Body composition changes in patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection

Malnutrition characterized by weight loss and often extreme wasting generally develops when patients progress from infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) to AIDS. There is evidence that before the development of AIDS, HIV-infected patients without weight loss show early signs of malnutrition, defined as an increase in the ratio of extracellular mass (ECM) to body cell mass (BCM). As part of a dietary intervention study, body composition measurement were obtained at baseline and after 6 wk in 18 patients with HIV infection and CD4 counts between 140 and 740 cells/mm3. Only one patient had a prior weight loss (3.7 kg); patients gained 2 pounds after 3 wk of dietary supplementation of 500 kcal daily. Bioelectrical impedance was used to measured body compartments. The average ECM/BCM ratio (0.77 +/- 0.13) was within the normal range (0.83 +/- 0.16) indicating the absence of malnutrition by this criterion. Most measurements of BCM (kg) approximated normal values, while several for BCM (kg) exceeded normal. BCM (kg) correlated poorly with the ECM/BCM ratio (r2 = 0.08; P = 0.11) in contrast to ECM (kg), which was well correlated (r2 = 0.82; P = 0.00). In addition, there was a significant correlation of body mass index (BMI) with the ECM/BCM ratio (r2 = 0.38; P = 0.00) and with ECM (r2 = 0.244; P = 0.003) indicating that overweight patients may be more likely to be considered malnourished than normal weight patients using this ratio. Without use of bioelectrical impedance, these subtle changes might be missed. Once significant weight loss has occurred coupled with decreases in BCM (kg), the ECM/BCM ratio may be more reflective of malnutrition. These conjectures will require prospective evaluation, but for now it seems reasonable to include bioelectrical impedance as a potentially useful tool in the evaluation of malnutrition in this population.     

Childhood chronic inflammatory demyelinating neuropathies: clinical course and long-term follow-up

Chronic inflammatory demyelinating neuropathy (CIDP) is a rare disease in childhood. We reviewed the clinical characteristics, response to therapy, and long-term prognosis in 13 children (1.5 to 16 years of age) diagnosed with CIDP at Washington University Medical Center, St. Louis, and the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia, between 1979 and 1994. The most common presenting symptom (in 11/13 [85%]) was lower extremity weakness associated with difficulty in walking. Preceding events within 1 months of onset, mostly intercurrent infections or vaccinations, occurred in seven children (54%). The disease was monophasic in three children (23%). One relapse occurred in four (30%) and multiple relapses in six (46%). All patients had at least short-term response to steroids. Three children (23%) recovered completely during the first year. Ten children (77%) had residual weakness after an average follow-up of 6 years. There seems to be two populations of children with CIDP. One subgroup, with a favorable prognosis, progressed to peak disability over less than 3 months; these children often have a monophasic course with complete resolution of symptoms and signs and withdrawal from all medications by 1 year after onset. A second subgroup progressed for 3 months or longer; these children all required substantial does of prednisone for prolonged periods and had considerable long-term morbidity with persistent weakness.     

State Legislators'' Perceptions of the Use of E-mail in Constituent Communication

The metaphor of "Frankenfood" rapidly spread into popular use at the end of the 1990s, to the extent that it was even added to the New Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable , 2000 edition. The metaphor gained wide popularity at least partly because of the active campaigns of various NGOs on their Web pages. The metaphor was also widely used in more informal e-mail and newsgroups on the Web, and seemed to provide common ground for different discourses. In this article, I explore the way metaphors relate different discourses on the Internet. This approach may open up new ways of analyzing both the network structure on the Internet, and the substantial aspects of the debate within the network. I first follow the development of the metaphor of "Frankenfood" over time, and then I map the uses of the metaphor by various sites on the Web. The aim is to discuss the role of metaphors as tools of communication by combining diachronic analysis of the expanding network around the metaphor with the static snapshots of the main sites' textual structure.     

Psychological and social indicators of suicide ideation and suicide attempts in Zuni adolescents.

Suicide behavior is a significant problem for many American Indian populations, often more so than in the general population, but little tribal-specific data is available. In this study, baseline data on the correlates of suicide ideation and the social and psychological differences between suicide attempters and nonattempters were collected on a sample of 84 Zuni adolescents. Results show significant correlations between a measure of suicide ideation and past suicide attempt behavior, drug use, depression, hopelessness, stress, psychological symptomatology, social support, liking for school, and interpersonal communication. Significant differences between the 30% of the students who reported having previously attempted suicide and the nonattempters were also found on these measures. Areas for education and prevention efforts are suggested. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of observational methods in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): Implications for diagnosis.

Reviewed 39 empirical studies in which direct observational methods were used to assess children in whom ADHD had been diagnosed. Classroom studies distinguished ADHD children from comparison groups better than laboratory studies. Behaviors that most consistently distinguished ADHD children from comparison groups included measures of attention, activity, and vocalization. Ways are suggested to improve the efficiency and reliability of observational research. Recommendations are made regarding the importance of classroom observations in the evaluation of ADHD children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Response to Robert Seidenberg's review of Women's psyche, women's spirit by Mary Lou Randour.

Robert Seidenberg's (see record 2007-10580-001) review of Mary Lou Randour's (see record 2006-05457-063) Women's psyche, women's spirit is critiqued and corrected from the perspective of a feminist theologian. The contrast between the psychological and religious approaches is noted with particular attention to the importance of feminist spirituality for social change and the substantive contribution of feminist analysis like Randour's for that task. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Digit pipelined processors

Digit serial data transmission can be used to an advantage in the design of special purpose processors where communication issues dominate and where digit pipelining can be used to maintain high data rates. VLSI signal processing applications are one such problem domain. We have developed a family of VLSI components that have digit serial transmission and that can be pipelined at the digit level. These components can be used to construct VLSI processors that are especially suited to signal processing applications. One such particularly attractive processor is a structure we call the arithmetic cube. The arithmetic cube can be programmed to solve linear transformations such as convolutions and DFTs, and has nearest neighbor interconnects, regular layout, simple control, and a limited number of interconnections. Regular layout and simple control derive naturally from the algorithms on which the processor is based. Long wires are eliminated by the nearest neighbor interconnect. High throughput can be achieved by pipelining the processor at the digit level. The arithmetic cube is programmable in the problem size n; once implemented for a certain size N, smaller problems can be solved on the same implementation without a loss in performance. In addition, the architecture extends to larger N in a regular and automatic fashion.This work has been supported in part by the Army Research Office under Contract DAAG29-83-K-0126.     

Analysis of the discourse structure of lyric poetry

Applying the method of discourse structure analysis described by Grosz and Sidner to lyric poetry, one views the poet as the Initiating Conversational Participant, and the reader as the Other Conversational Participant as she recreates the poem upon reading it. In poetry the linguistic and intentional structures function in counterpoint to the metrical and stanzaic structures, respectively, producing the effects that define poetry. Analysis of attentional state can reveal the dynamics of the focussing process in a poem, providing a unique perspective on its operation. More research is needed to extend the theory to adequately handle lyric poetry.Mary Dee Harris, Ph. D., is currently a consultant in Natural Language Processing and Artificial Intelligence in the Washington, DC, area. Her research interests are: interaction of metaphor and discourse structure, knowledge-based natural language processing, cognitive linguistic approaches to natural language processing. Her publications include: Introduction to Natural Language Processing (Prentice-Hall, 1985); Dylan Thomas the Craftsman: Computer Analysis of the Composition of a Poem,ALLC Bulletin, 7, 3 (1979), 295–300; Poetry vs the computer, in Festschrift in honor of Roberto Busa, S. J., edited by Antonio Zampolli and Laura Cignoni, University of Pisa, Fall, 1987.