Enhancing the multivariate signal of [15O] water PETstudies with a new nonlinear neuroanatomical registration algorithm [MRIapplication]

This paper addresses the problem of neuro-anatomical registration across individuals for functional [15O] water PET activation studies. A new algorithm for three-dimensional (3-D) nonlinear structural registration (warping) of MR scans is presented. The method performs a hierarchically scaled search for a displacement field, maximizing one of several voxel similarity measures derived from the two-dimensional (2-D) histogram of matched image intensities, subject to a regularizer that ensures smoothness of the displacement field. The effect of the nonlinear structural registration is studied when it is computed on anatomical MR scans and applied to coregistered [15O] water PET scans from the same subjects: in this experiment, a study of visually guided saccadic eye movements. The performance of the nonlinear warp is evaluated using multivariate functional signal and noise measures. These measures prove to be useful for comparing different intersubject registration approaches, e.g., affine versus nonlinear. A comparison of 12-parameter affine registration versus non-linear registration demonstrates that the proposed nonlinear method increases the number of voxels retained in the cross-subject mask. We demonstrate that improved structural registration may result in an improved multivariate functional signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Furthermore, registration of PET scans using the 12-parameter affine transformations that align the coregistered MR images does not improve registration, compared to 12-parameter affine alignment of the PET images directly.     

Practical tradeoffs between noise, quantitation, and number of iterations for maximum likelihood-based reconstructions

Emission computerised tomography images reconstructed using a maximum likelihood-expectation maximization (ML)-based method with different reconstruction kernels and 1-200 iterations are compared to images reconstructed using filtered backprojection (FBP). ML-based reconstructions using a single pixel (SP) kernel with or without a sieve filter show no quantitative advantage over FBP except in the background where a reduction of noise is possible if the number of iterations is kept small (<50). ML-based reconstructions using a Gaussian kernel with a multipixel full-width-at-half-maximum (FWHM) and a large number of iterations (200) require a sieve filtering step to reduce the noise and contrast overshoot in the final images. These images have some small quantitative advantages over FBP depending on the structures being imaged. It is demonstrated that a feasibility stopping criterion controls the noise in a reconstructed image, but is insensitive to quantitation errors, and that the use of an appropriate overrelaxation parameter can accelerate the convergence of the ML-based method during the iterative process without quantitative instabilities.     

Penalized discriminant analysis of [15O]-water PET brain images with prediction error selection of smoothness and regularization hyperparameters

We propose a flexible, comprehensive approach for analysis of [15O]-water positron emission tomography (PET) brain images using a penalized version of linear discriminant analysis (PDA). We applied it to scans from 20 subjects (eight scans/subject) performing a finger movement task and analyzed: 1) two classes to obtain a covariance-normalized baseline-activation image, and 2) eight classes for the mean within subject temporal structure which contained baseline-activation and time-dependent changes in a two-dimensional canonical subspace. We imposed spatial smoothness on the resulting image(s) by expanding it in five tensor-product B-spline (TPS) bases of varying smoothness, and further regularized with a ridge-type penalty on the noise covariance matrix. The discrimination approach of PDA provides a probabilistic framework within which prediction error (PE) estimates are derived. We used these to optimize over TPS bases and a ridge hyperparameter (expressed as equivalent degrees of freedom, EDF). We obtained unbiased, low variance PE estimates using modern resampling tools (.632+ Bootstrap and cross validation), and compared PDA of 1) TPS-projected, mean-normalized and unnormalized scans and 2) mean-normalized scans with and without additional presmoothing. By examining the tradeoffs between PE and EDF, as a function of basis selection and image smoothing we demonstrate the utility of PDA, the PE framework, and the relationship between singular value decomposition and smooth TPS bases in the analysis of functional neuroimages.     

An approach to systems verification

The term systems verification refers to the specification and verification of the components of a computing system, including compilers, assemblers, operating systems and hardware. We outline our approach to systems verification, and summarize the application of this approach to several systems components. These components consist of a code generator for a simple high-level language, an assembler and linking loader, a simple operating system kernel, and a microprocessor design.     

Core neurocognitive functions in children treated for posterior fossa tumors.

Identifying cognitive deficits associated with pediatric brain tumors and their treatment is important in delineating the mechanisms of intellectual decline often associated with these diseases. The authors evaluated sustained attention, information processing speed, working memory, and IQ in 64 patients with posterior fossa tumors, including those treated with either: (a) surgery and cranial radiation (n = 32), and (b) surgery without radiation (n = 32). Ten patients treated for non-CNS solid tumors were included as a comparison group. The authors also examined the impact of relevant demographic and medical variables on neurocognitive outcome. The authors found that neither age at, nor time since, diagnosis predicted cognitive outcome in this sample. Further, sustained attention and working memory were largely intact and there were no differences between groups. Patients treated with cranial radiation demonstrated lowered short-form IQ and slow information processing speed: Patients treated with cranial radiation and who experienced postsurgical complications demonstrated the poorest performance. The authors consider information processing speed to be an excellent candidate mechanism in understanding the impact of cranial radiation on intellectual outcome. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Crisis communication put to the test: the case of two airlines on 9/11

The events of September 11, 2001, provide enough case material for hundreds of cases that are applicable in Technical and Professional Communication courses. I developed the case described in this article to give students a real-world look at how corporations communicate in a crisis-in this case, a crisis of extraordinary proportions. The foundation for the case is the public communication via press releases from American Airlines and United Airlines via their press releases within the 24 hours following the first plane's crash into the World Trade Center. The activities provided allow students to produce appropriate corporate communication, in this case, press releases, using the details of the situation. They also provide a variety of ways to use crisis-response strategies, such as Coombs', to analyze, critique, compare and contrast how each airline constructed the messages it conveyed on this fateful day. This case study demonstrates how crucial each word of a message can be and allows students to reach concrete decisions about why a crisis-response plan, along with the accompanying crisis-response strategies and the resulting communication products are essential for any corporation.     

"The relationship between advanced age and mental abilities": Erratum.

Reports an error in the original article by Charles R. Strother, K. Warner Schaie, and Paul Horst (Journal of Abnormal & Social Psychology, 1957[Sept], 55, 166-170. The cuts for Figs. 1 and 3 were erroneously transposed in printing. The graph labelled Fig. 1 is derived from the data shown in Table 4 and represents the corrected T-score values. The graph labelled Fig. 3 is derived from the data in Table 1 and shows the uncorrected values. (The following abstract of this article originally appeared in record 1959-03294-001). Scores on primary mental abilities, speed, memory, and motor rigidity were obtained from 50 college graduates ranging in age from 70 to 84 years. A cross sectional study demonstrates a differential decline in these abilities with advancing age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A formal model of asynchronous communication and its use in mechanically verifying a biphase mark protocol

We present a formal model of asynchronous communication between two digital hardware devices. The model takes the form of a function in the Boyer-Moore logic. The function transforms the signal stream generated by one processor into that consumed by an independently clocked processor, given the phases and rates of the two clocks and the communications delay. The model can be used quantitatively to derive concrete performance bounds on communications at ISO protocol level 1 (physical level). We use the model to show that an 18-bit/cell biphase mark protocol reliably sends messages of arbitrary length between two processors provided the ratio of the clock rates is within 5% of unity.     

A mechanically verified language implementation

This paper briefly describes a programming language, its implementation on a microprocessor via a compiler and link-assembler, and the mechanically checked proof of the correctness of the implementation. The programming language, called Piton, is a high-level assembly language designed for verified applications and as the target language for high-level language compilers. It provides executeonly programs, recursive subroutine call and return, stack based parameter passing, local variables, global variables and arrays, a user-visible stack for intermediate results, and seven abstract data types including integers, data addresses, program addresses and subroutine names. Piton is formally specified by an interpreter written for it in the computational logic of Boyer and Moore. Piton has been implemented on the FM8502, a general purpose microprocessor whose gate-level design has been mechanically proved to implement its machine code interpreter. The FM8502 implementation of Piton is via a function in the Boyer-Moore logic which maps a Piton initial state into an FM8502 binary core image. The compiler and link-assembler are both defined as functions in the logic. The implementation requires approximately 36K bytes and 1400 lines of prettyprinted source code in the Pure Lisp-like syntax of the logic. The implementation has been mechanically proved correct. In particular, if a Piton state can be run to completion without error, then the final values of all the global data structures can be ascertained from an inspection of an FM8502 core image obtained by running the core image produced by the compiler and link-assembler. Thus, verified Piton programs running on FM8502 can be thought of as having been verified down to the gate level.This work was supported in part by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency under DARPA Orders 6082 and 9151, contract MDA904-87-C-H009.     

Primary malignant rhabdoid tumor of the central nervous system

Luteinizing hormone (LH) induces progesterone production in hen ovarian granulosa cells, and this induction is inhibited when chloride ions are removed from the culture medium. This suggests that chloride channels may be involved in the signal transduction pathway responsible for the LH-induced progesterone production. In this report, we examined effects of LH on plasma membrane ion currents in single granulosa cells isolated from the largest preovulatory follicle (Fl) of the hen (Gallus domesticus). Using the perforated patch whole cell voltage clamp technique, we found that addition of LH rapidly activated a chloride current in these cells. This chloride current was present at all voltages tested (-90 to +50 mV), showed outward rectification and showed no obvious time or voltage dependence. Its magnitude was 3.5-fold that of the total resting membrane current measured before LH treatment. LH is known to elevate cyclic AMP in these cells. We found that addition of the cAMP analog Sp-cAMPS mimicked LH in inducing chloride currents in these cells. We conclude that LH can activate a chloride conductance in granulosa cells, and that this action may be mediated by cAMP.