Hypercoagulability and chronic atrial fibrillation: the role of markers of thrombin generation

BACKGROUND: We have studied 64 patients with congestive heart failure, half of them also with chronic nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AF). Patients were also stratified according to a history of prior stroke. METHODS: The generation of thrombin was investigated by means of the molecular markers prothrombin fragment 1 + 2 (F1 + 2) and thrombin-antithrombin III complex (TAT), because AF patients may have a hypercoagulable state. There was only a trend toward higher values of TAT and F1 + 2 for AF patients, while subjects with previous stroke (irrespective of AF) had increased levels of the markers of thrombin generation (TAT stroke+ 18.95 +/- 5.15 vs TAT stroke- 8.34 +/- 2.41; F1 + 2 stroke+ 2.22 +/- 0.29 vs F1 + 2 stroke- 1.32 +/- 0.12). The presence of spontaneous echo contrast (SEC) within left atrium was also investigated in 32 AF patients by transesophageal echocardiography. RESULTS: TAT were significantly higher in subjects (n = 11) with SEC (TAT sec+ 37.5 +/- 13.41 vs TAT sec- 8.7 +/- 2.51, p = 0.008). CONCLUSIONS: Finally, when we grouped into 1) those with both AF and stroke, 2) AF alone, 3) stroke alone and 4) sinus rhythm without stroke, levels of F1 + 2 were higher (and marginally higher TAT) in patients with AF and stroke than in those without stroke, revealing that there is a true clotting activation state in these subjects.     

Mentoring relationships of New Zealand nurses: an empirical study (Part 1)

A national, random, postal survey (n = 298) of mentoring behaviour among New Zealand nurses was undertaken. The initial research problem was to seek an explanation for the apparent lack of mentoring in New Zealand nursing. However, as the study evolved the lack of agreement concerning the definition of mentoring became a major research obstacle. A new conceptual framework of mentoring grounded in the work of Kathy Kram (1985) was devised. A quantitative global measure of mentoring behaviour (the TMS score) was used to measure levels of mentoring behaviour. This score was used as the dependent variable in subsequent statistical tests of: the definitional hypothesis-the study's validity check; the peer mentoring hypothesis which explored selected dynamics of mentor protégé relationships, and four allied research questions. The conceptual framework and approach are discussed in part one.     

A series active power filter based on a sinusoidalcurrent-controlled voltage-source inverter

A series active power filter working as a sinusoidal current source, in-phase with the mains voltage, has been developed and tested. The amplitude of the fundamental current in the series filter is controlled through the error signal generated between the load voltage and a pre-established reference. The control allows an effective correction of power factor, harmonic distortion and load voltage regulation. Compared with previous methods of control developed for series active filters, this method is simpler to implement because it is only required to generate a sinusoidal current, in-phase with the mains voltage, the amplitude of which is controlled through the error in the load voltage. The proposed system has been studied analytically and tested using computer simulations and experiments. In the experiments, it has been verified that the filter keeps the line current almost sinusoidal and in-phase with the line voltage supply. It also responds very quickly under sudden changes in load conditions, reaching its steady-state in about two cycles of the fundamental     

Monte Carlo simulations of homogeneous upconversion in erbium-dopedsilica glasses

Quenching of Er³⁺ ions by homogeneous energy-transfer upconversion in high-concentration erbium-doped silica glasses has been theoretically investigated, The results indicate that at Er³⁺ concentrations of 1.0-2.0·10²⁶ m^-3 or below, the kinetic limit of strong migration is not reached, and hence the widely accepted quadratic upconversion model is not generally valid. Nevertheless, the results offer an explanation of the experimental observations of quadratic upconversion. Furthermore, it has been shown that at a given population inversion, the quenching rate depends on the rate of exchange of the excited Er³⁺ ions by emission and absorption     

Optical imaging of anatomical maps derived from magnetic resonanceimages using time-independent optical sources

Presents a model suitable for computing images of absorption cross sections of thick tissue structures illuminated at near infrared (NIR) wavelengths from tomographic projection data. Image reconstruction is accomplished by solving a system of linear equations derived from transport theory. Reconstruction results using different algebraic solvers are shown for anatomical maps of the breast, derived from magnetic resonance imaging data, containing two simulated pathologies, in which case qualitatively good reconstructions were obtained. Evaluation of magnetic resonance (MR) data to optimize NIR optical tomographic imaging methods and to assess the feasibility of a combined MR-optical measurement scheme is discussed     

Characterisation and modelling of VBR video traffic

The impact of VBR video traffic characteristics on broadband network performance is analysed. In particular, the authors compare in a queue the behaviour of several models that adjust different statistical parameters of actual MPEG traces. It is proved that a good fit of the probability density function (PDF) is essential to approximate queuing behaviour while the effects of short range dependence (SRD) are of secondary importance and those of long range dependence (LRD) could be neglected for practical purposes if realistic scenarios, with strict QoS requirements, are considered     

Measurement of PLL phase error caused by power supply noise

The measurement of the accumulated phase error of phase-locked loops (PLLs) in microprocessor systems is discussed. A system which creates controlled power supply noise and measures the PLL response is described. Examples of the use of this technique are shown for a PLL used in a 400 MHz microprocessor     

Invariant image classification using triple-correlation-basedneural networks

Triple-correlation-based neural networks are introduced and used in this paper for invariant classification of 2D gray scale images. Third-order correlations of an image are appropriately clustered, in spatial or spectral domain, to generate an equivalent image representation that is invariant with respect to translation, rotation, and dilation. An efficient implementation scheme is also proposed, which is robust to distortions, insensitive to additive noise, and classifies the original image using adequate neural network architectures applied directly to 2D image representations. Third-order neural networks are shown to be a specific category of triple-correlation-based networks, applied either to binary or gray-scale images. A simulation study is given, which illustrates the theoretical developments, using synthetic and real image data.