21 research outputs found
Nonstationary Stochastic Resonance in a Single Neuron-Like System
Stochastic resonance holds much promise for the detection of weak signals in
the presence of relatively loud noise. Following the discovery of nondynamical
and of aperiodic stochastic resonance, it was recently shown that the
phenomenon can manifest itself even in the presence of nonstationary signals.
This was found in a composite system of differentiated trigger mechanisms
mounted in parallel, which suggests that it could be realized in some
elementary neural networks or nonlinear electronic circuits. Here, we find that
even an individual trigger system may be able to detect weak nonstationary
signals using stochastic resonance. The very simple modification to the trigger
mechanism that makes this possible is reminiscent of some aspects of actual
neuron physics. Stochastic resonance may thus become relevant to more types of
biological or electronic systems injected with an ever broader class of
realistic signals.Comment: Plain Latex, 7 figure
Histologic chorioamnionitis and risk of neurodevelopmental impairment at age 10 years among extremely preterm infants born before 28 weeks of gestation
Background: Extremely preterm infants whose placenta had histologic evidence of chorioamnionitis have early brain dysfunction, but little is known about neurologic development at 10 years of age. Objective: We investigated the association between histologic chorioamnionitis and neurodevelopmental impairment at 10 years among children born 2 standard deviations below the mean), and epilepsy at the age of 10 years by blinded evaluators using validated measures. Multivariable logistic regression with generalized estimating equations was used. Results: Among 805 placentas, 43% (347/805) had histologic chorioamnionitis by moderate or advanced maternal stage, 36% (286/805) by severe maternal grade, 18% (132/737) by moderate or advanced fetal stage, and 1% (10/737) by severe fetal grade. The frequencies of impairments were 11% (88/767) for cerebral palsy, 7% (56/773) for autism spectrum disorder, 15% (120/788) for cognitive impairment, and 7% (52/763) for epilepsy. After adjustment for maternal age, body mass index, race, insurance status, maternal education, tobacco use, infant sex, and multiple gestations, the adjusted odds ratio for the association between histologic chorioamnionitis and cerebral palsy years was increased with advanced maternal stage (adjusted odds ratio, 2.5; 95% confidence interval, 1.6â3.9), severe maternal grade (adjusted odds ratio, 2.0; 95% confidence interval, 1.2â3.4), moderate fetal stage (adjusted odds ratio, 2.20; 95% confidence interval, 2.1â2.2), and mild or moderate fetal grade (adjusted odds ratio, 1.5; 95% confidence interval, 1.0â2.2). Similarly, the adjusted odds ratio for the association between histologic chorioamnionitis and epilepsy was increased with advanced maternal stage (adjusted odds ratio, 1.5; 95% confidence interval, 1.3â1.6) and severe fetal grade (adjusted odds ratio, 5.9; 95% confidence interval, 1.9â17.8). In addition, the adjusted odds ratio for the association between histologic chorioamnionitis and autism spectrum disorder was increased with mild or moderate fetal grade (adjusted odds ratio, 1.7; 95% confidence interval, 1.0â2.9). Histologic chorioamnionitis was not associated with cognitive impairment. These findings held after adjustment for gestational age at delivery. In contrast to histologic chorioamnionitis, a clinical diagnosis of chorioamnionitis was not associated with neurodevelopmental impairment. Conclusion: Histologic chorioamnionitis may be associated with some forms of neurodevelopmental impairment at 10 years of life among infants born <28 weeksâ gestation
Nonstationary Stochastic Resonance
It is by now established that, remarkably, the addition of noise to a
nonlinear system may sometimes facilitate, rather than hamper the detection of
weak signals. This phenomenon, usually referred to as stochastic resonance, was
originally associated with strictly periodic signals, but it was eventually
shown to occur for stationary aperiodic signals as well. However, in several
situations of practical interest, the signal can be markedly nonstationary. We
demonstrate that the phenomenon of stochastic resonance extends to
nonstationary signals as well, and thus could be relevant to a wider class of
biological and electronic applications. Building on both nondynamic and
aperiodic stochastic resonance, our scheme is based on a multilevel trigger
mechanism, which could be realized as a parallel network of differentiated
threshold sensors. We find that optimal detection is reached for a number of
thresholds of order ten, and that little is gained by going much beyond that
number. We raise the question of whether this is related to the fact that
evolution has favored some fixed numbers of precisely this order of magnitude
in certain aspects of sensory perception.Comment: Plain Latex, 6 figure
Ecological Complex Systems
Main aim of this topical issue is to report recent advances in noisy
nonequilibrium processes useful to describe the dynamics of ecological systems
and to address the mechanisms of spatio-temporal pattern formation in ecology
both from the experimental and theoretical points of view. This is in order to
understand the dynamical behaviour of ecological complex systems through the
interplay between nonlinearity, noise, random and periodic environmental
interactions. Discovering the microscopic rules and the local interactions
which lead to the emergence of specific global patterns or global dynamical
behaviour and the noises role in the nonlinear dynamics is an important, key
aspect to understand and then to model ecological complex systems.Comment: 13 pages, Editorial of a topical issue on Ecological Complex System
to appear in EPJ B, Vol. 65 (2008
Risk profiles and one-year outcomes of patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation in India: Insights from the GARFIELD-AF Registry.
BACKGROUND: The Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF) is an ongoing prospective noninterventional registry, which is providing important information on the baseline characteristics, treatment patterns, and 1-year outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). This report describes data from Indian patients recruited in this registry. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 52,014 patients with newly diagnosed AF were enrolled globally; of these, 1388 patients were recruited from 26 sites within India (2012-2016). In India, the mean age was 65.8 years at diagnosis of NVAF. Hypertension was the most prevalent risk factor for AF, present in 68.5% of patients from India and in 76.3% of patients globally (P < 0.001). Diabetes and coronary artery disease (CAD) were prevalent in 36.2% and 28.1% of patients as compared with global prevalence of 22.2% and 21.6%, respectively (P < 0.001 for both). Antiplatelet therapy was the most common antithrombotic treatment in India. With increasing stroke risk, however, patients were more likely to receive oral anticoagulant therapy [mainly vitamin K antagonist (VKA)], but average international normalized ratio (INR) was lower among Indian patients [median INR value 1.6 (interquartile range {IQR}: 1.3-2.3) versus 2.3 (IQR 1.8-2.8) (P < 0.001)]. Compared with other countries, patients from India had markedly higher rates of all-cause mortality [7.68 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval 6.32-9.35) vs 4.34 (4.16-4.53), P < 0.0001], while rates of stroke/systemic embolism and major bleeding were lower after 1 year of follow-up. CONCLUSION: Compared to previously published registries from India, the GARFIELD-AF registry describes clinical profiles and outcomes in Indian patients with AF of a different etiology. The registry data show that compared to the rest of the world, Indian AF patients are younger in age and have more diabetes and CAD. Patients with a higher stroke risk are more likely to receive anticoagulation therapy with VKA but are underdosed compared with the global average in the GARFIELD-AF. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION-URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01090362