Nuclear Shell Structure and Chaotic Dynamics in Hexadecapole Deformation

The effect of an axially symmetric hexadecapole term is investigated in a strongly deformed quadrupole potential. While the system is nonintegrable and shows significant chaotic behaviour classically, the quantum mechanical treatment not only produces a general smoothing effect with regard to chaos but even yields a pronounced shell structure at certain hexadecapole strength parameter values for oblate and prolate deformation.Comment: RevTeX + 4 figs. available from the authors, to appear in Phys.Rev.

The investigation of pathogenesis in multiple sclerosis using quantitative magnetic resonance parameters

This thesis studies the use of several quantitative MR techniques to investigate further the pathophysiology of multiple sclerosis (MS) and to evaluate the sensitivity of quantitative MRI parameters in early disease both for prognostic purposes and as potential outcome measures in treatment monitoring trials. Presented are investigations using multiple MR techniques into clinically early relapsing-remitting MS and also a non-invasive MR technique (Continuous Arterial Spin Labelling CASL ) to determine cerebral perfusion in patients with a wide spectrum of MS severity. Presented are cross-sectional and longitudinal investigations of several MR parameters - enhancing lesions, diffusion tensor imaging and cord area - acquired from a cohort of relapsing-remitting MS patients recruited within three years of first symptom onset to assess the clinical and pathological evolution of the disease from its earliest clinical stages. Results from the presented studies include: (i) a high degree of gadolinium enhancement which relates to relapse frequency but not clinical impairment or disability in the medium term (ii) evidence of progressive loss of cervical cord area and (iii) subtle diffusion changes in normal appearing brain tissue but no definitive longitudinal changes in comparison to healthy controls. Also presented is the first application of non-invasive cerebral perfusion measurement using a MR technique which models for blood brain barrier permeability (CASL with two-compartment methodology). The most significant finding was a consistent decrease in perfusion in patients with progressive disease in comparison to controls particularly in the deep grey matter, probably reflecting neuronal loss or dysfunction and increased perfusion in white matter in patients with relapse onset MS which may reflect underlying inflammation. Overall, promising and novel results using several quantitative MR parameters investigating specific MS cohorts have been detailed in this thesis and provide useful insights for further work in MS

Chronic pain assessments in children and adolescents : a systematic literature review of the selection, administration, interpretation, and reporting of unidimensional pain intensity scales

Background. Advances in pain assessment approaches now indicate which measures should be used to capture chronic pain experiences in children and adolescents. However, there is little guidance on how these tools should best be administered and reported, such as which time frames to use or how pain scores are categorised as mild, moderate, or severe. Objective. To synthesise current evidence on unidimensional, single-item pain intensity scale selection, administration, interpretation, and reporting. Methods. Databases were searched (inception: 18 January 2016) for studies in which unidimensional pain intensity assessments were used with children and adolescents with chronic pain. Ten quality criteria were developed by modifying existing recommendations to evaluate the quality of administration of pain scales most commonly used with children. Results. Forty-six studies met the inclusion criteria. The highest score achieved was 7 out of a possible 10 (median: 5; IQR: 4–6). Usage of scales varied markedly in administrator/completer, highest anchors, number of successive assessments, and time referent periods used. Conclusions. Findings suggest these scales are selected, administered, and interpreted inconsistently, even in studies of the same type. Furthermore, methods of administration are rarely reported or justified making it impossible to compare findings across studies. This article concludes by recommending criteria for the future reporting of paediatric chronic pain assessments in studies

A new class of two-channel biorthogonal filter banks and wavelet bases

We propose a novel framework for a new class of two-channel biorthogonal filter banks. The framework covers two useful subclasses: i) causal stable IIR filter banks. ii) linear phase FIR filter banks. There exists a very efficient structurally perfect reconstruction implementation for such a class. Filter banks of high frequency selectivity can be achieved by using the proposed framework with low complexity. The properties of such a class are discussed in detail. The design of the analysis/synthesis systems reduces to the design of a single transfer function. Very simple design methods are given both for FIR and IIR cases. Zeros of arbitrary multiplicity at aliasing frequency can be easily imposed, for the purpose of generating wavelets with regularity property. In the IIR case, two new classes of IIR maximally flat filters different from Butterworth filters are introduced. The filter coefficients are given in closed form. The wavelet bases corresponding to the biorthogonal systems are generated. the authors also provide a novel mapping of the proposed 1-D framework into 2-D. The mapping preserves the following: i) perfect reconstruction; ii) stability in the IIR case; iii) linear phase in the FIR case; iv) zeros at aliasing frequency; v) frequency characteristic of the filters

IS THERE POTENTIAL FOR REPETITIVE TRANSCRANIAL MAGNETIC STIMULATION (rTMS) AS A TREATMENT OF OCD?

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a common and highly debilitating psychiatric disorder. Amongst OCD sufferers are a significant number (40-60%) of so-called non-responders who do not fully respond to commonly available treatments, which include medications (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors-SSRIs) and cognitive behavior therapy (CBT). Modern \u27neuromodulatory\u27 techniques such as Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS), repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) and transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) potentially offer alternative forms of treatment for OCD patients who either do not respond to, or are unable or unwilling to take SSRIs and undergo CBT. Although shown to be effective in treatment resistant OCD, DBS requires invasive neurosurgical procedures with associated risks. On the other hand, rTMS and tDCS are non-invasive forms of treatment, which are largely risk free, but the evidence of their efficacy so far is somewhat limited, with only small number of published studies. In this brief survey we will address the potential of rTMS as a therapeutic tool for OCD and review the published literature on the cortical targets for rTMS used so far. We will also discuss some of the newer variants of rTMS techniques only a few of which have been employed so far, and speculate whether there might be a place for rTMS as a standard treatment in OCD, along side CBT, SSRIs and DBS

Comparison of Intravitreal Bevacizumab versus Triamcinolone for the Treatment of Diffuse Diabetic Macular Edema

Background: Our purpose was to compare the effect of triamcinolone and bevacizumab (Avastin) on the retinal thickness and functional outcome in patients with diabetic macular edema. Methods and Materials: A collective of 32 patients, who had been treated by a single 4.0-mg intravitreal triamcinolone injection (group 1), was matched to 32 patients ('matched pairs'), who had received 3 injections of 1.25 mg of bevacizumab within 3 months in 4-week intervals (group 2). The outcome variables were changes in best corrected visual acuity (VA) and central retinal thickness 3 months after therapy. Results: Both groups did not differ regarding preoperative VA and central retinal thickness measured by optical coherence tomography. The baseline mean VA was 0.72 +/- 0.39 logMAR in group 1 and 0.73 +/- 0.39 logMAR in group 2 (p = 0.709). The mean central retinal thickness measured by optical coherence tomography was 548 +/- 185 mu m in group 1 and 507 +/- 192 mu m in group 2. While the patients in group 1 experienced a slight increase in VA of on average 0.7 lines following a single triamcinolone injection to a mean of 0.64 +/- 0.40 logMAR (p = 0.066) after 3 months, the patients in group 2 showed almost no effect on VA with an average increase of 0.2 lines to a mean VA of 0.72 +/- 0.30 logMAR (p = 0.948) following 3 intravitreal injections of bevacizumab. Comparing the effect on VA between both groups no statistically significant difference (p = 0.115) was noted. Concerning decrease in central retinal thickness both therapies were highly effective (p < 0.001 each), again, without statistically significant difference between the groups (p < 0.128). Conclusion: Our data suggest that a single triamcinolone injection may be as effective as a 3 times repeated intravitreal administration of bevacizumab for the treatment of diabetic macular edema. Further prospective trials should be performed. Copyright (C) 2010 S. Karger AG, Base

Integrated optimization of mixed-model assembly sequence planning and line balancing using Multi-objective Discrete Particle Swarm Optimization

Recently, interest in integrated assembly sequence planning (ASP) and assembly line balancing (ALB) began to pick up because of its numerous benefits, such as the larger search space that leads to better solution quality, reduced error rate in planning, and expedited product time-to-market. However, existing research is limited to the simple assembly problem that only runs one homogenous product. This paper therefore models and optimizes the integrated mixed-model ASP and ALB using Multi-objective Discrete Particle Swarm Optimization (MODPSO) concurrently. This is a new variant of the integrated assembly problem. The integrated mixed-model ASP and ALB is modeled using task-based joint precedence graph. In order to test the performance of MODPSO to optimize the integrated mixed-model ASP and ALB, an experiment using a set of 51 test problems with different difficulty levels was conducted. Besides that, MODPSO coefficient tuning was also conducted to identify the best setting so as to optimize the problem. The results from this experiment indicated that the MODPSO algorithm presents a significant improvement in term of solution quality toward Pareto optimal and demonstrates the ability to explore the extreme solutions in the mixed-model assembly optimization search space. The originality of this research is on the new variant of integrated ASP and ALB problem. This paper is the first published research to model and optimize the integrated ASP and ALB research for mixed-model assembly problem