Dynamic arrays for fast, efficient, data manipulation during image analysis: a new software tool for exploratory data analysis.

Memory reallocation is used to construct a run-time data structure for fast/efficient storage of information during collection and analysis. The data structure presented uses dynamic memory but does not require the use of pointers to link nodes of information together. It allows for simple and efficient access to data via array indexing rather than through the use of lists or tree structures and it provides flexibility for competing storage requirements that are determined dynamically. The data structure is developed in the C programming language and a suite of ANSI standard C subroutines that make up a run-time data structure management system is provided.     

Electrical characterization and modeling of alternating-currentthin-film electroluminescent devices

Electrical characterization of evaporated ZnS:Mn alternating-current thin-film electroluminescent (ACTFEL) devices is accomplished by capacitance-voltage (C-V) analysis. Interpretation of these C-V characteristics is aided by SPICE modeling and by electrical characterization of an ideal ACTFEL device constructed from discrete components, based on a simple equivalent circuit for the ACTFEL device. Various features of the C -V curve are ascribed to equivalent circuit parameters and associated device physics parameters     

How to avoid mistakes in medicine administration

This article examines factors that may contribute to errors in drug administration. These can range from the omission of a single dose of a non-essential drug to a major overdose resulting in serious harm to a patient. It concludes that a combination of being observant and well-informed can help to prevent errors.     

Hip impact velocities and body configurations for voluntary falls from standing height

OBJECTIVE: To determine prevalence of various pheno- and genotypes of Serpulina sp in young pigs in relation to diarrhea and feed medication in Swedish pig-rearing herds. DESIGN: Isolation of spirochetes. Phenotypical and genotypical classification. SAMPLE POPULATION: Young pigs (n = 358) in 19 pigrearing herds. PROCEDURE: Serpulina isolates were classified according to a biochemical scheme based on hemolysis, indole production, hippurate hydrolysis, and alpha-galactosidase, alpha-glucosidase, and beta-glucosidase activities. The 16S rRNA sequences for 10 of the field strains and 2 type strains of Serpulina spp were aligned and compared. Minimum inhibitory concentrations of olaquindox for 9 of the strains were determined. RESULTS: Weakly beta-hemolytic intestinal spirochetes (WBHIS) were isolated from 17 of the herds and 65% of the samples. More than 1 phenotype of WBHIS was found in 12 of the 19 herds. S hyodysenteriae was not isolated in any of the herds. Hippurate-positive WBHIS were isolated in 6 of 7 herds affected by diarrhea, but in only 1 of 8 herds without diarrhea. Hippurate-positive strains were closely related to the pathogenic strain P43 if judged from sequence comparisons. Strains with the same biochemical profile isolated within a herd had identical sequences, but when isolated from different herds, sequence differences were observed. The prevalence of WBHIS was reduced in herds medicated with olaquindox. Investigated field strains had minimum inhibitory concentration values < or = 1 microgram/ml for olaquindox. CONCLUSION: The presence of WBHIS, with the ability to hydrolyze hippurate, was related to diarrhea in pig herds. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Potentially pathogenic WBHIS can be distinguished from nonpathogenic strains by the hippurate hydrolysis test.     

The genotype of the human cancer cell: implications for risk analysis

An extremely large database describes genotypes associated with the human cancer phenotype and genotypes of human populations with genetic predisposition to cancer. Aspects of this database are examined from the perspective of risk analysis, and the following conclusions and hypotheses are proposed: (1) The genotypes of human cancer cells are characterized by multiple mutated genes. Each type of cancer is characterized by a set of mutated genes, a subset from a total of more than 80 genes, that varies between tissue types and between different tumors from the same tissue. No single cancer-associated gene nor carcinogenic pathway appears suitable as an overall indicator whose induction serves as a quantitative marker for risk analysis. (2) Genetic defects that predispose human populations to cancer are numerous and diverse, and provide a model for associating cancer rates with induced genetic changes. As these syndromes contribute significantly to the overall cancer rate, risk analysis should include an estimation of the effect of putative carcinogens on individuals with genetic predisposition. (3) Gene activation and inactivation events are observed in the cancer genotype at different frequencies, and the potency of carcinogens to induce these events varies significantly. There is a paradox between the observed frequency for induction of single mutational events in test systems and the frequency of multiple events in a single cancer cell, suggesting events are not independent. Quantitative prediction of cancer risk will depend on identifying rate-limiting events in carcinogenesis. Hyperproliferation and hypermutation may be such events. (4) Four sets of data suggest that hypermutation may be an important carcinogenic process. Current mechanisms of risk analysis do not properly evaluate the potency of putative carcinogens to induce the hypermutable state or to increase mutation in hypermutable cells. (5) High-dose exposure to carcinogens in model systems changes patterns of gene expression and may induce protective effects through delay in cell progression and other processes that affect mutagenesis and toxicity. Paradigms in risk analysis that require extrapolation over wide ranges of exposure levels may be flawed mechanistically and may underestimate carcinogenic effects of test agents at environmental levels. Characteristics of the human cancer genotype suggest that approaches to risk analysis must be broadened to consider the multiplicity of carcinogenic pathways and the relative roles of hyperproliferation and hypermutation. Further, estimation of risk to general human populations must consider effects on hypersusceptible individuals. The extrapolation of effects over wide exposure levels is an imprecise process.     

Moving on and moving up: The experience of households who resell public sector dwellings

The long‐term consequences of the sale of public sector dwellings to sitting tenants are under‐researched; in particular, the experience of tenant purchasers in the housing market subsequent to purchase is little known. This paper reports research designed to fill this gap in knowledge. Over 200 tenants who had bought their dwelling from the Scottish Special Housing Association and subsequently resold on the open market were traced using the Register fo Sasines and the Land Register and interviewed. Most had made considerable capital gains on resale and had used some of the realised capital to trade up in the housing market. They were, on average, slightly more affluent and younger than sitting tenant purchasers generally; they represented a group of households who were privileged within the public sector through living as tenants in the best stock and who were enabled by the Right to Buy to convert that good luck into hard cash and move into mainstream owner occupation. This good luck compounded the advantaged position vis‐à‐vis other tenants that they enjoyed in the labour market.     

Perceptions of elder abuse and help-seeking patterns among African-American, Caucasian American, and Korean-American elderly women

Thirteen scenarios were used to measure and compare the perceptions of elder abuse and help-seeking behaviors of African-American, Caucasian American, and Korean-American elderly women. Significant group differences existed in their perceptions of elder abuse with regard to six scenarios, and the Korean-American women were substantially less likely to perceive a given situation as abusive than the other groups. The three groups also showed significant differences in their intended use of formal and informal sources of help in the case of elder abuse.