Distorted symptom perception in patients with medically unexplained symptoms.

The present study investigated differences in symptom perception between a clinical sample with medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) and a matched healthy control group. Participants (N = 58, 29 patients) were told that they would inhale different gas mixtures that might induce symptoms. Next, they went through 2 subsequent rebreathing trials consisting of a baseline (60 s room air breathing), a rebreathing phase (150 s, which gradually increased ventilation, PCO2 in the blood, and perceived dyspnea), and a recovery phase (150 s, returning to room air breathing). Breathing behavior was continuously monitored, and dyspnea was rated every 10 s. The within-subject correlations between dyspnea on the one hand and end-tidal CO2 and minute ventilation on the other were used to index the degree to which perceived dyspnea was related to specific relevant respiratory changes. The results showed that perceived symptoms were less strongly related to relevant physiological parameters in MUS patients than in healthy persons, specifically when afferent physiological input was relatively weak. This suggests a stronger role for top-down psychological processes in the symptom perception of patients with MUS. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Volumetric ultrasound imaging using 2-D CMUT arrays

Recently, capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs) have emerged as a candidate to overcome the difficulties in the realization of 2-D arrays for real-time 3-D imaging. In this paper, we present the first volumetric images obtained using a 2-D CMUT array. We have fabricated a 128 x 128-element 2-D CMUT array with through-wafer via interconnects and a 420-microm element pitch. As an experimental prototype, a 32 x 64-element portion of the 128 x 128-element array was diced and flip-chip bonded onto a glass fanout chip. This chip provides individual leads from a central 16 x 16-element portion of the array to surrounding bondpads. An 8 x 16-element portion of the array was used in the experiments along with a 128-channel data acquisition system. For imaging phantoms, we used a 2.37-mm diameter steel sphere located 10 mm from the array center and two 12-mm-thick Plexiglas plates located 20 mm and 60 mm from the array. A 4 x 4 group of elements in the middle of the 8 x 16-element array was used in transmit, and the remaining elements were used to receive the echo signals. The echo signal obtained from the spherical target presented a frequency spectrum centered at 4.37 MHz with a 100% fractional bandwidth, whereas the frequency spectrum for the echo signal from the parallel plate phantom was centered at 3.44 MHz with a 91% fractional bandwidth. The images were reconstructed by using RF beamforming and synthetic phased array approaches and visualized by surface rendering and multiplanar slicing techniques. The image of the spherical target has been used to approximate the point spread function of the system and is compared with theoretical expectations. This study experimentally demonstrates that 2-D CMUT arrays can be fabricated with high yield using silicon IC-fabrication processes, individual electrical connections can be provided using through-wafer vias, and flip-chip bonding can be used to integrate these dense 2-D arrays with electronic circuits for practical 3-D imaging applications.     

Mesoscopic nonequilibrium thermodynamics treatment of the grain boundary thermal grooving induced by the anisotropic surface drift diffusion

A systematic study based on the self-consistent dynamical simulations is presented for the grain boundary thermal grooving problem by strictly following the irreversible thermodynamic theory of surfaces and interfaces with singularities [T. O. Ogurtani, J. Chem. Phys. 124, 144706 (2006)]. This approach furnishes us to have auto-control on the otherwise free-motion of the grain boundary triple junction without presuming any equilibrium dihedral (wetting) angles at the edges. The effects of physicochemical properties and the anisotropic surface diffusivity on the transient grooving behavior, which takes place at the early stage of the scenario, were considered. We analyzed the experimental thermal grooving data reported for tungsten in the literature, and compared them with the carried simulation results. This investigation showed that the observed changes in the dihedral angles are strictly connected to the transient behavior of the simulated global system, and manifest themselves at the early stage of the thermal grooving phenomenon.     

Narrative empathy.

Therapeutic empathy is described as an active narrative process, in which the therapist attempts to construe and express the inner emotional logic of the client's problem patterns. The empathic narrative is contrasted to the external narrative, which describes the client from the outside and the client's behavior as making sense from the point of view of the theory rather than from that of the client's. The criterion of an empathic narrative is that it elicits from the client the response "That's me!" The external narrative, in distinction, fails to elicit this self-recognition. The persistent rejection of the therapist's formulations by the client and the ensuing state of therapeutic impasse is interpreted as being often due to the therapist's assumption that the client should accept an external narrative as if it were an empathic one. When such a situation develops, the therapist may overcome the impasse by acknowledging the externality of the previous therapeutic narrative and proposing a potentially empathic one in its stead. Three case examples of a 49-yr-old married woman, a teenage girl, and 28-yr-old single male are presented to demonstrate narrative empathy within the therapeutic context. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Object‐oriented distributed computing based on remote class reference

Java RMI, Jini and CORBA provide effective mechanisms for implementing a distributed computing system. Recently many numeral libraries have been developed that take advantage of Java as an object‐oriented and portable language. The widely‐used client‐server method limits the extent to which the benefits of the object‐oriented approach can be exploited because of the difficulties arising when a remote object is the argument or return value of a remote or local method. In this paper this problem is solved by introducing a data object that stores the data structure of the remote object and related access methods. By using this data object, the client can easily instantiate a remote object, and use it as the argument or return value of either a local or remote method. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Methods of analysis modified size exchange chromatography method for analysis of heavy oil residues

A modified size exchange chromatography method is used to obtain molecular weight distributions, average molecular weight, and other characteristics of heavy oil residues: coal asphalt, petroleum asphalt, vacuum residue oil, and ethylene residue oil. This method can be applied for developing and studying processes involved in hydrogenation of heavy oil residues, road asphalt production, and coal liquefaction.     

Synthesis of Novel Series of Benzothieno [2,3-d] Pyrimidine Derivatives, Promising Anticancer Agents

An extension of the authors＇ previous discovery of in vitro antitumor activity of substituted thino [2,3-d] prymidine derivatives is reported. The synthesis of some new spirothino [2,3-d] prymidine （4a-f）, imidazolidin, substituted prymidinyl and substituted thiazolidine thino [2,3-d] prymidine derivatives have been described. Thirteen of the obtained compounds were selected by the NCI and evaluated for their in vitro anticancer activity. Seven of the investigated compounds, 4a, 8a, 9a, （12a, b）, 14a and 15a, displayed high anticancer activity in the primary assay. These compounds have been selected for a full anticancer screening against a 60-cell panel assay where they showed non-selective broad spectrum and promising activity against all cancer cell lines. Compounds 12a and 12b proved to be the active members in this study compared to 5-fluorouracil and cyclophosphamide as reference drugs, respectively. Compounds 12a and 12b were identified as promising lead compounds, evaluated for their in-vitro antitumor activity.     

Memory effects on symptom reporting in a respiratory learning paradigm.

With odors as conditioned stimuli (CSs) and CO?-enriched air as the unconditioned stimulus, participants learned to exhibit respiratory responses and somatic complaints on presentation of only the odor CS+. Studied was whether complaints during CS+-only trials were inferred from the conditioned somatic responses or were based on activated memory of the complaints during acquisition. Participants (N?=?56) were either attentionally directed away or not from the complaints during acquisition, and the effects on somatic complaints during test were studied. Respiratory responses, heart rate, and somatic complaints were measured. No physiological conditioning effects were found. However, more complaints were reported to the CS+ than to the CS– odor, but only when the CS+ was foul smelling. This effect was modulated by the attention manipulation, showing that the learned complaints during the test phase were based on memory of the acquisition complaints and not on physiological responses during the test. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)