Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “data independence acquisition”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 397 records · Page 22Linked to original sources

Associative and non-associative changes in unit activity of the rat hippocampus.

Two main types of neurons of the dorsal hippocampus were recorded in chronic rats during the classical conditioning of an arousal phenomenon (neocortical EEG desynchrony). The relative importance of the associative and non-associative factors was assessed by a differentiation procedure. In naive rats, during the "acquisition" session most type-I neurons rapidly acquired an "inhibitory" response closely parallel to the EEG response. Neither of these responses showed differentiation. Some type-II neurons acquired an "excitatory" response which was independent of the EEG response and which had a significant tendency to differentiation. These data were confirmed in rats submitted to several "retention" sessions. All the type-I neurons were undifferentiated while 11 out of 41 type-II neurons were differentiated. Type-I neurons were characterized by a bursting mode of discharge. Their activity was higher during slow wave sleep (SWS) than during wakefulness (W) or paradoxical mode of discharge. Most of the differentiated type-II neurons were more active during W and/or PS than during SWS.

Acoustic Stimulation↗

Investigation into the detection of marker movement by biplanar RSA.

Roentgen Stereophotogrammetric Analysis (RSA) is the most accurate technique to measure micromotion between rigid bodies and it has been widely used in the orthopedic field to investigate lower limb prostheses. The aim of this paper was to investigate the factors affecting the accuracy of measurements performed on the knee joint by the biplanar RSA system. Errors were assessed by means of a test object. A particular goal was to verify the reliability of the system when the patient cannot stand in the ideal position during the examination, i.e. in the centre of the calibration space. Results showed that detection of micromotion is not correlated to the position of markers inside the calibration space. The influence of different materials able to simulate human tissues, both hard and soft, on the data acquisition phase was also investigated. This additional exam was performed to assess whether the results obtained were similar also under as close as possible conditions to the clinical trials. Different experimental conditions were shown to not affect the acquisition phase of RSA procedure; markers were acquired with equal accuracy independently of tissues examined. Since the acquisition procedure is often performed by different operators, the difference between acquisitions made by different operators was compared. This study confirms the reliability of RSA and its accuracy, also in non-standard clinical setup and acquisition procedures.

Calibration↗

The activity of MNNG in the mouse bone marrow micronucleus assay.

N-Methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) is established herein as reproducibly active in the mouse bone marrow micronucleus assay. Activity was evident in two strains of mice, using suspensions in water or corn oil, and using two routes of exposure (oral gavage and i.p. injection). Activity was greatest when using the i.p. injection route, but a weak positive response was evident following oral gavage dosing of MNNG as an homogenate in corn oil. The latter weak response was statistically significant and was confirmed by both extended assessment of the slides and by re-analysis of selected slides in an independent laboratory. However, only some of the animals responded, as observed by others earlier. It is concluded that several earlier literature reports of the inactivity of this agent in this assay must be due either to the hydrolysis of MNNG prior to dosing, or to inadequate methods of data acquisition.

Administration, Oral↗

Relationships between otoacoustic emissions and auditory brainstem responses in neonates and young children: a correlation and factor analytical study.

OBJECTIVES: To establish relationships among transient evoked otoacoustic emission (TEOAE) and auditory brainstem response (ABR) variables in a sample of normal hearing neonates and young children, ranging in age from approximately 3 weeks to 4 years. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective, non-randomized, cross-sectional analysis of clinical data obtained at a tertiary care medical center. METHODS: Pearson product moment and Spearman rank order correlation analyses to evaluate pairwise relationships between TEOAE variables, ABR variables and age; factor analysis, to identify the structural composition and dimensionality of these relationships. RESULTS: Significant pairwise correlations were obtained between variables within each test paradigm (TEOAEs, ABRs) and between ABR absolute and interpeak latencies with age. However, the most striking effect was the absence of strong correlations between ABR and TEOAE variables, indicating that these test measures provide independent information about auditory system integrity and sensitivity. Two factors, accounting for over 55% of the variance, characterized this data set: 1) a frequency-dependent OAE factor, which showed an inverse relation between biologic noise and whole wave percent reproducibility and half-octave band TEOAE amplitudes; and 2) a central nervous system (CNS) maturational factor, which showed an inverse relationship between age and certain absolute and interpeak ABR latency components. CONCLUSIONS: TEOAE and ABR test results provide unique and functionally independent information about normal auditory system integrity and sensitivity. Therefore, a combination of both tests is well suited for use within a pediatric test battery. These results confirm that biologic noise and age at test differentially affect OAE and ABR test measures, and both effects require consideration during data acquisition and interpretation.

Audiometry, Evoked Response↗

Correlation between the linearized Frank-Starling relationship and myocardial energetics in the ejecting heart. Afterload independence and sensitivity to inotropic state.

Previous studies suggest that the relationship between end-diastolic volume and stroke work calculated as the area of the pressure-volume work loop is linear, afterload independent, and sensitive to the inotropic state. The correlation of myocardial oxygen consumption with this stroke work could provide an integrated measure of cardiac performance and metabolism to assess perturbations induced by ischemia or pathologic loading conditions. Fourteen canine hearts instrumented for computerized acquisition of instantaneous pressure-volume data and quantitation of myocardial oxygen consumption were studied during progressive volume infusion on right heart bypass (1.5 to 3.5 L/min in 250 ml/min increments). Data acquisition both in the control state and during continuous infusion of calcium chloride (0.03 mEq/kg/min, n = 7) to increase contractility or phenylephrine (2 micrograms/kg/min, n = 7) to alter afterload facilitated the construction of stroke work versus end-diastolic volume and myocardial oxygen consumption versus stroke work relationships by least-squares regression analysis. The cardiac mechanics assessment for this group of dogs confirmed a highly linear (mean r = 0.984) work versus preload relationship that was unaffected by changes in afterload but sensitive to increased contractility (71% increase in slope). The myocardial energetics correlation was also linear (mean r = 0.939) and demonstrated an increased oxygen utilization characteristic of the higher inotropic state produced by calcium chloride infusion (0.047 +/- 0.003 versus 0.070 +/- 0.008 ml oxygen/beat/100 gm left ventricular weight, p = 0.008). Although phenylephrine administration produced variable perturbations of myocardial oxygen consumption, the energetics relationship for this subgroup was not statistically altered by changes in afterload. The features of this cardiac energetics assessment suggest its value as a biological marker to evaluate the postischemic, hypertrophied, or failing heart.

Animals↗

[Esophageal morphology with ultrasound imaging after laryngectomy: effect on quality of esophageal speech].

PURPOSE: In patients with aerodigestive cancer, laryngectomy places the esophagus in a superficial position, allowing easy ultrasound examination of this organ. The purpose of the present study was to assess oesophagus morphology after laryngectomy using echotomography and to compare this morphology with voice quality. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In the present study, ultrasonography was performed in 28 patients (delay from surgery: 3 +/- 3 years): 15 were operated using laryngectomy technique (LT) and 13 with pharyngolaryngectomy technique (PLT). On transversal echography, antero-posterior and latero-lateral diameters, esophagus area and dilatation during phonation were systematically measured. These data were compared to the voice quality assessed by two independent observers. RESULTS: A smaller latero-lateral diameter and area were found in the PLT group than in the LT group (p < 0.05) with a flat aspect in group LT. This was associated with faster and better voice acquisition in the PLT group. CONCLUSION: Morphologic study of the esophagus after laryngectomy using ultrasound is in favor of pharyngolaryngectomy technique which allows better conditions for acquiring esophageal voice in better conditions. This could be due to the small area, circle shape and tonicity of the esophagus after this type of surgery.

Esophagus↗

Phylogenetic relationships of class II fumarase genes from trichomonad species.

Class II fumarase sequences were obtained by polymerase chain reaction from five trichomonad species. All residues known to be highly conserved in this enzyme were present. Nuclear run-on assays showed that one of the two genes identified in Tritrichomonas foetus was expressed, whereas no fumarase transcripts were detected in the related species Trichomonas vaginalis. These findings corroborate previous biochemical data. Fumarase genes were also expressed in Monocercomonas sp. and Tetratrichomonas gallinarum but not in Pentatrichomonas hominis, Trichomonas gallinae, Trichomonas tenax, and Trichomitus batrachorum under the culture conditions used. Molecular trees inferred by likelihood methods reveal that trichomonad sequences have no affinity to described class II fumarase genes from other eukaryotes. The absence of functional mitochondria in protists such as trichomonads suggests that they diverged from other eukaryotes prior to the alpha-proteobacterial symbiosis that led to mitochondria. Furthermore, they are basal to other eukaryotes in rRNA analyses. However, support for the early-branching status of trichomonads and other amitochondriate protists based on phylogenetic analyses of multiple data sets has been equivocal. Although the presence of hydrogenosomes suggests that trichomonads once had mitochondria, their class II iron-independent fumarase sequences differ markedly from those of other mitochondriate eukaryotes. All of the class II fumarase genes described from other eukaryotes are of apparent alpha-proteobacterial origin and hence a marker of mitochondrial evolution. In contrast, the class II fumarase from trichomonads emerges among other eubacterial homologs. This is intriguing evidence for an independent acquisition of these genes in trichomonads apart from the mitochondrial endosymbiosis event that gave rise to the form present in other eukaryotes. The ancestral trichomonad class II fumarase may represent a prokaryotic form that was replaced in other eukaryotes after the divergence of trichomonads with the movement of endosymbiont genes into the nucleus. Alternatively, it may have been acquired via a separate endosymbiotic event or lateral gene transfer.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Evidence for IHA migration during axial rotation of a lumbar spine segment by using a novel high-resolution 6D kinematic tracking system.

The biomechanical properties of the lumbar spine have long been studied. However, despite its enormous importance, basic functional and morphological properties have been not well understood and require further experimental analysis since data concerning the spatial instantaneous segmental motions are hardly available. This study describes the theoretical background and the technical properties of an innovative method for tracking the instantaneous 3D motion of human spinal segments in vitro at high spatial resolution. This new acquisition system allows to scrutinise closely the location and alignment of the segmental instantaneous helical axis (IHA) and the respective screw pitch as functions of the absolute rotational angle. The required precision of the measuring device was attained (a) by six highly resolving linear inductive displacement sensors in a special spatially configuration (3-2-1), (b) by a method to apply torque and force independently of each other without counteraction, and (c) by suppression of vibrations. The validity and reliability of the experimental set-up and the numerical method of data analysis were tested by subjects of known mechanical properties. In vitro experiments with a human lumbar segment (L3/L4, autopsy material) demonstrated that (a) the IHA migrated during axial rotation from one segmental articulatio zygapophysialis to the other joint, (b) the IHA tilted medial-laterally, and (c) the pitch of the screw altered linearly as a function of the rotational angle. This phenomenon is traced back to the guidance of the articluationes zygapophysiales. The validation of the method allows to map segments of the entire vertebral column. The results can be used as benchmarks for future models of the human spine.

Biomechanical Phenomena↗

GAGA factor-dependent transcription and establishment of DNase hypersensitivity are independent and unrelated events in vivo.

Using a Drosophila transgenic system we investigated the ability of GAGA factor, a putative anti-repressor, to modulate transcription-related events in the absence or presence of a bona fide activator, the Adf-1 transcription factor. In contrast to previous in vitro and in vivo data linking the binding of GAGA factor to the acquisition of DNase hypersensitivity at heat shock promoters, we observed that inserting multiple GAGA binding motifs adjacent to a minimal alcohol dehydrogenase (Adh) promoter led to strongly elevated embryonic transcription without creation of a promoter-associated DNase-hypersensitive (DH) site. Establishment of DNase hypersensitivity required the presence of both GAGA and Adf-1 binding sites and was accompanied by a further, synergistic increase in transcription. Because Adf-1 is capable neither of establishing a DH site nor of promoting efficient transcription by itself in embryos, it is likely that DH site formation depends on a GAGA factor-mediated binding of Adf-1 to chromatin, perhaps facilitated by a locally remodeled downstream promoter region. More generally we suggest that GAGA factor-binding sequences may operate in a promoter-specific context, with transcriptional activation, polymerase pausing, and/or DH site formation critically dependent on the nature of the sequences (and their binding partners) linked in cis.

Alcohol Dehydrogenase↗

IFNgamma induction of p21WAF1 in prostate cancer cells: role in cell cycle, alteration of phenotype and invasive potential.

Type I and type II interferons (IFNs) are known to exert antitumor effects on a variety of tissues and cell types. We have previously shown that the type I IFN IFN alpha induces the expression of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21WAF1 and inhibits the cell cycle of the human prostate adenocarcinoma cell line, DU145, that carries mutations in the tumor suppressor gene products p53 and pRB. We now show that the type II IFN IFN gamma similarly induces the expression of p21WAF1 and inhibits the cell cycle of DU145 cells. In addition, we show that while both IFNs exert antiproliferative activity, only IFN gamma induced phenotypic changes in these cells that accompanied the antiproliferative effect. For example, IFN gamma, but not IFN alpha, caused a significant reduction in epidermal growth factor receptor expression as well as an increase in the adhesion molecules intercellular adhesion molecule-1 and integrin alpha3. These phenotypic changes in DU145 cells are suggestive of the acquisition of a non-tumorigenic state. Consistent with these findings, IFN gamma showed a significantly lower invasive ability in in vitro assays using invasion chambers. Thus, IFN gamma inhibits both the cell cycle and the metastatic potential of DU145 cells independent of the p53 and RB status, and our data describe a mechanism for mediating the antitumor capabilities of IFN gamma that bypasses tumor suppressor genes like p53.

Cell Cycle↗

How different spatial-frequency components contribute to visual information acquisition.

We test 3 theories of global and local scene information acquisition, defining global and local in terms of spatial frequencies. By independence theories, high- and low-spatial-frequency information are acquired over the same time course and combine additively. By global-precedence theories, global information acquisition precedes local information acquisition, but they combine additively. By interactive theories, global information also affects local-information acquisition rate. We report 2 digit-recall experiments. In the 1st, we confirmed independence theories. In the 2nd, we disconfirmed both independence theories and interactive theories, leaving global-precedence theories as the remaining alternative. We show that a specific global-precedence theory quantitatively accounted for Experiments 1-2 data as well as for past data. We discuss how their spatial-frequency definition of spatial scale comports with definitions used by others, and we consider the suggestion by P. G. Schyns and colleagues (e.g., D. J. Morrison & Schyns, 2001) that the visual system may act flexibly rather than rigidly in its use of spatial scales.

Humans↗

Single-photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography in brain tumors.

Anatomic imaging procedures (computed tomography [CT] and magnetic resonance imaging [MRI]) have become essential tools for brain tumor assessment. Functional images (positron emission tomography [PET] and single-photon emission computed tomography [SPECT]) can provide additional information useful during the diagnostic workup to determine the degree of malignancy and as a substitute or guide for biopsy. After surgery and/or radiotherapy, nuclear medicine examinations are essential to assess persistence of tumor, to differentiate recurrence from radiation necrosis and gliosis, and to monitor the disease. The combination of functional images with anatomic ones is of the utmost importance for a full evaluation of these patients, which can be obtained by means of imaging fusion. Despite the fast-growing diffusion of PET, in most cases of brain tumors, SPECT studies are adequate and provide results that parallel those obtained with PET. The main limitation of SPECT imaging with brain tumor-seeking radiopharmaceuticals is the lack of precise anatomic details; this drawback is overcome by the fusion with morphological studies that provide an anatomic map to scintigraphic data. In the past, software-based fusion of independently performed SPECT and CT or MRI demonstrated usefulness for brain tumor assessment, but this process is often time consuming and not practical for everyday nuclear medicine studies. The recent development of dual-modality integrated imaging systems, which allow the acquisition of SPECT and CT images in the same scanning session, and their co-registration by means of the hardware, has facilitated this process. In SPECT studies of brain tumors with various radiopharmaceuticals, fused images are helpful in providing the precise localization of neoplastic lesions, and in excluding the disease in sites of physiologic tracer uptake. This information is useful for optimizing diagnosis, therapy monitoring, and radiotherapy treatment planning, with a positive impact on patient management.

Brain↗

Motion correction of PET images using multiple acquisition frames.

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a relatively lengthy brain imaging method. Because it is difficult for the subject to stay still during the data acquisition, head motion during scans is a source of image degradation. A simple data acquisition technique to reduce the effect of this problem is described. The technique associates the incoming data with the real-space position of the head. During the PET scan, the head position is constantly monitored with two video cameras and compared to its initial position. Every time the displacement for a region within the field of view (FOV) is larger than a specified threshold displacement, the PET data acquisition system starts to save the PET data in a new frame. The total number of frames required for a complete study depends on the magnitude of the head motion during the study and on the threshold displacement. At the end of the study, all the acquired frames are reconstructed independently and each image is rotated and translated to coincide with the initial position. When these images are summed, they produce a final image with fewer motion artefacts.

Artifacts↗

Evaluation of the effectiveness and efficiency of two stimulus prompt strategies with severely handicapped students.

In this study we compared the effectiveness and efficiency of two treatment packages that used stimulus prompt sequences and task analyses for teaching community living skills to severely handicapped students. Four severely and multiply handicapped students were trained to perform four tasks: (a) making toast, (b) making popcorn, (c) operating a clothes dryer, and (d) operating a washing machine. Following baseline, each student was exposed to two types of training procedures, each involving a task analysis of the target behavior. Training Procedure 1 (Traditional) utilized a least-to-most restrictive prompt sequence. Training Procedure 2 (Prescriptive) utilized ongoing behavioral assessment data to identify discriminative stimuli. The assessment data were used to prescribe instructional prompts across successive training trials. Performance on the tasks was evaluated within a combination multiple baseline (across subjects) and probe (across tasks) design. Training conditions were counterbalanced across subjects and tasks. Results indicated that both training procedures were equally effective in increasing independent task acquisition for subjects on all tasks; however, the prescriptive procedure was the more efficient procedure.

Activities of Daily Living↗

The study of emotional processes in communication: I. Measuring emotionalization in everyday face-to-face communicative interaction.

The drawbacks of traditional research into emotional processes have led us to develop a set of methodologies for investigating them in everyday face-to-face communication. The conceptual basis of these procedures is a model of the eliciting conditions of emotional processes as well as a conceptualization of the emotional processes themselves. On the basis of the assumption of conversation as a rule-governed process, one can describe its default temporal, formal, and functional features, for which we use the MAS EDIT and SEQ programs, and the minimal model of communicative exchange, respectively. Violations of these default rules can be identified as unexpected/temporally unpredictable events eliciting emotionalization. The nature of emotionalization is determined by the psychological principle of "standard and deviation." Its investigation under natural conditions requires the following: A noninvasive method of data acquisition (including procedures for rejecting faulty or missing values), measurement (high-resolution recording of physiological, psychomotor, and vocal variables), and the (nonstatistical) construction of an inventory or "relevant effects" (contrastive and template analysis). Finally, we depict three routes of investigating time courses of activation changes as dependent and independent variables and as a target of modification and reflection.

Affect↗

Oxygen dissociation curves for whole blood, recorded with an instrument that continuously measures pO2 and sO2 independently at constant t, pCO2, and pH.

We describe a method for recording oxygen dissociation curves for whole-blood specimens. The blood sample is placed in a thermostated measuring chamber, and pO2 and SO2 are measured continuously by polarography and by reflectometry, respectively. During the recording of an oxygen dissociation curve, the pO2 and SO2 signals are stored in a data-acquisition system, while pH, pCO2, and temperature are kept constant. Determination of precision and error discussion indicated that the coefficient of variation (CV) of the determination of the oxygen dissociation curve is mainly determined by the error in the measurement of SO2. The overall CV of pO2 values belonging to the lower, mid-, and upper parts of the SO2 range is estimated to be about 2.6, 3.1, and 2.1%, respectively. In practice the measurements are about 30% more precise than estimated. With our method, the fixed-acid-induced Bohr effect (H+ factor) can be determined over the entire SO2 range with much greater precision than hitherto.

Blood Gas Analysis↗

Problems associated with clinical evaluation of antianginal medications.

Assessing the efficacy of antianginal medications is not as easy as it might first appear. Many factors, including the protocol, the subjects chosen for study and the physicians conducting the trial, may produce study bias and thereby yield equivocal results. Objectively attempting to quantitate a subjective event such as angina inherently poses many difficulties. The variable nature of anginal episodes makes identification of attacks, or conversely, elimination of such attacks, difficult to assess. In terms of the protocol, it is necessary to determine what indexes will be used as criteria of efficacy, what doses, either standard or maximally tolerated, will be used for study and what measures will be taken to nullify placebo effect. In terms of patient selection, the varying methods of confirming the diagnosis of ischemia and the questions of concurrent illness, compliance and life-style alterations are all factors that can make findings difficult to elucidate. Finally, investigator bias may be introduced into study results because of prestudy prejudice, involvement in data acquisition and interpretation of findings. It is unlikely that any investigator or group of investigators will ever produce a protocol applicable to all types of antianginal medications that will be universally convincing. Conclusions regarding the efficacy of any antianginal medication will undoubtedly continue to be predicated on assessments made by independent investigators using a variety of research protocols, none of which is likely to be perfect.

Angina Pectoris↗

Improved quality of auditory event-related potentials recorded simultaneously with 3-T fMRI: removal of the ballistocardiogram artefact.

EEG signals recorded simultaneously with fMRI are massively compromised by severe artefacts, among them the cardiac cycle-related ballistocardiogram (BCG) artefact. Different methods have been proposed to remove the BCG artefact focusing on channel-wise template subtraction procedures or spatial filtering approaches such as independent component analysis (ICA). Here we systematically compared the performance of the optimal basis set (OBS), a channel-wise correction approach, with ICA and a recently proposed combination of both (OBS-ICA). The three different procedures were applied to 60-channel EEG data from 12 subjects recorded during fMRI acquisition in a 3-T scanner. In addition to examination of the residual BCG artefact, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and the topography of the resulting auditory evoked potential component N1 were compared. Whereas all three approaches led to a significant artefact reduction, the ICA procedure resulted in a significantly reduced N1 SNR and amplitude when compared to BCG-uncorrected data, indicating a rather poor performance. In contrast to ICA, OBS and OBS-ICA corrected data substantially improved the SNR of the N1. The quality of the auditory evoked potential N1 topography was investigated by means of equivalent current dipole modelling. On a descriptive level, all three correction procedures led to a reduced localization error when compared to BCG-uncorrected data. This improvement was significant for OBS-ICA. We conclude that OBS and OBS-ICA can efficiently remove BCG artefacts and substantially improve the quality of EEG signals recorded inside the scanner, a prerequisite for the successful integration of simultaneously recorded EEG and fMRI.

Adult↗