Extension of a typology of alcohol dependence based on relative genetic and environmental loading

Mild, severe, and dyssocial subtypes of alcohol dependence, previously identified among Caucasian men from the Epidemiologic Catchment Area study, were also identified among Caucasian men and women with DSM-IV alcohol dependence from the National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey (n = 2,703; 1,746 respectively). These subtypes were not identified among African American and Hispanic American men or women with DSM-IV alcohol dependence. Among Caucasians with alcohol dependence, the subtypes were characterized by differential loading on three dimensions: genetic, general environmental, and dyssocial environmental symptom scales developed in a prior twin study. The mild subtype (60% of men and 66% of women) was distinguished by low mean scores on all three scales; the dyssocial subtype (24% of men and 20% of women) by low mean genetic and general environmental scores but high mean dyssocial environmental scores; and the severe subtype (16% of men and 14% of women) by high scores on the genetic and general environmental scales. These subtypes also showed the expected distinctions in clinical characteristics. The severe subtype showed greater comorbid drug dependence and major depression, more treatment seeking, and a higher prevalence of parental alcoholism. The severe subtype also showed significantly greater genetic influence adjusted for overall severity of alcohol dependence (genetic ratio). Only the severe subtype showed a pattern of scale scores and clinical characteristics suggestive of substantial genetic influence. The present study indicates a robustness of the typology originally developed among DSM-III alcohol-dependent Caucasian men by empirical extension of the subtypes to a different sample of Caucasian men and, separately, Caucasian women. The use of this typology may aid in distinguishing between Caucasian alcohol-dependent individuals on the basis of relative genetic influence, enabling genetic, behavioral, and epidemiological investigations to reduce genetic or environmental "noise" and better focus on specific aspects of alcohol dependence.     

Adaptive records for volume irradiance caching

In this paper, we present a new irradiance caching scheme using Monte Carlo ray tracing for efficiently rendering participating media. The irradiance cache algorithm is extended to participating media. Our method allows to adjust the density of cached records depending on illumination changes. Direct and indirect contributions can be stored in the records but also multiple scattering. An adaptive shape of the influence zone of records, depending on geometrical features and irradiance variations, is introduced. To avoid a high density of cached records in low interest areas, a new method controls the density of the cache when adding new records. This record density control depends on the interpolation quality and on the photometric characteristics of the medium. Reducing the number of records accelerates both the computation pass and the rendering pass by decreasing the number of queries to the cache data structure (Kd-tree). Finally, instead of using an expensive ray marching to find records that cover the ray, we gather all the contributive records along the ray. With our method, pre-computing and rendering passes are significantly speeded-up.     

Topology-controlled volume rendering

Topology provides a foundation for the development of mathematically sound tools for processing and exploration of scalar fields. Existing topology-based methods can be used to identify interesting features in volumetric data sets, to find seed sets for accelerated isosurface extraction, or to treat individual connected components as distinct entities for isosurfacing or interval volume rendering. We describe a framework for direct volume rendering based on segmenting a volume into regions of equivalent contour topology and applying separate transfer functions to each region. Each region corresponds to a branch of a hierarchical contour tree decomposition, and a separate transfer function can be defined for it. The novel contributions of our work are: 1) a volume rendering framework and interface where a unique transfer function can be assigned to each subvolume corresponding to a branch of the contour tree, 2) a runtime method for adjusting data values to reflect contour tree simplifications, 3) an efficient way of mapping a spatial location into the contour tree to determine the applicable transfer function, and 4) an algorithm for hardware-accelerated direct volume rendering that visualizes the contour tree-based segmentation at interactive frame rates using graphics processing units (GPUs) that support loops and conditional branches in fragment programs     

An Inexpensive Digital Integrator for Gas Chromatography

SUMMARY

An inexpensive gas chromatographic integrator with digital readout is described. The device is precise to ±1 count and shows linear response to within ±2%. It is directly compatible with flame ionization detectors and is easily adapted to thermal conductivity detectors.     

AH-64D main transmission accessory drive spur gear installation fault detections

The US Army has launched an aggressive program to implement condition based maintenance on its rotary wing assets. Condition Based Maintenance takes advantage of technology developments in the areas of machinery monitoring, signal processing and fault modeling to reduce the cost of ownership through improved maintenance procedures. Documenting the reduction in maintenance burden, cost savings and increased safety through early detection of helicopter faults is an important step in justifying the program. This paper describes a novel technique used to detect a serious fault in the accessory section of the AH-64D Apache main transmission. The technique determines if the primary or secondary clutch system is driving the aircraft accessories through a tachometer speed ratio. The method has identified three aircraft operating on the secondary system allowing Army maintenance crews to replace the affected transmissions and quickly restore the aircraft to operational status.     

Generalized volume-surface integral equation for modeling inhomogeneities within high contrast composite structures

Numerical solutions of volume integral equations with high contrast inhomogeneous materials require extremely fine discretization rates making their utility very limited. Given the application of such materials for antennas and metamaterials, it is extremely important to explore computationally efficient modeling methods. In this paper, we propose a novel volume integral equation technique where the domain is divided into different material regions each represented by a corresponding uniform background medium coupled with a variation, together representing the overall inhomogeneity. This perturbational approach enables us to use different Green's functions for each material region. Hence, the resulting volume-surface integral equation alleviates the necessity for higher discretizations within the higher contrast regions. With the incorporation of a junction resolution algorithm for the surface integral equations defined on domain boundaries, we show that the proposed volume-surface integral equation formulation can be generalized to model arbitrary composite structures incorporating conducting bodies as well as highly inhomogeneous material regions.     

Gastric pacing improves emptying and symptoms in patients with gastroparesis

BACKGROUND & AIMS: No effective treatment is available for patients with gastroparesis refractory to standard medical therapy. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of gastric pacing on gastric electrical activity, gastric emptying, and symptoms in patients with gastroparesis. METHODS: Nine patients with gastroparesis participated in this study. Four pairs of cardiac pacing wires were implanted on the serosa of the stomach. The protocol consisted of two portions: a temporary inpatient study period and an outpatient study for a period of 1 month or more. RESULTS: Gastric pacing entrained the gastric slow wave in all subjects and converted tachygastria in 2 patients into regular 3-cpm slow waves. Gastric emptying was significantly improved after the outpatient treatment with gastric pacing. The gastric retention at 2 hours was reduced from 77.0% +/- 3.3% to 56.6% +/- 8.6% (P < 0.05). Symptoms of gastroparesis were substantially reduced at the end of the outpatient treatment (1.51 +/- 0.46 vs. 2.84 +/- 0.61; P < 0.04). Eight of 9 patients no longer relied on jejunostomy tube feeding, and no adverse events were noted related to the pacing unit. CONCLUSIONS: Gastric pacing seems to be able to improve symptoms of gastroparesis and to accelerate gastric emptying in patients with gastroparesis. More controlled studies are necessary to further investigate the role of gastric pacing in clinical practice.     

Immunology and adjuvant chemoimmunotherapy of breast cancer

Antibody against a breast carcinoma antigen was present in patients with breast carcinoma and other cancer more often (P less than .05) than in normal women. The incidence of antibody in women with breast carcinoma correlated with the presence or absence of gross tumor, and the titer of antibody paralleled the clinical course. These results suggest importance of a host-immune response to breast carcinoma. Fifty-seven patients with stage II carcinoma of the breast were entered into a prospective randomized adjuvant chemoimmunotherapy program of cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and fluorouracil, and BCG vaccine +/- an irradiated allogeneic tumor cell vaccine. After 24 months of study, metastases occurred in two patients (3.5%) and a new primary carcinoma developed in the contralateral breast in two others, for an overall treatment failure rate of 7%. Adjuvant chemoimmunotherapy can delay early recurrence. Long-term follow-up is needed to assess the significance of these results.