Inferior vestibular neuritis in a fighter pilot: A case report

Pilot spatial disorientation is a leading factor contributing to many fatal flying accidents. Spatial orientation is the product of integrative inputs from the proprioceptive, vestibular, and visual systems. Vestibular neuritis (VN) can lead to sudden pilot incapacitation in flight. VN is commonly diagnosed by demonstration of unilateral vestibular failure, as unilateral loss of caloric response. As this test reflects the function of the superior part of the vestibular nerve only, cases of pure inferior nerve neuritis will be lost. This paper describes a fighter pilot with symptoms suggestive of VN but with normal caloric test results. Further test showed unilateral loss of vestibular evoked myogenic potential. We believe that the pilot suffered from pure inferior nerve vestibular neuritis. VEMP plays a major role in the diagnosis of inferior nerve vestibular neuritis in pilots. Aeromedical concerns are also discussed

Global Optimization of Minority Game by Smart Agents

We propose a new model of minority game with so-called smart agents such that the standard deviation and the total loss in this model reach the theoretical minimum values in the limit of long time. The smart agents use trail and error method to make a choice but bring global optimization to the system, which suggests that the economic systems may have the ability to self-organize into a highly optimized state by agents who are forced to make decisions based on inductive thinking for their limited knowledge and capabilities. When other kinds of agents are also present, the experimental results and analyses show that the smart agent can gain profits from producers and are much more competent than the noise traders and conventional agents in original minority game.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Transportation dynamics on networks of mobile agents

Most existing works on transportation dynamics focus on networks of a fixed structure, but networks whose nodes are mobile have become widespread, such as cell-phone networks. We introduce a model to explore the basic physics of transportation on mobile networks. Of particular interest are the dependence of the throughput on the speed of agent movement and communication range. Our computations reveal a hierarchical dependence for the former while, for the latter, we find an algebraic power law between the throughput and the communication range with an exponent determined by the speed. We develop a physical theory based on the Fokker-Planck equation to explain these phenomena. Our findings provide insights into complex transportation dynamics arising commonly in natural and engineering systems

Penta­aqua­(1H-benzimidazole-5,6-di­carboxyl­ato-κN 3)copper(II) penta­hydrate

The title compound, [Cu(C9H4N2O4)(H2O)5]·5H2O, contains one crystallographically independent CuII atom and one 1H-benzimidazole-5,6-dicarboxyl­ate (bdc) ligand, along with five coordinated and five uncoordinated water mol­ecules. The CuII atom is six-coordinated by one N atom from the bdc ligand and five O atoms from water mol­ecules, giving an octa­hedral coordination geometry. Hydrogen bonds link the mononuclear complex and uncoordinated water mol­ecules into a three-dimensional network

Visual PET/CT scoring of mesenteric fdg uptake to differentiate between tuberculous peritonitis and peritoneal carcinomatosis

PURPOSEWe aimed to differentiate tuberculous peritonitis (TBP) from peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC) using a visual positron-emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) scoring system based on mesenteric fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake.METHODSPET/CT scans from 31 patients with TBP and 92 patients with PC were retrospectively reviewed. A visual PET/CT scoring system for mesenteric FDG uptake was used according to the following characteristics: FDG uptake intensity (low = 0, moderate = 1, high = 2), FDG uptake deposits (uniform = 0, irregular = 1, ascitic = 2), FDG uptake focality (diffuse = 0, segmental = 1, focal = 2), nodularity on the corresponding CT (nonnodular = 0, micronodular = 1, macronodular = 2) and mesenteric lymphadenopathy (absent = 0, lymphadenopathy without FDG uptake = 1, lymphadenopathy with FDG uptake = 2). The FDG uptake intensity, deposits, focality, nodularity and mesenteric lymphadenopathy scores between TBP and PC were compared using chi-square tests. The diagnostic performance of this scoring system for differentiating TBP from PC was analyzed using a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. P 1 had a sensitivity (the accuracy for diagnosis of PC) of 80.4% and a specificity (the accuracy for diagnosis of TBP) of 75.0%.CONCLUSIONA visual PET/CT scoring system based on mesenteric FDG uptake performed well in differentiating between TBP and PC