Ethnic differences in the length of the menstrual cycle during the postmenarcheal period

In 1989, 125 African-American and 123 European-American girls aged 12-14 years were enrolled in a 2-year study in which they maintained a menstrual calendar, recording the date and amount of menstrual bleeding. Weight, exercise, and stress during the previous week were recorded at the start of each menstrual cycle. Although only minor ethnic differences were observed in expected cycle length (29.3 vs. 28.8 days for European-American and African-American girls, respectively), more prominent differences were observed in the between-subjects standard deviation of cycle length (2.9 vs. 2.2 days, respectively) and in the odds of having a cycle longer than 45 days (odds ratio=1.86, 95% confidence interval 1.17-2.97) for European-American compared with African-American girls. Low weight for height and high levels of exercise increased the probability of having a cycle longer than 45 days and decreased expected cycle length of 13- to 45-day cycles. Additional investigation of potential ethnic differences in menstrual cycle characteristics is warranted.     

Baseband Volterra filters for implementing carrier basednonlinearities

A diagonal coordinate representation for Volterra filters is developed and exploited to derive efficient Volterra filter implementations for processing carrier based input signals. In the diagonal coordinate representation, the output is expressed as a sum of linear filters applied to modified input signals. Hence, linear filtering methods are employed to implement the nonlinear filter on a baseband version of the input. Downsampling is then used to reduce computational complexity. The same approach is employed to develop efficient implementations for processing continuous-time carrier-based signals, pulse amplitude-modulated signals, and frequency division multiplexed input signals     

Wigner-space synthesis of discrete-time periodic signals

A procedure that facilitates at least-squares synthesis of periodic, discrete-time signals from Wigner quasi-distributions is proposed. The scheme is based on expanding the desired time sequence on a generally nonorthogonal, Gabor-type basis whose associated biorthogonal function presumably exists. The specific basis selection may crucially affect the efficiency and quality of the ensuing synthesis procedure. The cited basis type constitutes a considerable generalization over the standardly used orthogonal variety, thus creating previously unavailable degrees of freedom. Of primary significance is the acquired capability of generating time-frequency basis functions that are well localized. Localization is a highly desirable property that can advantageously serve in various applications. It is shown and numerically demonstrated that benefits of localization as well as the fact that achieving effective time-frequency basis localization renders a certain degree of oversampling unavoidable     

Relationship of seizure duration to antidepressant efficacy in electroconvulsive therapy

BACKGROUND: Aprotinin and epsilon-aminocaproic acid are routinely used to reduce bleeding during cardiac surgery. The marked difference in average wholesale cost between these two drug therapies (aprotinin, $1,080 vs. epsilon-aminocaproic acid, $11) has generated significant controversy regarding their relative efficacies and costs. METHODS: In a multicenter, randomized, prospective, blinded trial, patients having repeated cardiac surgery received either a high-dose regimen of aprotinin (total dose, 6 x 10(6) kallikrein inactivator units) or epsilon-aminocaproic acid (total dose, 270 mg/kg). RESULTS: Two hundred four patients were studied. Overall (data are median [25th-75th percentiles]), aprotinin-treated patients had less postoperative thoracic drainage (511 ml [383-805 ml] vs. 655 ml [464-1,045 ml]; P = 0.016) and received fewer platelet transfusions (0 [range, 0-1] vs. 1 [range, 0-2]; P = 0.036). The surgical field was more likely to be considered free of bleeding in aprotinin-treated patients (44% vs. 26%; P = 0.012). No differences, however, were seen in allogeneic erythrocyte transfusions or in the time required for chest closure. Overall, direct and indirect bleeding-related costs were greater in aprotinin- than in epsilon-aminocaproic acid-treated patients ($1,813 [$1,476-2,605] vs. $1,088 [range, $511-2,057]; P = 0.0001). This difference in cost per case varied in magnitude among sites but not in direction. CONCLUSIONS: Aprotinin was more effective than epsilon-aminocaproic acid at decreasing bleeding and platelet transfusions. Epsilon-aminocaproic acid, however, was the more cost-effective therapy over a broad range of estimates for bleeding-related costs in patients undergoing repeated cardiac surgery. A cost-benefit analysis using the lower cost of half-dose aprotinin ($540) still resulted in a significant cost advantage using epsilon-aminocaproic therapy (P = 0.022).     

Direct Spectroscopic Determination of Europium(Ⅱ) Concentration During Europium(Ⅲ) Electro-Reduction in Hydrochloric Acid Medium

UV-Vis spectroscopy was used to directly determine the concentration of Eu(Ⅱ) during electroreduction of Eu(Ⅲ) in hydrochloric acid medium. Electroreduction was carried out in a flow type electrolyzer with glassy carbon cathode at the constant potential of -800 mV vs. Ag/AgCl. The effects of oxygen and concentration of hydrochloric acid on the system were investigated. For 0.01 mol·L-1 hydrochloric acid, calibration curves for Eu(Ⅱ) absorption bands at 248 and 320 nm were constructed. Molar absorption coefficients were estimated to be 2016 and 648 L·mol-1·cm-1, respectively. The absorbance strongly decreased with decrease in pH of the solution, whereas concentration of chloride had only a negligible effect.     

Recent progress in road and lane detection: a survey

The problem of road or lane perception is a crucial enabler for advanced driver assistance systems. As such, it has been an active field of research for the past two decades with considerable progress made in the past few years. The problem was confronted under various scenarios, with different task definitions, leading to usage of diverse sensing modalities and approaches. In this paper we survey the approaches and the algorithmic techniques devised for the various modalities over the last 5 years. We present a generic break down of the problem into its functional building blocks and elaborate the wide range of proposed methods within this scheme. For each functional block, we describe the possible implementations suggested and analyze their underlying assumptions. While impressive advancements were demonstrated at limited scenarios, inspection into the needs of next generation systems reveals significant gaps. We identify these gaps and suggest research directions that may bridge them.     

Negotiating with bounded rational agents in environments with incomplete information using an automated agent

Many tasks in day-to-day life involve interactions among several people. Many of these interactions involve negotiating over a desired outcome. Negotiation in and of itself is not an easy task, and it becomes more complex under conditions of incomplete information. For example, the parties do not know in advance the exact tradeoff of their counterparts between different outcomes. Furthermore information regarding the preferences of counterparts might only be elicited during the negotiation process itself. In this paper we propose a model for an automated negotiation agent capable of negotiating with bounded rational agents under conditions of incomplete information. We test this agent against people in two distinct domains, in order to verify that its model is generic, and thus can be adapted to any domain as long as the negotiators' preferences can be expressed in additive utilities. Our results indicate that the automated agent reaches more agreements and plays more effectively than its human counterparts. Moreover, in most of the cases, the automated agent achieves significantly better agreements, in terms of individual utility, than the human counterparts playing the same role.     

Reconstruction of linearly parameterized models from single imageswith a camera of unknown focal length

This paper deals with the problem of recovering the dimensions of an object and its pose from a single image acquired with a camera of unknown focal length. It is assumed that the object in question can be modeled as a polyhedron where the coordinates of the vertices can be expressed as a linear function of a dimension vector. The reconstruction program takes as input, a set of correspondences between features in the model and features in the image. From this information, the program determines an appropriate projection model for the camera, the dimensions of the object, its pose relative to the camera and, in the case of perspective projection, the focal length of the camera. This paper describes how the reconstruction problem can be framed as an optimization over a compact set with low dimension (no more than four). This optimization problem can be solved efficiently by coupling standard nonlinear optimization techniques with a multistart method. The result is an efficient, reliable solution system that does not require initial estimates for any of the parameters being estimated     

Interaction between refractory crucible materials and the melted NiTi shape-memory alloy

Attempts have been made to quantify the amount of contaminants absorbed by liquid metal from commercial ZrO₂-, Al₂O₃-, and SiC-base crucibles used for vacuum melting of Ni-45 wt pct Ti alloy. The molten alloy was held under vacuum for 90 minutes at 1450 °C to become homogenized. Reactions between the liquid metal and the crucible were investigated by visual observation, chemical analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image processing, and X-ray mapping. The relative degree of contamination declined in the following sequence: commercially pure SiC>SiC-5 wt pct Al₂O₃-5 wt pct SiO₂>slurry cast alumina>recrystallized alumina>zircon type A>oxygen deficient high-purity zirconia. Thermodynamic calculations showed a difference between the equilibrium and the experimental data, indicating that except for commercially pure SiC crucible, the amount of the crucible elements entering the melt is greater than the calculated equilibrium values. This discrepancy seems to be due to the immersion into the melt of the undissolved chemical compounds formed due to the reactions between the crucible and the liquid phase.