaneously the same material as anode and cathode, which notably simplifies the assembly and further maintenance of the cells. Therefore, we search for materials showing high conductivity in a wide range of oxygen partial pressures in addition to certain degree of catalytic activity for the oxidation of the fuel and reduction of the oxidant, respectively. The preliminary electrochemical experiments performed reveal that the overall conductivity increases notably upon Fe substitution, being the main contribution electronic n-type. The fuel cell tests indicate that LSTF composites with YSZ and CeO₂ perform reasonably well under H₂ conditions, although the performance in methane is rather modest and require further optimisation.     

Post-translational cleavage of a histone H1-like protein in the sperm of Mytilus

Starting with total RNA from spermatogenic cells of Mytilus trossulus and using random priming, we have cloned and sequenced the c-DNAs corresponding to two variants of the sperm-specific protein PLII* (phi 2B). DNA sequencing in conjunction with mass spectrometry and protein sequence data have allowed us to establish that of the three sperm-specific proteins present in the sperm of Mytilus (PL-II*(phi 2B), PL-III (phi 1), PL-IV (phi 3)), the first and the last one are the result of post-translational cleavage of a common precursor. This common precursor is a member of the histone H1 family, and it exhibits inter- and intraspecific microheterogeneity.     

Intracranial arterial dolichoectasia in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease

Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is a systemic disorder with a variety of cardiovascular manifestations. This study presents a group of patients with ADPKD who had intracranial arterial dolichoectasia. One hundred seventy-eight ADPKD patients were screened with magnetic resonance angiography, 40 ADPKD patients had conventional angiography, and 98 ADPKD patients underwent a brain autopsy. For comparison, 360 patients without ADPKD who had magnetic resonance angiography and conventional angiography or brain autopsy were also studied. The prevalence of asymptomatic intracranial arterial dolichoectasia was 2.2% (4 of 178), 2.5% (1 of 40), and 2.0% (2 of 98) in the three ADPKD groups, respectively. None of the patients without ADPKD had intracranial arterial dolichoectasia. In addition to the seven patients with asymptomatic disease, two ADPKD patients with vertebrobasilar dolichoectasia had posterior circulation ischemic symptoms. The mean age of the nine patients (five men and four women) was 56.6 yr (range, 41 to 67 yr). The posterior circulation was involved in five patients, the anterior circulation was involved in two patients, and both were involved in two patients. Arterial dissection was believed to have caused middle cerebral artery dolichoectasia in one patient, and intracranial arterial dissections were strongly suspected in two other patients. Six of the nine patients with intracranial arterial dolichoectasia had additional vascular manifestations of ADPKD. Some patients with ADPKD are at an increased risk of developing intracranial arterial dolichoectasia and dissections. Recognizing this association is important because (1) it may be a cause of stroke; (2) it may mimic a saccular aneurysm on radiographic studies; and (3) it suggests that the arteriopathy of ADPKD may be more generalized than previously believed.     

Relapse crises and coping among dieters.

We examined situational antecedents of dieting relapse crises and dieters' attempts to cope with temptations to overeat. We analyzed postreatment interviews with 57 obese Ss with Type II diabetes, comparing situations in which Ss lapsed with those in which they overcame temptation to overeat. Cluster analysis yielded 3 categories of relapse crises: mealtime, low-arousal, and emotional upset situations. The cluster differed in outcome: Upset situations almost always resulted in overeating; situational factors, especially food-related cues, increased relapse risk; but performance of coping was the strongest correlate of outcome. Cognitive and behavioral coping responses were each equally associated with positive outcomes. When Ss reported combining both types of coping, they were less likely to report overeating. The dynamics of relapse crises among dieters resemble those that govern relapse crises in addictive behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Signals,timers, and continuations for multithreaded user‐level protocols

Precise timing and asynchronous I/O are appealing features for many applications. Unix kernels provide such features on a per‐process basis, using signals to communicate asynchronous events to applications. Per‐process signals and timers are grossly inadequate for complex multithreaded applications that require per‐thread signals and timers that operate at finer granularity. To respond to this need, we present a scheme that integrates asynchronous (Unix) signals with user‐level threads, using the ARIADNE system as a platform. This is done with a view towards support for portable, multithreaded, and multiprotocol distributed applications, namely the CLAM (connectionless, lightweight, and multiway) communications library. In the same context, we propose the use of continuations as an efficient mechanism for reducing thread context‐switching and busy‐wait overheads in multithreaded protocols. Our proposal for integrating timers and signal‐handling mechanisms not only solves problems related to race conditions, but also offers an efficient and flexible interface for timing and signalling threads. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hypocalcemic-induced tetany that causes triceps and bilateral quadriceps tendon ruptures

Small-cell carcinoma (also known as oat-cell carcinoma) is a rare tumor that previously concerns the lung; small-cell carcinoma of the bladder is extremely rare (0.5% of all bladder malignancies). The Authors report here the case of a 78th years old man. Fourteen months before our observation he was submitted to a partial cystectomy for a small-cell carcinoma of the bladder cupola. There was no evidence of extra-vesical location at that moment and the patient was not submitted to any adjuvant therapy. At the moment of our observation the disease was very advanced and the patient died in a few time. The Authors discuss about the therapy of bladder small-cell carcinoma in the few cases described by the literature and about the survival of those patients. A radical surgical treatment in association with an adjuvant chemo- or radiotherapy appears as a better way to treat these patients. On account of this case the Authors agree with this choice and conclude that only a combined treatment can allow a better survival.     

The determinants of cost efficiency of hydroelectric generating plants: A random frontier approach

This paper analyses the technical efficiency in the hydroelectric generating plants of a main Portuguese electricity enterprise EDP (Electricity of Portugal) between 1994 and 2004, investigating the role played by increase in competition and regulation. A random cost frontier method is adopted. A translog frontier model is used and the maximum likelihood estimation technique is employed to estimate the empirical model. We estimate the efficiency scores and decompose the exogenous variables into homogeneous and heterogeneous. It is concluded that production and capacity are heterogeneous, signifying that the hydroelectric generating plants are very distinct and therefore any energy policy should take into account this heterogeneity. It is also concluded that competition, rather than regulation, plays the key role in increasing hydroelectric plant efficiency.     

Empirical analysis of a 2 x 2 MIMO channel in outdoor-indoor scenarios for BFWA applications

The unquestionable advantages of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems are having a strong influence on the development of new wireless systems, both in wireless local-area networks (WLANs), and in those designed to offer broadband fixed wireless access (BFWA) services in wireless metropolitan-area networks (WMANs). The MIMO channel characterization in different environments and for different operating frequency bands is a crucial factor in the design of new systems and standards, and for adequate planning of existing systems. This article makes two main contributions. First, the experimental characterization of a 2 times 2 MIMO channel at a frequency of 2.4 GHz in a canonical outdoor-indoor scenario is presented. The channel characterization performed includes the analysis of the spatial correlation between the MIMO system subchannels and its impact on the channel capacity. Second, on the basis of the capacity results obtained, a proposal is made for the use of a 2 times 2 MIMO system in outdoor-indoor scenarios for BFWA applications in metropolitan environments. The proposal is based on the experimentally verified hypothesis that the path loss due to building penetration can be practically compensated for by the diversity gain of 2 times 2 systems     

An elementary proof of Sylvester’s double sums for subresultants

In 1853 Sylvester stated and proved an elegant formula that expresses the polynomial subresultants in terms of the roots of the input polynomials. Sylvester’s formula was also recently proved by Lascoux and Pragacz using multi-Schur functions and divided differences. In this paper, we provide an elementary proof that uses only basic properties of matrix multiplication and Vandermonde determinants.