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What we know about offenders who drive under the influence: analysis of court case file reviews.

This paper presents findings from a quantitative study about alcohol-impaired drivers in Utah. The University of Utah's Social Research Institute conducted a retrospective case file evaluation about the adjudication and sanctioning phases associated with driving under the influence (DUI) to determine Utah's response to DUI crime from arrest forward. Although Utah driver's license and court systems are on the cutting edge of dealing with DUI offenders, we found a variety of limitations for analysis due to data collection and entry. Therefore, it is difficult to develop a thorough understanding about the process of dealing with DUI offenders and the effectiveness of court actions and treatments. The purpose of this paper is to provide recommendations about how to ensure more accurate data collection about impaired drivers.

Accidents, Traffic↗

[Study of litigation files leading to a definitive settlement over three years in the orthopaedic trauma ward in a public hospital].

OBJECTIVE: To know the future of appeals against a public establishment of health. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We studied 16 files of dispute having ended in a definitive payment over three years in the service of orthopaedics of the Amiens hospital (2001-2003). RESULTS: The majority of the plaintiffs are people (63%), and the average age is of 45,6 years (24 year/68 years). In 14 cases on 16, an expertise was done (7 on the initiative of the hospital and 8 on the initiative of administrative court). The opinion of the expert was followed in every case, except one. In the final, 5 patients (31%) received a compensation (3 with the administrative court and 2 after a love rule). Eleven patients (69%) were not indemnified (7 after demand with the administrative court 4 after demand of love rule). On the whole, 10 case was treated in the administrative court (62%) and 6 by the legal department of the hospital. Among cases settled by the service of dispute of the hospital, 2 ended in a love rule and 4 were classified. Among those treated by the court, 3 ended in a love rule and 7 were the object of a refusal.

Adult↗

The K3 rotary nickel-titanium file system.

The K3 rotary nickel-titanium file system by SybronEndo is a state-of-the-art rotary nickel-titanium endodontic instrumentation method combines excellent cutting characteristics with a robust sense of tactile control and excellent fracture resistance. The K3 has universal applicability across a wide range of clinical indications. Although it is a complete instrumentation system, future possibilities for hybrid instrumentation techniques that combine the best features of K3 with other rotary system hold promise.

Dental Alloys↗

Assessment of regional myocardial strain by a novel automated tracking system from digital image files.

Myocardial strain imaging by Doppler tissue echocardiography is a useful method to quantify regional left ventricular function. However, this method has a problem of its Doppler angle dependency. We attempted to quantify myocardial strain by a newly developed automated tracking system from digital image files. In 6 anesthetized open-chest dogs, a pair of ultrasonic crystals was implanted at the inner site and outer site of the left ventricular wall to measure myocardial radial strain. B-mode echocardiographic images and trajectories of crystals were recorded simultaneously. Three conditions were examined by intravenous infusion of dobutamine. We used a pattern matching algorithm, which allowed us to track objects from one frame to the next. In 18 image sequences obtained in the 6 dogs, there was an excellent correlation in maximal myocardial strain between the two methods ( r = 0.92, P < .0001). Thus, this system is a promising tool to provide automated quantification of regional myocardial strain.

Algorithms↗

ECGScan: a method for conversion of paper electrocardiographic printouts to digital electrocardiographic files.

BACKGROUND: Measurements of parameters from electrocardiograms (ECGs) are still largely performed from paper ECG records. Recent guidelines from regulatory agencies and, in particular, the requirement of the Food and Drug Administration to enforce the digital submission of annotated ECGs have triggered significant efforts in the pharmaceutical industry, which, to comply with the new guidelines, is adopting digital ECG technology. At the same time, the new requirements justify the need for tools to convert existing paper ECG records into digital format, particularly for retrospective studies. METHODS: This article presents ECGScan, a computer application developed for the conversion of paper ECG records to digital ECG files. An image processing engine is used to first detect the underlying grid and, subsequently, to extrapolate the ECG waveforms using a technique based on active contour modeling. RESULTS: ECGScan was validated using a set of 60 ECGs for which both the original digital waveform and paper printouts were available. Sample-by-sample comparisons provided evidence of a robust wave reconstruction (root mean square value from 169 PQRST complexes was 16.8+/-11.8 microV). Semiautomatic measurements of QT intervals performed on 144 complexes also indicated a strong agreement between original and derived ECGs (DeltaQT=0.577+/-5.41 milliseconds). CONCLUSIONS: ECGScan provides a robust reconstruction of a digital ECG, both in waveform reconstruction and in QT measurements performed on original (digital) ECGs and on digitized ECGs from paper printouts.

Artificial Intelligence↗

Junction road accidents during cross-flow turns: a sequence analysis of police case files.

In-depth studies of behavioural factors in road accidents using conventional methods are often inconclusive and costly. In a series of studies exploring alternative approaches, 200 cross-flow junction road accidents were sampled from the files of Nottinghamshire Constabulary, UK, coded for computer analysis using a specially devised Traffic Related Action Analysis Language, and then examined using different computational and statistical techniques. For comparison, the same analyses were carried out on 100 descriptions of safe turns, and 100 descriptions of hypothetical accidents provided by experienced drivers. The present study employed a range of sequence analysis techniques to examine the patterns of events preceding accidents of different types. Differences were found between real accidents, hypothetical ones and safe turns; between accidents turning onto and off a road with the right of way; between the accidents of younger and older drivers; between accidents on minor roads and major roads; and between the accident expectations (but not the real accidents) of male and female drivers. Pairs of successive events often provided particularly good cues for discriminating accident types.

Accidents, Traffic↗

Molecular mechanism of H+ conduction in the single-file water chain of the gramicidin channel.

The conduction of protons in the hydrogen-bonded chain of water molecules (or "proton wire") embedded in the lumen of gramicidin A is studied with molecular dynamics free energy simulations. The process may be described as a "hop-and-turn" or Grotthuss mechanism involving the chemical exchange (hop) of hydrogen nuclei between hydrogen-bonded water molecules arranged in single file in the lumen of the pore, and the subsequent reorganization (turn) of the hydrogen-bonded network. Accordingly, the conduction cycle is modeled by two complementary steps corresponding respectively to the translocation 1) of an ionic defect (H+) and 2) of a bonding defect along the hydrogen-bonded chain of water molecules in the pore interior. The molecular mechanism and the potential of mean force are analyzed for each of these two translocation steps. It is found that the mobility of protons in gramicidin A is essentially determined by the fine structure and the dynamic fluctuations of the hydrogen-bonded network. The translocation of H+ is mediated by spontaneous (thermal) fluctuations in the relative positions of oxygen atoms in the wire. In this diffusive mechanism, a shallow free-energy well slightly favors the presence of the excess proton near the middle of the channel. In the absence of H+, the water chain adopts either one of two polarized configurations, each of which corresponds to an oriented donor-acceptor hydrogen-bond pattern along the channel axis. Interconversion between these two conformations is an activated process that occurs through the sequential and directional reorientation of water molecules of the wire. The effect of hydrogen-bonding interactions between channel and water on proton translocation is analyzed from a comparison to the results obtained previously in a study of model nonpolar channels, in which such interactions were missing. Hydrogen-bond donation from water to the backbone carbonyl oxygen atoms lining the pore interior has a dual effect: it provides a coordination of water molecules well suited both to proton hydration and to high proton mobility, and it facilitates the slower reorientation or turn step of the Grotthuss mechanism by stabilizing intermediate configurations of the hydrogen-bonded network in which water molecules are in the process of flipping between their two preferred, polarized states. This mechanism offers a detailed molecular model for the rapid transport of protons in channels, in energy-transducing membrane proteins, and in enzymes.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

The time dependence of single file diffusion.

The single file diffusion of particles through a narrow pore membrane separating two media is treated as a stochastic birth and death process. A set of differential-difference equations is derived to describe the probability of finding n particles in the pore at any time whose source is the left-hand medium. Explicit time-dependent solutions for an arbitary number of sites are obtained. These can be used to calculate both one-way and net flux as a function of time. Parameters are estimated from steady state permeability data, and the results of some numerical calculations are presented to illustrate the time required to approach a steady state. In many cases, significant time delays can occur.

Mathematics↗

A single-file model for potassium transport in squid giant axon. Simulation of potassium currents at normal ionic concentrations.

A physical model for potassium transport in squid giant axon is proposed. The model is designed to explain the empirical data given by the Hodgkin-Huxley model and related experiments. It is assumed that K(+) moves across the axon membrane by single-file diffusion through narrow pores. In the model a pore has three negatively charged sites that can be occupied alternatively by K(+) or by a gating particle, GP(++), coming from the external surface. GP(++) is considered to be part of the membrane rather than a diffusible component of the surrounding solutions. A high activation barrier for GP(++) is supposed at the inner membrane border so that it cannot change over to the internal surface. Therefore potassium diffusion can be blocked by GP(++) penetrating into the pores. This mechanism controls the dynamic behaviour of the model. The time-dependent probabilities of the pore states are described by a system of differential equations. The rate constants in these equations depend on the ionic concentrations, the membrane voltage, and the electrostatic interaction between ions in a single pore. Detailed computational tests for normal composition of external and internal solutions show that the model agrees remarkably well with the stationary and dynamic behaviour of the Hodgkin-Huxley model. However, the hyperpolarization delay is not reproduced. A structural modification, concerning this delay and the way in which GP(++) is attached to the membrane, is proposed, and the qualitative behavior of the model at varied external and internal concentrations is discussed.

Animals↗

Proton transport across transient single-file water pores in a lipid membrane studied by molecular dynamics simulations.

To test the hypothesis that water pores in a lipid membrane mediate the proton transport, molecular dynamic simulations of a phospholipid membrane, in which the formation of a water pore is induced, are reported. The probability density of such a pore in the membrane was obtained from the free energy of formation of the pore, which was computed from the average force needed to constrain the pore in the membrane. It was found that the free energy of a single file of water molecules spanning the bilayer is 108(+/-10) kJ/mol. From unconstrained molecular dynamic simulations it was further deduced that the nature of the pore is very transient, with a mean lifetime of a few picoseconds. The orientations of water molecules within the pore were also studied, and the spontaneous translocation of a turning defect was observed. The combined data allowed a permeability coefficient for proton permeation across the membrane to be computed, assuming that a suitable orientation of the water molecules in the pore allows protons to permeate the membrane relatively fast by means of a wirelike conductance mechanism. The computed value fits the experimental data only if it is assumed that the entry of the proton into the pore is not rate limiting.

Biological Transport↗

A multi-substrate single-file model for ion-coupled transporters.

Ion-coupled transporters are simulated by a model that differs from contemporary alternating-access schemes. Beginning with concepts derived from multi-ion pores, the model assumes that substrates (both inorganic ions and small organic molecules) hop a) between the solutions and binding sites and b) between binding sites within a single-file pore. No two substrates can simultaneously occupy the same site. Rate constants for hopping can be increased both a) when substrates in two sites attract each other into a vacant site between them and b) when substrates in adjacent sites repel each other. Hopping rate constants for charged substrates are also modified by the membrane field. For a three-site model, simulated annealing yields parameters to fit steady-state measurements of flux coupling, transport-associated currents, and charge movements for the GABA transporter GAT1. The model then accounts for some GAT1 kinetic data as well. The model also yields parameters that describe the available data for the rat 5-HT transporter and for the rabbit Na(+)-glucose transporter. The simulations show that coupled fluxes and other aspects of ion transport can be explained by a model that includes local substrate-substrate interactions but no explicit global conformational changes.

Animals↗

Infants' knowledge of objects: beyond object files and object tracking.

Two independent research communities have produced large bodies of data concerning object representations: the community concerned with the infant's object concept and the community concerned with adult object-based attention. We marshal evidence in support of the hypothesis that both communities have been studying the same natural kind. The discovery that the object representations of young infants are the same as the object files of mid-level visual cognition has implications for both fields.

Attention↗

Extensible biosignal (EBS) file format: simple method for EEG data exchange.

Increasing use of computer technology in EEG research requires the creation of standardized data formats to transmit, exchange, analyze or modify mainly EEG/MEG as well as mere general polygraphic data. The extensible biosignal file format (EBS) has been designed for easy use. The concept of the EBS format is a simple structure of variable size, consisting of one fixed and two variable headers and a data section. In the variable header, any information can be stored in attributes. The data are archived in one of 3 organizational forms: channel order, temporal order, or compressed. The format supports various data types, multiple biosignals (ECG, EEG, MEG, polygraph), annotations, processing history, location diagrams (CGM), 16 hit ISO 10646 character set, random access to large amounts of data, global or private extensions, self-identification, and multiple tools for conversion, modification and visualization which are freely available in source code.

Brain↗

Prediction of the fish acute toxicity from heterogeneous data coming from notification files.

Four descriptors (Molecular weight, log(Pow), hardness and free energy of solvation) were selected to predict, on a training set of heterogeneous chemical compounds, the fish acute toxicity. The data were extracted from 523 notification files of new chemicals stored at the French Department of the Environment. The selection of the descriptors was carried out by using a statistical technique coupling OLS regression and genetic algorithm. The limits of validity for the final equation are discussed by comparing the actual and predicted activities on several compounds.

Algorithms↗

Construction of the knowledge file for an image understanding system.

To enable an image understanding system to provide an automated interpretation of diagnostic imagery it must have access to all of the concepts, procedures and methods used by human experts. The paper describes information elicitation from experts of different domains and the construction of a knowledge file. Uncertainty management is based on Bayesian belief network methods.

Bayes Theorem↗

[Pharmaceutical traceability integrated with the patient file. Development of a computerized hospital application].

The Clinical Pharmacy Department (CPD) of the Gustave Roussy Institute, has developed a traceability software package that is integrated with the patient file. The Traceability & Medical Devices Functional Unit manages the Blood Derivative Medicinal Product traceability circuits, the circuits of over 400 Sterile Medical Devices and, generally speaking, those for all pharmaceutical goods for which traceability is imperative. The SIMBAD-TRACE software package has been developed in situ and was first open for access in March 1999. It enables pharmaceutical traceability data to be accessed from 500 networked workstations. The references tracked generated about 10,000 movements per year. In terms of performance, the system achieves three complementary objectives: 1) reporting traceability scores which reflect the ability of CPD and the establishment to pertinently respond to a complex regulatory requirement on a daily basis; 2) the contribution of the tool to cost containment with respect to allocating rare goods; the contribution of the software package to the implementation of medical device vigilance inquiries, particularly descending inquiries. Finally, SIMBAD-TRACE is one of the pillars of our Quality Assurance Program (QAP).

Equipment and Supplies↗

[The profile of drug addicts attending the Sainte Marguerite University Hospital in Marseille analysis of the active file from 1996 to 2001].

OBJECTIVES: Present the evolution in the characteristics of drug addicts treated in the Addictions-Sud centre (Marseille) between 1996 and 2001, and compare the profile of patients according to the substitution therapy prescribed. METHODS: Descriptive analysis of the data collected from the inclusion questionnaire of patients seen during a hospital consultation in the centre and registered in a substitution program (n = 585 patients). RESULTS: In our active file, the use of heroin and injections has decreased since 1996, whereas the consumption of cocaine and above all amphetamines and LSD has greatly increased. When treated, 60% of the patients were administered methadone and 40% BHD. (The patients included in the methadone program (n = 348) were considerably older and frequently HIV or hepatitis C-infected than those treated with BHD (n = 229)). The proportion of patients who had previously undertaken withdrawal or substitution measures, and who continued to inject drugs, was greater in the group of patients in the methadone program. The presence of depression, psychotic disorders and anxiety was noted respectively in 46, 30 and 24% of the patients treated. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Today, it is crucial that information on the treatment of drug addicts should be reinforced, so as to measure the progression of the problems encountered, specify the indications of the two substitution products currently prescribed and understand the impact they have on the psychiatric disorders and viral pathologies frequently noted in drug addicts.

Adult↗

Assessment of commercial compression algorithms, of the lossy DCT and lossless types, applied to diagnostic digital image files.

The need for diagnostic image compression of the lossy or irreversible type has been declining due to the rapid increase in commercially available formatted hard disk capacity. It is estimated that the latter has increased about three orders of magnitude in the past 14 years while the size of diagnostic image files has, of course, remained constant. During the same period, despite claims for significantly improved performance by vendors, it seems that only small progress has been made in commercial lossless and lossy compression algorithms. There is still no consensus for lossy compression to a level acceptable for diagnosis. This is mostly considered to be around a ratio of 10:1. However, acceptable compression ratios depend heavily on the type of images processed and may be compared with the 3:1 ratio produced by lossless algorithms. This last value was shown to increase to more than 5.5:1 for gamma-camera images when corrected for the noise content of individual bit planes and for the display capabilities of computer monitors. Therefore, any possible benefits of lossy over lossless compression become questionable when the currently available hard disk capacity and network transmission speed are considered against the inevitable loss of information in the lossy type of compression.

Algorithms↗