Extensions of Toric Varieties

In this paper, we introduce the notion of "extension" of a toric variety and study its fundamental properties. This gives rise to infinitely many toric varieties with a special property, such as being set theoretic complete intersection or arithmetically Cohen-Macaulay (Gorenstein) and having a Cohen-Macaulay tangent cone or a local ring with non-decreasing Hilbert function, from just one single example with the same property, verifying Rossi's conjecture for larger classes and extending some results appeared in literature.Comment: 8 page

On free resolutions of some semigroup rings

For some numerical semigroup rings of small embedding dimension, namely those of embedding dimension 3, and symmetric or pseudosymmetric of embedding dimension 4, presentations has been determined in the literature. We extend these results by giving the whole graded minimal free resolutions explicitly. Then we use these resolutions to determine some invariants of the semigroups and certain interesting relations among them. Finally, we determine semigroups of small embedding dimensions which have strongly indispensable resolutions.Comment: Revised version, with new title, new author and new result

Characterization of Neural Activity Recorded from the Descending Tracts of the Rat Spinal Cord

A multi-electrode array (MEA) was implanted in the dorsolateral funiculus of the cervical spinal cord to record descending information during behavior in freely moving rats. Neural signals were characterized in terms of frequency and information content. Frequency analysis revealed components both at the range of local field potentials and multi-unit activity. Coherence between channels decreased steadily with inter-contact distance and frequency suggesting greater spatial selectivity for multi-unit activity compared to local field potentials. Principal component analysis (PCA) extracted multiple channels of neural activity with patterns that correlated to the behavior, indicating multiple dimensionality of the signals. Two different behaviors involving the forelimbs, face cleaning and food reaching, generated neural signals through distinctly different combination of neural channels, which suggested that these two behaviors could readily be differentiated from recordings. This preliminary data demonstrated that descending spinal cord signals recorded with MEAs can be used to extract multiple channels of command control information and potentially be utilized as a means of communication in high level spinal cord injury subjects

Active C4 electrodes for local field potential recording applications

Extracellular neural recording, with multi-electrode arrays (MEAs), is a powerful method used to study neural function at the network level. However, in a high density array, it can be costly and time consuming to integrate the active circuit with the expensive electrodes. In this paper, we present a 4 mm × 4 mm neural recording integrated circuit (IC) chip, utilizing IBM C4 bumps as recording electrodes, which enable a seamless active chip and electrode integration. The IC chip was designed and fabricated in a 0.13 μm BiCMOS process for both in vitro and in vivo applications. It has an input-referred noise of 4.6 μV rms for the bandwidth of 10 Hz to 10 kHz and a power dissipation of 11.25 mW at 2.5 V, or 43.9 μW per input channel. This prototype is scalable for implementing larger number and higher density electrode arrays. To validate the functionality of the chip, electrical testing results and acute in vivo recordings from a rat barrel cortex are presented.R01 NS072385 - NINDS NIH HHS; 1R01 NS072385 - NINDS NIH HH

Assessment of Turkish junior male physicians’ exposure to mobbing behavior

Aim To determine the extent of Turkish junior male physicians’ exposure to mobbing behavior and its correlation with physicians’ characteristics. Methods The study included physicians recruited for compulsory military service in April 2009. No sampling method was used, questionnaires were delivered to all physicians, and 278 of 292 (95%) questionnaires were returned. We used Leymann Inventory of Psychological Terror including 45 items for data collection and structural equation model for data analysis. Results A total of 87.7% of physicians experienced mobbing behavior. Physicians who worked more than 40 hours a week, single physicians, physicians working in university hospitals and private hospitals, and physicians who did not have occupational commitment were more exposed to mobbing (P < 0.05). Mobbing was not associated with specialty status, service period, age, and personality variables (P > 0.05). All goodness-of- fit indices of the model were acceptable (χ2 = 1.449, normed fit index = 0.955, Tucker Lewis index = 0.980, comparative fit index = 0.985, and root mean square error of approximation = 0.040). Conclusions Workplace mobbing is a critical problem for junior male physicians in Turkey. We suggest an introduction of a reporting system and education activities for physicians in high-risk groups

Comparação da eficácia de tenoxicam administrado por via oral e intra‐articular a pacientes com osteoartrite de joelhos

ResumoJustificativa e objetivosTenoxicam é amplamente usado no tratamento da osteoartrite (OA) e o nosso objetivo foi comparar a eficácia de tenoxicam administrado por via oral (VO) e intra‐articular (IA) no tratamento da OA.MétodosEste estudo foi conduzido entre 2011 e 2012 por meio de análise retrospectiva e comparação dos resultados de 60 pacientes que foram clínica e radiologicamente diagnosticados com OA degenerativa de joelhos na Policlínica de Tratamento da Dor do Hospital Estadual de Bünyan. Os 60 pacientes incluídos no estudo foram alocados em dois grupos. O primeiro grupo (tenoxicam IA, n=30) incluiu resultados de pacientes submetidos à injeção nos joelhos por via IA de 20mg de tenoxicam uma vez por semana durante três semanas e o segundo grupo (tenoxicam VO, n=30) incluiu pacientes que receberam 20mg de tenoxicam por VO uma vez por dia durante três semanas. Todos os pacientes foram avaliados clinicamente na fase basal pré‐tratamento e em uma semana, um mês e três meses pós‐tratamento, de acordo com os critérios especificados.Resultados e conclusõesDos 60 pacientes, 22 eram do sexo masculino e 38 do sexo feminino. Em ambos os grupos, melhorias significativas foram detectadas em todos os parâmetros da escala visual analógica, do índice Western Ontario and MacMaster (Womac – dor, atividade física e rigidez dos joelhos) e do índice de Lequesne nas avaliações feitas em uma semana, um mês e três meses e comparadas aos valores basais. Além disso, uma melhor adesão ao tratamento e tolerabilidade ao sistema gastrointestinal no grupo tenoxicam IA também foram observadas. A administração de tenoxicam IA pode ser considerada como um método opcional de tratamento em pacientes com OA de joelhos que não podem usar tenoxicam por VO, especialmente por causa dos efeitos colaterais sobre o sistema gastrintestinal, e naqueles com dificuldades de adaptação ao tratamento.AbstractBackground and objectivesTenoxicam is widely used in osteoarthritis treatment and we aimed to compare the effectivity of oral and intra‐articular administration of tenoxicam in osteoarthritis treatment.MethodsThis study was performed between 2011 and 2012 by retrospectively analyzing and comparing the findings of 60 patients who were clinically and radiologically diagnosed with knee degenerative osteoarthritis in Bünyan state hospital pain policlinic. 60 patients included in the study were divided into two groups. The first group (tenoxicam IA, n=30) included patient findings of those subjected to intra‐articular injection of 20mg tenoxicam to the knee once a week for three weeks and the second group (oral tenoxicam, n=30) included patients who were administered 20mg oral tenoxicam once a day for three weeks. All patients were clinically evaluated pre‐treatment and in the 1st week, 1st month and 3rd month post‐treatment according to specified criteria.Results and conclusions22 of 60 patients included in the study were male and 38 were female. In both groups significant improvements were detected in all of the observed parameters: visual analog scale, Western Ontario McMaster Osteoarthritis Index (pain, physical activity, knee stiffness) and Lequesne index scores and in the evaluations performed in 1st week, 1st month and 3rd month with respect to pre‐treatment values. Besides, a better compliance to treatment and gastrointestinal system tolerability in tenoxicam IA group was also observed. Intra‐articular tenoxicam administration could be thought as an alternative treatment method in patients with knee osteoarthritis who cannot use oral tenoxicam especially due to systemic gastrointestinal system side effects and those who have difficulties in adapting to treatment

Convolutional Networks Outperform Linear Decoders in Predicting EMG From Spinal Cord Signals

Advanced algorithms are required to reveal the complex relations between neural and behavioral data. In this study, forelimb electromyography (EMG) signals were reconstructed from multi-unit neural signals recorded with multiple electrode arrays (MEAs) from the corticospinal tract (CST) in rats. A six-layer convolutional neural network (CNN) was compared with linear decoders for predicting the EMG signal. The network contained three session-dependent Rectified Linear Unit (ReLU) feature layers and three Gamma function layers were shared between sessions. Coefficient of determination (R2) values over 0.2 and correlations over 0.5 were achieved for reconstruction within individual sessions in multiple animals, even though the forelimb position was unconstrained for most of the behavior duration. The CNN performed visibily better than the linear decoders and model responses outlasted the activation duration of the rat neuromuscular system. These findings suggest that the CNN model implicitly predicted short-term dynamics of skilled forelimb movements from neural signals. These results are encouraging that similar problems in neural signal processing may be solved using variants of CNNs defined with simple analytical functions. Low powered firmware can be developed to house these CNN solutions in real-time applications

Changes in the chemical structure and decay resistance of heat-treated narrow-leaved ash wood

We analyzed the effects of heat treatment on the chemical structure of wood from narrow-leafed Ash (Fraxinus angustifolia), a fast-growing and economically valuable species. We also analyzed the effects of heat treatment on the wood’s resistance to four decay fungi. Narrow-leafed Ash wood samples were heated with saturated steam to 140, 180, 200, and 220°C for 2, 4, and 6 h. The relative contents of extractable components were analyzed, as well as the levels of holocellulose, cellulose, and lignin. In addition, the density, equilibrium moisture content, and pH of the samples were measured. To determine the effects of heat treatment on resistance to decay fungi, the samples were exposed to the white rot fungus Trametes versicolor, dry rot fungus Serpula lacrymans, and the brown rot fungi Coniophora puteana and Gloeophyllum trabeum. Changes in the chemical composition of the wood due to heat treatment were correlated with increased resistance to fungal decay. While the hemicellulose content was dramatically reduced with increasing temperature and treatment duration, the lignin content increased proportionately. Thus, heat treatment is an environmentally friendly method of preserving narrow-leafed Ash wood against various decay fungi