An extended HLA-DQ-DR haplotype rather than DRB1 alone contributes to RA predisposition

A family with 1 case of retinitis pigmentosa (III-1) and 2 cases of Oguchi's disease (III-2, 3) was examined in terms of electrophysiology as well as molecular biology. The proband (III-3), a 42-year-old female, and 2 older brothers (III-1, 2, aged 52 and 45 years) and 2 unaffected members in the same family participated in this study. Corrected visual acuities of the individuals with Oguchi's disease (III-2, 3) were 1.2. On funduscopy, blood vessels stood out in relief against a metallic-appearing background and a Mizuo-Nakamura phenomenon was evident. Full-field electroretinograms (ERGs) recorded from the proband were indicative of rod dystrophy, but results of other electrophysiological examinations (multifocal ERG, pattern ERG and visual-evoked cortical potential recordings) were within normal limits. Patient III-1 had corrected visual acuities of RE 20 cm/m.m. and LE 30 cm/n.d., severe chorioretinal atrophy in both fundi, and full-field ERG revealed rod-cone dystrophy. Mutation of the arrestin gene (1147de1A) was detected in all 3 patients. Visual function in each patient coincides with that of retinitis pigmentosa or Oguchi's disease, respectively.     

Primary traits of Eysenck's P-E-N system: three- and five-factor solutions

The Eysenck Personality Profiler (EPP), a set of 21 scales measuring primary traits hypothesized to be definers of Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Psychoticism factors, was administered to 229 adults together with the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire--Revised (H. J. Eysenck & S. B. G. Eysenck, 1991) and the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R; P. T. Costa & R. R. McCrae, 1992b). Correlations of EPP scales with NEO-PI-R facet scales provided preliminary evidence supporting the convergent and discriminant validity of the EPP scales. However, varimax and targeted validimax factor analyses suggested that some EPP scales were misclassified and that EPP scales could better be understood in terms of the 5-factor model than the intended 3-factor model.     

Item bias in cognitive screening measures: comparisons of elderly white, Afro-American, Hispanic and high and low education subgroups

A study of item bias in standard cognitive screening measures was conducted in a sample of Afro-American, Hispanic and non-Hispanic white elderly respondents who were part of a dementia case registry study. The methods of item-response theory were applied to identify biased items. Both cross-cultural and high and low education groups were examined to determine which items were biased. Out of 50 cognitive items examined from six widely used cognitive screening measures, 16 were identified as biased for either high and low education groups or ethnic/racial group membership.     

Participation as a complicating mechanism: the effect of clinical professional and middle manager participation on hospital performance

One way hospitals complicate themselves is by increasing the participation of clinical professionals and middle managers in making strategic decisions. Using a survey methodology this article investigates the relationships between the participation of clinical professionals (MDs and RNs) and middle managers with hospital costs, as well as the possible moderating effect of strategic complexity.     

A Realistic Computer-Simulated Brain Phantom for Evaluation of PET Charactenstics

To evaluate accurately the imaging characteristics of positron emission tomography (PET), a realistic computer-simulated brain phantom was developed. A cross-sectional slice from a human cadaver brain was chosen for its combination of gray matter, white matter, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) regions. The slice was photographed and digitized into a gray-level image with a video digitizer, boundary edges were located around cerebral structures in the digitized image, and each structural region was assigned a uniform pixel value dependent on both the cerebral parameter (e.g., blood flow, oxygen uptake, metabolic rate) under investigation and the type of structure (gray matter, white matter, CSF). Line integrals through the regions were generated at various angular and transverse positions according to specific physical characteristics (such as detector line-spread function) of a tomographic scanner configuration to create a set of simulated but realistic projection measurements. The set of projection measurements can be processed with any standard reconstruction program to create a tomographic image to reveal the effects of various PET characteristics. Investigations with this computer-simulated brain phantom have demonstrated its usefulness for examining the interrelations among neuroanatomical structure volume, tomographic spatial resolution, partial volume effect, and nonlinear parameter estimation. Transportability of the simulated phantom and the procedure to other medical imaging environments is described, and limitations of this simulation procedure are discussed.     

Sparse decompositions for exploratory pattern analysis

We define and verify the utility of a pattern analysis procedure called sparse decomposition. This technique involves sequentially ``peeling' sparse subsets of patterns from a pattern set, where sparse subsets are sets of patterns which possess a certain degree of regularity or compactness as measured by a compactness measure c. If this is repeated until all patterns are deleted, then the sequence of decomposition ``layers' derived by this procedure provides a wealth of information from which inferences about the original pattern set may be made. A statistic P is derived from this information and is shown to be powerful in detecting clustering tendency for data in reasonably compact sampling windows. The test is applied to both synthetic and real data.     

Transferring information from one experiment to another

This paper presents a rational method (based on Bayes' Theorem) for transferring information on parameter values from one experiment to another, in situations where the mathematical models for the two experiments share some parameters in common. The uncertainty in the estimates of the parameters, which reflects the experimental error in the initial experiment, is properly transferred as well. The use of the method is demonstrated by applying it to a fairly complicated system, typical in chemical reaction engineering, in which the kinetic parameters in a model for the hydrogenolysis of butane reaction were estimated using data obtained from a bench-scale, integral packed-bed reactor. These parameter estimates were then transferred to a model for a fluidized bed reactor in which the same chemical reaction occurred. Using the fluidized bed data they were updated and two additional parameters in the fluidized bed model were also estimated. This procedure allows a more realistic estimate of the uncertainty in all parameter values in the model for the fluidized bed reactor.     

An investigation of methods of pileup rejection for 2-D array detectors employed in high resolution PET

Two methods of rejecting pileup events in 2-D array detectors used in positron emission tomography (PET) are investigated. Since the methods are based on different physical properties, they were investigated separately and in combination. Method one is based on the fact that valid events in the 2-D array detector occur only in a limited pulseheight range for each detector element, and by rejecting events outside these energy ranges, many of the pileup events can be rejected. Method two is based on the fact that most pileup event pairs have a time differential, which will cause a difference in the shape of the signal which increases the rise time of an integrated signal or the crossover time of a bipolar signal from a shaping amplifier. Method two proved to be somewhat better than method one. However, the ideal system would most likely use both methods simultaneously.     

Grain size effects on cyclic fatigue and crack-growth resistance behaviour of partially stabilized zirconia

Cyclic fatigue crack growth and crack-resistance behaviour was studied in partially stabilized zirconia (PSZ) with three different cubic-phase grain sizes following sub-eutectoid heat treatments. Raman spectroscopy was used to determine the extent of phase transformation around the cracks for both cyclic and monotonic loading conditions. All tests were on long, through thickness cracks using compact-tension specimens. Predictions of crack-tip shielding were made following determination of toughening parameters using crackresistance data. It was found that the dominant factors affecting cyclic fatigue-crack growth were the level of crack-tip shielding, as a result of phase transformation, and the intrinsic toughness of the material. Grain size did not appear to significantly affect fatigue crack-growth behaviour.