Acute respiratory distress syndrome following infection of influenza A (H1N1) virus

A 28-year-old man with a history of mental retardation was admitted to our hospital because of dyspnea, cough and high fever. His SpO(2) level at room-environmental conditions was in the eighties, and his chest radiograph showed diffuse infiltrates in both lungs. He was diagnosed as suffering from influenza A by a rapid influenza virus antigen test. The echocardiogram showed no evidence of left cardiac failure; therefore, his symptoms were consistent with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Oseltamivir was started, and antibiotics were also given because of the possibility of secondary bacterial infection. Due to respiratory failure and low blood pressure, which suggested septic shock, intensive treatments including mechanical ventilation were performed. Corticosteroid therapy was started for ARDS and sepsis, and these therapies improved his respiratory condition. Polymerase chain reaction of his pharyngeal swab revealed that he had influenza A (H1N1). This is the first case of ARDS following infection by influenza A (H1N1) virus in Japan

Flexible Acquisition of Various Types of Knowledge from Game Records: Application to the game of Go

A large amount of knowledge is considered very useful for systems playing games such as Go and Shogi (Japanese chess), for which the search space larger than that for chess. Knowledge acquisition is therefore necessary for systems playing these games. This paper introduces a new flexible algorithm which acquires various types of knowledge from game records. This algorithm is especially applicable to Go because Go has the largest search space among major games. The algorithm enables computer systems to acquire patterns with a variety of shapes and sizes. Sequences of moves, which are useful for human players but lacking in the present game-playing systems, are also acquired by this algorithm. The possibility of acquiring other types of knowledge --- such as maxims, patterns with situations, and patterns for tsume-go --- is discussed. The possibility of applying the algorithm to games other than Go is also discussed. 1 Introduction The studies on games have mainly focused on search tech..

An Evolutionary Algorithm Extended by Ecological Analogy and its Application to the Game of Go

The following two important features of human experts' knowledge are not realized by most evolutionary algorithms: one is that it is various and the other is that the amount of knowledge, including infrequently used knowledge, is large. To imitate these features, we introduce an activation value for individuals and a new variation-making operator, splitting, both of which are inspired by ecological systems. This algorithm is applied to the game of Go and a large amount of knowledge evaluated as appropriate by a human expert is acquired. Various kinds of Go knowledge may be acquired such as patterns, sequences of moves, and Go maxims, part of which has already been realized. 1 Introduction The knowledge of human experts has two important features. One is that it is full of variety ; humans can have many types of knowledge, such as verbal or visual, and there is little limitation in size and shape. The other is that it can be a large amount ; it is estimated that a chess master has betw..

Treatment and Result of Slight Velopharyngeal Incompetence.

Fifty-five patients who had been diagnosed as slight velopharyngeal incompetence due to either repaired cleft palate CP (19 cases), submucous cleft palate SMCP (21) or congenital velopharyngeal incompetence CVPI (15) at our clinic from May 1976 to April 1982 were studied regarding the effect of speech therapy. They were all first placed under trial speech therapy which consisted of ① encouragement of the physical and mental development, ② articulation training without blowing exercise. Twenty-seven out of the 55 subjects underwent further surgery (mostly pharyngeal flap operation) after speech therapy for over 6 months at our clinic. On the other hand, 14 out of the 55 subjects improved velopharyngeal closure from slight incompetence to competence and corrected their faulty articulations through speech therapy alone. The success rate of speech therapy was higher in SMCP and CVPI than in repaired cleft palate. We emphasize that those who are judged as having slight velopharyngeal incompetence should first be placed under speech therapy for at least 6 months. The indication for further surgery are ① over age 5 years, and ② no improvement obtained in slight velopharyngeal incompetence and faulty articulation even by speech therapy for over one year

The Arrival Direction Distribution of Extremely High Energy Cosmic Rays Observed by AGASA

Study of the arrival direction distribution plays a key role in finding sources of the Extremely High Energy Cosmic Rays (EHECR). Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuz\u27min (GZK) mechanism limits the propagation of EHE cosmic rays significantly and only nearby sources can contribute to the local EHECR flux. Furthermore EHECRs travel intergalactic spaces almost linearly. Hence, we expect they can be traced back to their sources. Here we report a small-sacle anisotropy of the arrival direction distribution of EHECRs observed by AGASA above 1019eV . This result strongly suggests the existence of point sources of EHECRs

Chemical Composition of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays Observed by AGASA

We have observed ultra-high energy cosmic rays above the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuz\u27min cut-off energy by Akeno Giant Air Shower Array. Their chemical composition is a key discriminator of origin models. In the present work, we estimate the average composition by an analysis of muons in air showers with AIRES+QGSJET simulation. The data matches the prediction for light hadron primaries and no indication has been found for a gamma-ray dominance