Analysis of multiple indicator dilution curves for estimation of renal tubular transport parameters

A model is developed to estimate the renal tubular secretory parameters by the multiple indicator dilution (MID) technique. The model allows the calculation of influx (from plasma space to tubular cell), efflux (from tubular cell to plasma space) and sequestration (from tubular cell to luminal side) rate constants. A program using the MID-statistical analysis with least squares fitting (SALS) system for the estimation of these parameters is presented. A trapezoid rule and a non-linear least squares regression were used to carry out definite integrals of cubic spline function and least squares fitting, respectively. The system presented seems to be useful for the precise and rapid estimation of the tubular secretory rate constants.     

Mutation involving cytochrome P450IID6 in two Japanese patients with neuroleptic malignant syndrome

Traumatic injuries of arteries lead to acute bleeding or ischemia. In the hand, which is perfused by two arteries, this symptom could be missed. The hypothenar hammer syndrome is a traumatic occlusion of the distal arteria ulnaris. Dependent on the mechanism of the trauma the clinical symptoms may appear late. A specific angiographic or duplex sonographic diagnostic investigation is necessary to show the arterial occlusion. There is no proven therapeutic procedure. Exact diagnosis of the occlusion as an effect of the trauma is important for the patient and is the basis of any therapeutic intervention.     

Magnetic and insulating properties of electrical steel with a new insulating coating

New inorganic-organic coatings for nonoriented electrical sheets have been developed. Smooth and dull sheets having surface roughnesses of 0.18 μm. H root mean square (rms) and 0.75 μm. H rms, respectively, were coated with different weights of a bichromate-emulsion resin solution. Another sheet having a surface roughness of 0.18 μm. H rms was treated with a bichromate-emulsion resin solution containing a dispersed polyethylene resin powder to provide surface roughness. Results indicated that this third sheet exhibits a higher lamination factor and surface resistivity than the coated sheet whose surface roughness is provided by the dullness of the sheet itself. Moreover, it has a lower core loss and requires less ac exciting current when used in welded motor cores at given thicknesses. When weldability is not a factor, then the smooth sheet having a surface roughness of 0.18 μm. H rms and treated with the inorganic-organic coating is the most suitable: it has the highest lamination factor, the least amount of core loss, and requires the least amount of ac exciting current.     

Trading variance reduction with unbiasedness: the regularized subspace information criterion for robust model selection in kernel regression

A well-known result by Stein (1956) shows that in particular situations, biased estimators can yield better parameter estimates than their generally preferred unbiased counterparts. This letter follows the same spirit, as we will stabilize the unbiased generalization error estimates by regularization and finally obtain more robust model selection criteria for learning. We trade a small bias against a larger variance reduction, which has the beneficial effect of being more precise on a single training set. We focus on the subspace information criterion (SIC), which is an unbiased estimator of the expected generalization error measured by the reproducing kernel Hilbert space norm. SIC can be applied to the kernel regression, and it was shown in earlier experiments that a small regularization of SIC has a stabilization effect. However, it remained open how to appropriately determine the degree of regularization in SIC. In this article, we derive an unbiased estimator of the expected squared error, between SIC and the expected generalization error and propose determining the degree of regularization of SIC such that the estimator of the expected squared error is minimized. Computer simulations with artificial and real data sets illustrate that the proposed method works effectively for improving the precision of SIC, especially in the high-noise-level cases. We furthermore compare the proposed method to the original SIC, the cross-validation, and an empirical Bayesian method in ridge parameter selection, with good results.     

Speech recognition using pulse-coupled neural networks with a radial basis function

We have developed a novel pulse-coupled neural network (PCNN) for speech recognition. One of the advantages of the PCNN is in its biologically based neural dynamic structure using feedback connections. To recall the memorized pattern, a radial basis function (RBF) is incorporated into the proposed PCNN. Simulation results show that the PCNN with a RBF can be useful for phoneme recognition. This work was presented in part at the 7th International Symposium on Artificial Life and Robotics, Oita, Japan, January 16–18, 2002     

Diagnosis of right ventricular infarction: experimental study through the use of body surface isopotential maps

This investigation was designed to diagnose right ventricular infarction, which is difficult to diagnose by the standard twelve-lead ECG, through the use of body surface isopotential maps which have significant diagnostic information. Right ventricular infarction was experimentally caused by ligation of the canine right coronary artery. Each dog had a series of maps recorded before and a week after experimentally-induced myocardial infarction. The common features of maps in right ventricular infarction are: 1. In the early stage of the ventricular depolarization the negative area occupies a comparatively large part of the right anterior chest surface, and in the middle stage, the larger part of the right anterior surface is also occupied by the negative area. 2. A minimum appears on the right anterior chest surface in the early stage. The delayed excitation resulting from intraventricular conduction disturbance caused by infarction, as verified by the epicardial isochronic map, is also well represented by the body surface isopotential map. In conclusion, through the use of body surface isopotential maps, it is much easier to diagnose right ventricular infarction and intraventricular conduction disturbance caused by infarction even in cases in which the standard twelve-lead ECG does not show the abnormalities clearly.