Reports of the childhood home environment in early-onset dysthymia and episodic major depression.

This study addressed 2 questions: (a) is early-onset dysthymia associated with reports of a disturbed childhood home environment; and (b) can adverse early experiences account, at least in part, for the differing clinical presentations of dysthymia and major depression? Participants included 97 outpatients with early-onset dysthymia, 45 outpatients with episodic major depression, and 45 normal controls. The early home environment was assessed blind to diagnosis using both interview and self-report measures. Early-onset dysthymia patients reported significantly more physical and sexual abuse and poorer relationships with both parents than normal controls. In addition, patients with dysthymia reported having received significantly poorer parenting than those with episodic major depression. The results could not be accounted for by mood state effects, comorbidity with borderline and antisocial personality disorder, or comorbid major depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A computer-administered version of the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale.

The Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) was converted to an interactive computer-administered format. To examine its utility, the computer version of the Y-BOCS was administered in a design counterbalanced with the clinician-administered version to a sample of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), patients with other anxiety disorders, and nonpatient controls. The computer-administered version of the Y-BOCS correlated highly with the clinician-administered version, especially in the OCD sample, and showed equal ability to distinguish OCD patients from Ss in the other 2 groups. It was also well understood and liked by Ss, who showed no preference for the clinician interview over the computer interview. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Design of Gateable Transmitter for Acoustic Telemetering Tags

A single-transistor class B oscillator was designed as a gateable transmitter stage for ultrasonic tags. The transmitting efficiency was analyzed by grouping the various losses into two categories: collector circuit losses to determine the collector efficiency; and load circuit losses to determine the load efficiency. The collector efficiency, 58.5 percent for this design, is a function of the internal battery resistance, collector saturation resistance, operating power level, and battery voltage. The load efficiency, 37 percent for this design, includes losses from the transformer, base circuit, and projector. The conditions for maximum power transfer were delineated, and a simple procedure for obtaining an approximate measure of projector efficiency was prepared.     

TYPE 1 DIABETIC PATIENT INSULIN DELIVERY USING ASYMMETRIC PI CONTROL

Type 1 diabetes is characterized by the destruction of the only insulin producing cells in the body. The typical course of action consists of daily insulin injections or an insulin pump. Assuming available methods for online monitoring of glucose concentrations, feedback control can be applied to this problem to improve regulation of glucose concentrations. A control algorithm is presented for feedback control of glucose levels in Type 1 patients. The control problem may be viewed as asymmetric, with negative variation from normal values treated with a more aggressive response than positive deviation. A simple asymmetric proportional-integral (PI) controller is presented where controller parameters vary depending on the sign of the current error value. Optimal closed-loop tuning parameters for the asymmetric control system are determined using local search methods. The asymmetric control system is then considered for robustness analysis using standard techniques from linear systems theory.     

Absorber intercooling in CO2 absorption by piperazine‐promoted potassium carbonate

Intercooling was evaluated as a process option in CO₂ absorption by piperazine (PZ) promoted potassium carbonate. The system performance with 4.5 m K⁺/4.5 m PZ was simulated by a model in Aspen Plus® RateSep?. The absorber was evaluated for use with a double matrix stripper by optimizing the position of the semilean feed and intercooling stages to maximize CO₂ removal. Additionally, a simple absorber system was modeled to observe the effect of intercooling on systems with variable CO₂ lean loading. Intercooling increases CO₂ removal by as much as 10% with the double matrix configuration. With a simple absorber, the effectiveness of intercooling depends on solvent rate. Near a critical liquid/gas ratio (L/G) there is a large improvement with intercooling. This is related to the position of the temperature bulge. An approximation is proposed to estimate the critical L/G where intercooling may maximize removal. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2010     

Fluorescence Detection of a Protein‐Bound 2Fe2S Cluster

A fluorescent biosensor is described for 2Fe2S clusters that is composed of green fluorescent protein (GFP) fused to glutaredoxin 2 (Grx2), as illustrated here. 2Fe2S detection is based on the reduction of GFP fluorescence upon the 2Fe2S‐induced dimerization of GFP‐Grx2. This assay is sufficiently sensitive to detect submicromolar changes in 2Fe2S levels, thus making it suitable for high‐throughput measurements of metallocluster degradation and synthesis reactions.

     

Secondary mineral growth in fractures in the Miravalles geothermal system, Costa Rica

A mineralogical, fluid-chemical, and theoretical study of hydrothermal alteration in veins from drillcore from the Miravalles Geothermal Field, Costa Rica has revealed a complex history of mineral-fluid reaction which may be used to characterise changes in temperature and fluid composition with time. Mineralogical and mineral-chemical data are consistent with hydrothermal alteration in the temperature range 200°–270°C, with deeper portions of the system having undergone temperatures in excess of 300°C. Thermodynamic calculations suggest that the observed alteration assemblage is not in equilibrium with current well fluids, unless estimates of reservoir pH are incorrect. Fe-Al zoning of prehnite and epidote in veins is consistent with rapid, isothermal fluctuations in fluid composition at current reservoir temperatures, and may be due to changes in volatile content of the fluid due to tectonic activity.     

Practical aspects of a data-driven motion correction approach for brain SPECT

Patient motion can cause image artifacts in single photon emission computed tomography despite restraining measures. Data-driven detection and correction of motion can be achieved by comparison of acquired data with the forward projections. This enables the brain locations to be estimated and data to be correctly incorporated in a three-dimensional (3-D) reconstruction algorithm. Digital and physical phantom experiments were performed to explore practical aspects of this approach. METHODS: Noisy simulation data modeling multiple 3-D patient head movements were constructed by projecting the digital Hoffman brain phantom at various orientations. Hoffman physical phantom data incorporating deliberate movements were also gathered. Motion correction was applied to these data using various regimes to determine the importance of attenuation and successive iterations. Studies were assessed visually for artifact reduction, and analyzed quantitatively via a mean registration error (MRE) and mean square difference measure (MSD). RESULTS: Artifacts and distortion in the motion corrupted data were reduced to a large extent by application of this algorithm. MRE values were mostly well within 1 pixel (4.4 mm) for the simulated data. Significant MSD improvements (>2) were common. Inclusion of attenuation was unnecessary to accurately estimate motion, doubling the efficiency and simplifying implementation. Moreover, most motion-related errors were removed using a single iteration. The improvement for the physical phantom data was smaller, though this may be due to object symmetry. CONCLUSION: These results provide the basis of an implementation protocol for clinical validation of the technique.     

Viscoelastic boundary-layer flows past wedges and cones

An implicit finite-difference method is used to solve the boundary-layer equations corresponding to the plane flow of a viscoelastic liquid past a symmetric wedge or the axisymmetric flow of such a fluid past a right circular cone. A representative sample of the computer data is displayed graphically and used to illustrate the interesting physical features of the problem.