Structure–Function Relationship of Retinal Ganglion Cells in Multiple Sclerosis

The retinal ganglion cells (RGC) may be considered an easily accessible pathophysiological site of degenerative processes in neurological diseases, such as the RGC damage detectable in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with (HON) and without a history of optic neuritis (NON). We aimed to assess and interrelate RGC functional and structural damage in different retinal layers and retinal sites. We included 12 NON patients, 11 HON patients and 14 healthy controls for cross-sectional multifocal pattern electroretinography (mfPERG) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) measurements. Amplitude and peak times of the mfPERG were assessed. Macula and disc OCT scans were acquired to determine macular retinal layer and peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL) thickness. In both HON and NON patients the foveal N2 amplitude of the mfPERG was reduced compared to controls. The parafoveal P1 peak time was significantly reduced in HON only. For OCT, parafoveal (pfGCL) and perifoveal (pGCL) ganglion cell layer thicknesses were decreased in HON vs. controls, while pRNFL in the papillomacular bundle sector (PMB) showed reductions in both NON and HON. As the mfPERG derived N2 originates from RGC axons, these findings suggest foveal axonal dysfunction not only in HON, but also in NON patients.     

Mixing in multiple-impeller stirred tank reactors with boiling liquids

Mixing in a boil-off mechanically stirred tank reactor with multiple impellers was examined. Power consumption and gas hold-up were measured in boiling water in a 0.2 m i.d. stirred tank reactor with three four-pitched blade downflow disk turbines. Vapour was generated from both the immersed ring heater and the impellers. At low vapour generation rates, vapour was mainly generated from the impellers rather than from the heater, whereas nucleation occurred at the heater instead of the impeller at higher vapour generation rates. The mechanical power consumption decreased due to vapour generation. The change in boiling-to-non-boiling mechanical power ratio with varying impeller rotational speed and boiling rate was complicated and not monotonous except at higher impeller speeds and boiling rates. The gas hold-ups increased with increasing vapour generation rate but were rather small as compared to those in cold gas dispersing systems. Empirical correlations for power consumption and gas hold-up in boiling liquids were developed using the present experimental data.     

Minor and Intermediate Components Enhance Attraction of Female Mediterranean Fruit Flies to Natural Male Odor Pheromone and Its Synthetic Major Components

The attraction of virgin female medflies to either the natural pheromonal odor of calling males or its synthetic major components was enhanced by both intermediate and minor pheromonal components in multiple choice discrimination tests. The modification of the standard Gow rotating-trap-array, cage olfactometer to allow a single source of natural pheromonal odor to be delivered equally and simultaneously to a number of traps greatly increased trapping efficacy (64% capture rate) and ability to resolve odor preference discrimination by female flies. In olfactometer cage bioassays, responding female medflies expressed preferences in attraction to male odor augmented with either synthetic intermediate or minor components over male odor alone. In dual-choice flight-tunnel bioassays, the minor blend enhanced the attractiveness of both the natural male odor and its synthetic major components. Moreover, the minor blend, when presented together with the synthetic major components, comprised an artificial pheromonal lure competitive for the first time with the natural male odor in attraction of virgin female medflies.     

A neural network based predictor of residue contacts in proteins

We describe a method based on neural networks for predictingcontact maps of proteins using as input chemico-physical andevolutionary information. Neural networks are trained on a dataset comprising the contact maps of 200 non-homologous proteinsof well resolved three-dimensional structures. The systems learnthe association rules between the covalent structure of eachprotein and its correspondent contact map by means of a standardback propagation algorithm. Validation of the predictor on thetraining set and on 408 proteins of known structure which arenot homologous to those contained in the training set indicatethat this method scores higher than statistical approaches previouslydescribed and based on correlated mutations and sequence information.     

Three-dimensional analysis of boreholes considering spatial variability of properties and poroelastoplasticity

In general, analysis of oil producing wells is carried out considering that both hydraulic and mechanical parameters of the rock mass are deterministic. Mechanical and hydraulic properties of rock masses and in particular sedimentary rock masses may show a considerable degree of spatial variability. This paper focuses on the evaluation of the three-dimensional borehole response, particularly of the plastic zone, taking into account the spatial variability of both hydraulic and mechanical properties. The analysis is performed with a developed finite element program that incorporates spatial variability, coupled fluid-mechanical effects and elastoplastic behavior of the rock mass. Examples are shown and conclusions are drawn regarding the effect of spatial variability on the three-dimensional borehole analysis.     

Optical Pattern Switching in Semiconductor Microresonators as All‐Optical Switch

In this paper, we present a spatial perturbation method to control the optical patterns in semiconductor microresonators in the far‐field configuration. We propose a fast all‐optical switch which operates at a low light level. The switching beam controls the behavior of output beams with strong intensities. The method has been applied successfully to different optical patterns such as rolls, squares, and hexagons.     

Tests of the dynamic field theory and the spatial precision hypothesis: Capturing a qualitative developmental transition in spatial working memory.

This study tested a dynamic field theory (DFT) of spatial working memory and an associated spatial precision hypothesis (SPH). Between 3 and 6 years of age, there is a qualitative shift in how children use reference axes to remember locations: 3-year-olds’ spatial recall responses are biased toward reference axes after short memory delays, whereas 6-year-olds’ responses are biased away from reference axes. According to the DFT and the SPH, quantitative improvements over development in the precision of excitatory and inhibitory working memory processes lead to this qualitative shift. Simulations of the DFT in Experiment 1 predict that improvements in precision should cause the spatial range of targets attracted toward a reference axis to narrow gradually over development, with repulsion emerging and gradually increasing until responses to most targets show biases away from the axis. Results from Experiment 2 with 3- to 5-year-olds support these predictions. Simulations of the DFT in Experiment 3 quantitatively fit the empirical results and offer insights into the neural processes underlying this developmental change. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of categories and spatial cuing in global-scale location estimates.

Seven independent groups estimated the location of North American cities using both spatial and numeric response modes and a variety of perceptual and memory supports. These supports included having location markers for each city color coded by nation and identified by name, giving participants the opportunity to see and update all their estimates throughout the task, and allowing them to respond directly on a map. No manipulation mitigated the influence of categories on the judgments, but some manipulations improved within-region ordinal accuracy. The data provide evidence that the city and regional levels are independent, spatial and numeric response modalities affect accuracy differently at the different levels, biases at the regional level have multiple sources, and accurate spatial cues improve estimates primarily by limiting the use of global landmarks to partition the response space. Results support J. Huttenlocher, L. V. Hedges, and S. Duncan's (1991) theory of spatial location estimates and extend it to the domain of real-world geography. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Analyzing developmental processes on an individual level using nonstationary time series modeling.

Individuals change over time, often in complex ways. Generally, studies of change over time have combined individuals into groups for analysis, which is inappropriate in most, if not all, studies of development. The authors explain how to identify appropriate levels of analysis (individual vs. group) and demonstrate how to estimate changes in developmental processes over time using a multivariate nonstationary time series model. They apply this model to describe the changing relationships between a biological son and father and a stepson and stepfather at the individual level. The authors also explain how to use an extended Kalman filter with iteration and smoothing estimator to capture how dynamics change over time. Finally, they suggest further applications of the multivariate nonstationary time series model and detail the next steps in the development of statistical models used to analyze individual-level data. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A quantitative identification technique for a two‐dimensional subsurface defect based on surface temperature measurement

The inverse identification of a subsurface defect boundary is an important part of an inverse heat conduction problem, and is also the basis for the quantitative development of a nondestructive thermographic inspection technique. For the commonly encountered quantitative thermographic defect identification problem when the test piece is heated from one part of the outer boundary, our previous study showed that some parts of the defect boundary are sensitive to the initial defect boundary prediction of the conjugate gradient method. In this paper, the heat transfer mechanism inside a test piece with this problem is analyzed by building a two‐dimensional model. A new method, the multiple measurements combination method (MMCM), is also presented which combines the identification algorithm study with the optimization of the thermographic detection technique to solve the problem. Numerical experiments certified the effectiveness of the present method. The temperature measurement error and the initial prediction of the defect boundary shape have little effect on the identification result. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.20251