Design and analysis of a 512×768 current-mediated activepixel array image sensor

Current-mediated, current-output active pixels offer the advantages of compact size and simple operation in designing large format CMOS image sensors, with performance limited by spatial fixed pattern noise. In this paper, a thorough noise analysis is made of the expected performance of a current-output pixel image sensor. This analysis is compared with experimental results from a 512×768 array imager fabricated in a 0.7 μm process, and the effectiveness of basic error correction techniques are explored. The goal of this study was to determine the performance limits of this device and to gain insight into the design issues needed to develop a high-quality current-output imager     

Unique monocyte subset in patients with AIDS dementia

BACKGROUND: 15-30% of patients infected with HIV will develop a debilitating dementia. Whilst HIV enters the brain soon after infection, presumably within monocyte-derived macrophages, not all patients with HIV become demented. Blood monocytes probably cross the blood-brain barrier and give rise ultimately to parenchyma macrophages. We looked for a specific monocyte subset in AIDS patients with dementia. METHODS: Peripheral blood monocytes from three groups were compared: AIDS patients with (n = 12) and without (n = 11) dementia, and ten HIV seronegative healthy controls. We used flow cytometry to analyse monocytes, and cell lysis and apoptosis assays to examine monocyte effects on human brain cells in vitro. FINDINGS: We found a unique subset of monocytes in patients with AIDS dementia. These monocytes were more dense and granular and expressed CD14/CD16 and CD14/CD69. Means (SD) for CD14/CD16 in HIV-negative controls and in AIDS non-dementia and AIDS dementia patients were 6.5% (4), 16% (13), and 37% (21), respectively (p = 0.008 between the two groups of patients). The corresponding means for CD14/CD69 were 7% (6), 8% (10), and 69% (18) (p < 0.0001). INTERPRETATION: CD69 is a member of the natural-killer-cell gene complex that is expressed after activation. Supernatants from cultures containing these dense cells can trigger apoptosis of human brain cells in vitro. The monocyte subset we found in patients with AIDS dementia might enter the brain and expose neural cells to toxic factors.     

Review of Treatment of childhood disorders, 3rd edition.

Reviews the book, Treatment of childhood disorders, 3rd edition edited by Eric J. Mash and Russell A. Barkley (see record 2006-05090-000). This is an impressive compilation of chapters by distinguished authors in their respective fields, covering the major domains related to common childhood psychopathology, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), conduct disorder, fear and anxiety, depression, mental retardation, autism spectrum disorders, learning disabilities, physical abuse and neglect, sexual abuse, substance use, and eating disorders. This landmark book, now in its third edition, provides the current state of knowledge about treatment intervention within these domains. This pioneering book continues to represent a major (and highly successful) undertaking to synthesize the wide literature base of treatment for common childhood disorders. Its ability to parsimoniously convey extensive information in a manner that is easily accessible to readers facilitates the advancement of treatment for childhood psychopathology by transferring treatment knowledge from the research laboratory to the clinical office. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Small group research, that once and future field: An interpretation of the past with an eye to the future.

This review chronicles prior approaches to research on small groups, critiques contemporary theories and methods, and notes some future possibilities. Early group researchers worked in isolated "schools," treating groups as social systems for influencing members, for patterning interaction, or for performing tasks. Assumptions of those 3 schools are blended in some contemporary approaches, treating groups as systems for processing information; for managing consensus and conflict; and for motivating, regulating, and coordinating member behavior. Past and contemporary approaches are limited by their analytic focus, limited temporal scope, and failure to treat groups in context. The article points to an alternative theoretical approach that treats groups as complex, adaptive, dynamic systems and notes some methodological issues and possibilities raised by that approach. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Segregation and recombination of Solanum brevidens synteny groups in progeny of somatic hybrids with S. tuberosum: intragenomic equals or exceeds intergenomic recombination

The Solanum brevidens genome (2n = 2x = 24) was examined with randomly applied polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers in a second backcross population derived from a S. brevidens + S. tuberosum somatic hybrid. RAPD markers cosegregated into 12 different S. brevidens synteny groups. Most synteny groups were nonrecombinant. However, nearly 40% of the S. brevidens synteny groups detected in this population were recombinant deletions that carried at least one, but not all, synteny group-specific RAPD markers. All S. brevidens synteny groups (except chromosome 5) were involved in recombination, and recombination occurred within most intervals between markers. About 20% of the recombinant S. brevidens synteny groups involved a single synteny group-specific marker. The inheritance of some single-marker representatives was followed in four BC3 families. At least nine changes in S. brevidens synteny groups had occurred during backcrossing. Six of the nine changes involved translocation of S. brevidens markers between nonhomologous S. brevidens chromosomes, and three S. brevidens markers may have been introgressed into the potato genome.     

Impaired pancreatic polypeptide release to insulin hypoglycaemia in chronic autonomic failure with postural hypotension: evidence for parasympathetic dysfunction

1. Release of pancreatic polypeptide (PP) is largely under vagal control and measurement of change in PP after insulin hypoglycaemia offers a non-invasive method of assessing vagal activity. 2. Changes in blood sugar and PP after intravenous insulin (0.2 unit/kg) were examined in six patients with idiopathic chronic autonomic failure (AF) and 12 control subjects. Six of the controls were studied before and after atropine treatment. 3. The PP levels in controls rose from 32 +/- 9 (mean +/- SEM) to 236 +/- 54 pmol/l after 45 min. Patients had similar baseline values (23 +/- 5 pmol/l) but a markedly reduced and delayed PP response to hypoglycaemia (49 +/- 19 pmol/l at 90 min). This impaired PP response was similar to that seen in controls after atropine. 4. The impaired PP response to insulin hypoglycaemia in patients with AF strongly suggests a dysfunction of vagal activity which is often clinically inapparent.     

Social desirability responding in the measurement of assertive behavior.

Investigated social desirability responding in the measurement of assertive behavior. 30 22–56 yr old middle-class women completed self-report and analogue behavioral measures of assertion and anxiety before and after assertiveness training. The measures included the Assertion Inventory, the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale, and role-played assertiveness scenes during a telephone call. Consistent with social desirability theory and research, high social desirability scorers described themselves as more assertive and less anxious than low scorers, but were behaviorally less assertive than low scorers. Although both high and low scorers improved their assertion skills, high scorers did not appear less anxious after assertiveness training, unlike low scorers. (6 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of parent training on parenting stress and sense of competence.

Examined the effects of behavioral parent training groups on parenting stress and sense of competence. Ss, parents of 91 clinically diagnosed hyperactive preschoolers (aged 3–6 yrs), were randomly assigned to an immediate treatment group (experimental) or a delayed treatment group (control). Results indicate that group parent training yielded benefits beyond changes in parent and child behavior. Compared with controls, experimental Ss reported less parenting stress and increased sense of competence following treatment and 3 mo later. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)