Electronic integration of the uk-1 international ionosphere satellite

Electronic integration of international ionosphere satellit

Emotional disorders: Cluster 4 of the proposed meta-structure for DSM-V and ICD-11

Background The extant major psychiatric classifications DSM-IV, and ICD-10, are atheoretical and largely descriptive. Although this achieves good reliability, the validity of a medical diagnosis would be greatly enhanced by an understanding of risk factors and clinical manifestations. In an effort to group mental disorders on the basis of aetiology, five clusters have been proposed. This paper considers the validity of the fourth cluster, emotional disorders, within that proposal.Method We reviewed the literature in relation to 11 validating criteria proposed by a Study Group of the DSM-V Task Force, as applied to the cluster of emotional disorders.Results An emotional cluster of disorders identified using the 11 validators is feasible. Negative affectivity is the defining feature of the emotional cluster. Although there are differences between disorders in the remaining validating criteria, there are similarities that support the feasibility of an emotional cluster. Strong intra-cluster co-morbidity may reflect the action of common risk factors and also shared higher-order symptom dimensions in these emotional disorders.Conclusion Emotional disorders meet many of the salient criteria proposed by the Study Group of the DSM-V Task Force to suggest a classification cluster.</p

A rapid flow cytometric technique for the detection of platelet-monocyte complexes, activated platelets and platelet-derived microparticles

Platelet activation occurs in a variety of clinical situations in which it directly contributes to the pathology. This study reports a simple flow cytometric assay for platelet activation which measures platelet-derived microparticles, activated platelets and platelet–monocyte complexes. Pre- and post analytical conditions were investigated and optimized and a normal range established on 20 healthy controls. Twenty patients pre- and post percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) were tested with the technique. Soluble activation markers sCD40 ligand and sPselectin and plasma phospholipid levels were measured in both groups. There was a significant increase in activated platelets and platelet– monocyte complexes between normal and pre-PCI (P = 0.005 and 0.0275, respectively) suggesting an activated state. There was a significant fall in activated platelets post-PCI (P = 0.0027) which was mirrored by a fall in soluble CD40 ligand, soluble P-selectin and plasma phospholipid levels (P = 0.0066, <0.0001 and 0.0032, respectively) consistent with antiplatelet therapy administered during the process. This is a reliable and rapid method for the assessment of ex vivo platelet activation which may be an aid in diagnosis and help guide therapy for patients with thrombotic disease

Fiber-Reinforced Wood Composites

The technical feasibility of producing internally reinforced laminated wood is evaluated experimentally. Numerous fiber reinforcements and adhesives are assessed, and effects of several processing and environmental parameters are included. Results demonstrate the increased strength and stiffness to be achieved under both tension and flexure by adding fiber reinforcement. Glass reinforcement is particularly suitable

The Genetic and Environmental Sources of Resemblance Between Normative Personality and Personality Disorder Traits

Recent work has suggested a high level of congruence between normative personality, most typically represented by the big five factors, and abnormal personality traits. In 2,293 Norwegian adult twins ascertained from a population-based registry, the authors evaluated the degree of sharing of genetic and environmental influences on normative personality, assessed by the Big Five Inventory (BFI), and personality disorder traits (PDTs), assessed by the Personality Inventory for DSM-S-Norwegian Brief Form (PID-5NBF). For four of the five BFI dimensions, the strongest genetic correlation was observed with the expected PID-5-NBF dimension (e.g., neuroticism with negative affectivity [+], conscientiousness with disinhibition [-]). However, neuroticism, conscientiousness, and agreeableness had substantial genetic correlations with other PID-S-NBF dimensions (e.g., neuroticism with compulsivity [+], agreeableness with detachment [-]). Openness had no substantial genetic correlations with any PID-5-NBF dimension. The proportion of genetic risk factors shared in aggregate between the BFI traits and the PID-5-NBF dimensions was quite high for conscientiousness and neuroticism, relatively robust for extraversion and agreeableness, but quite low for openness. Of the six PID-S-NBF dimensions, three (negative affectivity, detachment, and disinhibition) shared, in aggregate, most of their genetic risk factors with normative personality traits. Genetic factors underlying psychoticism, antagonism, and compulsivity were shared to a lesser extent, suggesting that they are influenced by etiological factors not well indexed by the BFI

A New Approach for Deep Gray Matter Analysis Using Partial-Volume Estimation.

INTRODUCTION: The existence of partial volume effects in brain MR images makes it challenging to understand physio-pathological alterations underlying signal changes due to pathology across groups of healthy subjects and patients. In this study, we implement a new approach to disentangle gray and white matter alterations in the thalamus and the basal ganglia. The proposed method was applied to a cohort of early multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and healthy subjects to evaluate tissue-specific alterations related to diffuse inflammatory or neurodegenerative processes. METHOD: Forty-three relapsing-remitting MS patients and nineteen healthy controls underwent 3T MRI including: (i) fluid-attenuated inversion recovery, double inversion recovery, magnetization-prepared gradient echo for lesion count, and (ii) T1 relaxometry. We applied a partial volume estimation algorithm to T1 relaxometry maps to gray and white matter local concentrations as well as T1 values characteristic of gray and white matter in the thalamus and the basal ganglia. Statistical tests were performed to compare groups in terms of both global T1 values, tissue characteristic T1 values, and tissue concentrations. RESULTS: Significant increases in global T1 values were observed in the thalamus (p = 0.038) and the putamen (p = 0.026) in RRMS patients compared to HC. In the Thalamus, the T1 increase was associated with a significant increase in gray matter characteristic T1 (p = 0.0016) with no significant effect in white matter. CONCLUSION: The presented methodology provides additional information to standard MR signal averaging approaches that holds promise to identify the presence and nature of diffuse pathology in neuro-inflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases

Combining Progressive Nodal Release with the Virtual Crack Closure Technique to Model Fatigue Delamination Growth Without Re-Meshing

The present work summarizes an approach to model mixed-mode 3D fatigue crack growth using the Virtual Crack Closure Technique (VCCT) without requiring re-meshing. It is demonstrated that the proposed approach can be used to simulate crack shapes that do not conform to the underlying mesh. The proposed approach relies solely on Paris Law characterization data to model delamination growth. Growth is determined as a post-processing step at the end of each increment, and hence no convergence issues associated with the progressive nodal release are encountered. This approach can be readily applied using standard solid element formulations and is implemented via an interface user element in Abaqus/Standard