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.     

Longitudinal bone mineral density changes in early rheumatoid arthritis

A prospective longitudinal study of patients with early RA was performed to examine the influence of disease duration, disease activity and physical activity on bone loss. Sixty-seven patients with non-steroid treated RA of less than 5 yr duration, including 16 patients with disease duration less than 6 months, had BMD measurements of the femoral neck and the lumbar spine over a 12-month period using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. The BMD changes were compared with values from 72 control patients and were also correlated with serial measurements of disease activity (measured by the Stoke Index) and disability [measured by the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) score], at 3-monthly intervals over the 12-month period. No significant differences in BMD changes were found between RA patients and controls overall. Patients with disease duration of less than 6 months had significantly greater loss of BMD at the femoral neck (-3.9%, S.E.M. 1.5) than the remainder of the cohort (-0.2%, S.E.M. 0.7) (P = 0.02) and controls (-0.8%, S.E.M. 0.6). Lumbar spine BMD changes correlated with the initial Stoke Index (Rs-0.373, P = 0.01) but not mean Stoke Indices. There was no correlation of BMD changes with age or HAQ scores. These findings suggest that significant bone loss occurs within the first few months of disease in patients with RA.     

Simplified method for the measurement of segmental colonic transit time

Segmental colonic transit has been measured in 101 patients. Two MBq of 111Indium absorbed on resin pellets and encapsulated in an enteric coated capsule was given at 7 00 am. Hourly images during the first day, and three images during each subsequent day were acquired for up to three days. Using all scan and patient data the scans were categorised in one of the five patterns of colonic transit: normal, rapid, right delay, left delay, or generalised delay. The geometric centres and per cent activity at each time point was compared between the five groups of colonic transit patients to find the best time for imaging and so to distinguish the five groups. During the first day, early images did not help in diagnosis of patterns of transit, however, in the later images (six hours onwards after the ingestion of the activity) the rapid transit groups could be identified. Images at 27 and 51 hours were both required to distinguish all five groups of patients from each other. Only in the 'normal' transit patients was there some excretion of the activity during the course of the second day, otherwise there was no difference in the images taken in the course of a day (second or third day). A simplified protocol requires a minimum of three images to distinguish all five patterns of colonic transit. The activity should be ingested in the morning (7 00 am) and the first image taken at the end of the working day (8-10 hours after ingestion), the second image on the morning of the second day, and the third image during the course of the third day. This simple protocol would provide all the clinically relevant information necessary for correct classification of the colonic transit.     

Knowledge, data, and models

The object-oriented approach to integrating knowledge data, and models is examined. Under the object-oriented paradigm, everything is an object, which is itself an encapsulation of data and methods to manipulate and access the data within the object. Thus knowledge, data, and models can be defined as special kinds of objects. Active knowledge/data language (KDL), a functional object-oriented database system is considered, covering the active-KDL-type system and functions, and query-driven simulation     

Pain threshold in man

The design and application of an apparatus for measuring pain threshold by controlling the conditions of an experiment carefully and measuring stimulus and response parameters precisely are described. Heat generated by an incandescent source, focused on a small area of the subject's forehead, was used as the stimulus to determine the cutaneous pain threshold. The equipment was in different experiments in which the threshold of thermocutaneous pain was evaluated with and without the use of an analgesic. The analgesic Pirazolane was found to reduce thermocutaneous pain threshold and to diminish the average duration of alpha rhythm blockade and the response of galvanic skin resistance. The results of these experiments with constituents of marijuana indicated that canabidiol provokes and increases the sensibility of pain reactions while both Δ9 THC and canabinol do not modify the pain threshold     

Computer support for strategic organizational decision-making

While information systems continue to be promoted within organizations as tools to support strategic decision-making, there is growing concern over the ability of such systems to model the social and political complexity of the situations to which they are being applied. This paper examines the nature of organizational decision-making and the use of computer-based systems to support this activity. The debate queries the extent to which such artifacts should be allowed to become enmeshed and embedded within the strategic decision-making activities of organizations which operate within increasingly complex environments.