Limited-trial Chase decoding

Chase decoders permit flexible use of reliability information in algebraic decoding algorithms for error-correcting block codes of Hamming distance d. The least complex version of the original Chase algorithms uses roughly d/2 trials of a conventional binary decoder, after which the best decoding result is selected as the final output. On certain channels, this approach achieves asymptotically the same performance as maximum-likelihood (ML) decoding. In this correspondence, the performance of Chase-like decoders with even less trials is studied. Most strikingly, it turns out that asymptotically optimal performance can be achieved by a version which uses only about d/4 trials.     

Retained fetal lung liquid in congenital lobar emphysema: a possible predictor of polyalveolar lobe

The purpose of this study was to determine whether retention of fetal lung liquid is more prevalent in polyalveolar congenital lobar emphysema than in conventional congenital lobar emphysema. Two patients with congenital lobar emphysema were prospectively identified in a 3-year period. Twenty-five such patients were identified in a retrospective study covering 39 years. Medical records were available for 22 patients who had 23 emphysematous lobes. Both babies from the prospective study and six subjects from the retrospective group had respiratory symptoms and underwent chest X-ray in the first day of life. Six of the eight babies with respiratory symptoms and chest imaging in the first day of life had retention of fetal lung liquid in an emphysematous lobe. All six of these lobes were polyalveolar. The lobe in one child was a polyalveolar lobe but without retained fetal lung liquid, and one child exhibited conventional lobar emphysema also without retained fetal lung liquid. One polyalveolar lobe caused no neonatal symptoms and was not imaged until the child was 3 months old. No baby with conventional lobar emphysema was shown to have retained fetal lung liquid. There seems to be a correlation between polyalveolar lobe and onset of respiratory symptoms in the first day of life. Retention of fetal lung liquid within the affected lobe was documented only in cases of polyalveolar lobe.     

Dynamic Complexity Theory Revisited

Dynamic complexity investigates the required effort to maintain knowledge about a property of a structure under changing operations. This article introduces a refined notion of dynamic problems which takes the initial structure into account. It develops the basic structural complexity notions accordingly. It also shows that the dynamic version of the LOGCFL-complete problem D₂LREACH(acyclic) can be maintained with first-order updates.     

Limits of the output power in Er3+:ZBLAN singlemodefibre lasers

The saturation of the 2.71 μm laser output has been measured in erbium-doped ZBLAN singlemode fibres with Er³⁺ concentrations of 1000, 5000 and 10000 ppm mol. Limits of the single-mode-laser output are discussed     

Postoperative adhesion formation and reproductive outcome using Interceed after ovarian surgery: a randomized trial in the rabbit model

The efficacy of an oxidized regenerated cellulose barrier (Interceed) in reducing postoperative adhesion formation and improving reproductive outcome after ovarian surgery was evaluated in a prospective randomized trial. Twenty-nine New Zealand White female rabbits were submitted to a mid-line laparotomy and a standardized surgical incision was made on both ovaries. At random, one ovary was entirely wrapped in a sheet of Interceed, whereas the contralateral ovary was left uncovered. Four weeks following surgery, the rabbits were mated with a male of proven fertility. Two weeks later, a second-look laparotomy was performed by a blinded observer who evaluated the incidence and score of adhesions, the number of corpora lutea in each ovary, the number of embryos in the ipsilateral uterine horn and also calculated the nidation index for each side. Adhesions were observed in 66% of Interceed-covered and in 97% of control ovaries (P < 0.0001). The adhesion score on the Interceed side was significantly lower than on the control side. The nidation index for the Interceed side was significantly higher than for the control side. The authors conclude that, in the rabbit model, Interceed significantly reduces the incidence and score of postoperative ovarian adhesions and significantly improves reproductive outcome.     

BRCA1 mutations in women attending clinics that evaluate the risk of breast cancer

BACKGROUND: To define the incidence of BRCA1 mutations among patients seen in clinics that evaluate the risk of breast cancer, we analyzed DNA samples from women seen in this setting and constructed probability tables to provide estimates of the likelihood of finding a BRCA1 mutation in individual families. METHODS: Clinical information, family histories, and blood for DNA analysis were obtained from 263 women with breast cancer. Conformation-sensitive gel electrophoresis and DNA sequencing were used to identify BRCA1 mutations. RESULTS: BRCA1 mutations were identified in 16 percent of women with a family history of breast cancer. Only 7 percent of women from families with a history of breast cancer but not ovarian cancer had BRCA1 mutations. The rates were higher among women from families with a history of both breast and ovarian cancer. Among family members, an average age of less than 55 years at the diagnosis of breast cancer, the presence of ovarian cancer, the presence of breast and ovarian cancer in the same woman, and Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry were all associated with an increased risk of detecting a BRCA1 mutation. No association was found between the presence of bilateral breast cancer or the number of breast cancers in a family and the detection of a BRCA1 mutation, or between the position of the mutation in the BRCA1 gene and the presence of ovarian cancer in a family. CONCLUSIONS: Among women with breast cancer and a family history of the disease, the percentage with BRCA1 coding-region mutations is less than the 45 percent predicted by genetic-linkage analysis. These results suggest that even in a referral clinic specializing in screening women from high-risk families, the majority of tests for BRCA1 mutations will be negative and therefore uninformative.     

Potency comparison of peptidomimetic inhibitors against HIV-1 and HIV-2 proteinases: design of equipotent lead compounds

The results of investigation of haptoglobin (Hp) types in 596 donor blood samples in some towns of Ukraine (Dnepropetrovsk, Kharkov, Odessa, Kiev, Uzhgorod, Zhitomir) are presented. Three normal Hp types (Hp1-1, Hp2-1 and Hp2-2) have been found. The reliable interpopulation differences in the Hp types frequency were not found. On the whole the Hp types frequency in the type Hp1-1 comprised 12.7%. In the type Hp2-1-48.1% and in the type Hp2-2-36.5%. The frequency of the gene Hp1 is 0.38. The frequency of the Hp types and of the gene Hpl in Ukraine is similar to that in population of Eastern Europe and European Part of Russia.