An integrated information retrieval and document management system

This paper describes the requirements and prototype development for an intelligent document management and information retrieval system that will be capable of handling millions of pages of text or other data. Technologies for scanning, Optical Character Recognition (OCR), magneto-optical storage, and multiplatform retrieval using a Standard Query Language (SQL) will be discussed. The semantic ambiguity inherent in the English language is somewhat compensated-for through the use of coefficients or weighting factors for partial synonyms. Such coefficients are used both for defining structured query trees for routine queries and for establishing long-term interest profiles that can be used on a regular basis to alert individual users to the presence of relevant documents that may have just arrived from an external source, such as a news wire service. Although this attempt at evidential reasoning is limited in comparison with the latest developments in AI Expert Systems technology, it has the advantage of being commercially available

Genetic factors are important determinants of impaired growth after infant cardiac surgery

ObjectivesWe sought to estimate the prevalence and identify the predictors of impaired growth after infant cardiac surgery.MethodsWe performed a secondary analysis of a prospective study of the role of apolipoprotein E gene polymorphisms on neurodevelopment in young children after infant cardiac surgery. Prevalence estimates for growth velocity were derived by using anthropometric measures (weight and head circumference) obtained at birth and at 4 years of age. Genetic evaluation was also performed. Growth measure z scores were calculated by using World Health Organization Child Growth Standards. Growth velocity was evaluated by using 2 different techniques: first by clustering the children into one of 3 growth velocity subgroups based on z scores (impaired growth, difference < −0.5 standard deviation; stable growth, difference of −0.5 to 0.5 standard deviation; and improving growth, difference > 0.5 SD) and second by using continuous difference scores. Statistical analyses were conducted with a combination of proportional odds models for the ordered categories and simple linear regression for the continuous outcomes.ResultsThree hundred nineteen full-term subjects had complete anthropometric measures for weight and head circumference at birth and 4 years. The cohort was 56% male. Genetic examinations were available for 97% (309/319) of the cohort (normal, 74%; definite or suspected genetic abnormality, 26%). Frequency counts for weight categories were as follows: impaired growth, 37%; stable growth, 31%; and improving growth, 32%. Frequency counts for head circumference categories were as follows: impaired growth, 39%; stable growth, 28%; and improving growth, 33%. The presence of a definite or suspected genetic syndrome (P = .04) was found to be a predictor of impaired growth for weight but not for head circumference. When growth z scores were used as continuous outcomes, the apolipoprotein E ε2 allele was found to be predictive of lower z scores for both weight (P = .02) and head circumference (P = .03).ConclusionsImpaired growth for both weight and head circumference is common (both >30%) in this cohort of children after infant cardiac surgery. Both the apolipoprotein E ε2 allele and the presence of a definite or suspected genetic syndrome were associated with impaired weight growth velocity. The apolipoprotein E ε2 allele was also associated with impaired growth velocity for head circumference. Persistent poor growth might have long-term implications for the health and development of children with congenital heart defects

Practice Management Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Injury in the Pregnant Patient: The EAST Practice Management Guidelines Work Group

Trauma during pregnancy has presented very unique challenges over the centuries. From the first report of Ambrose Pare of a gunshot wound to the uterus in the 1600s to the present, there have existed controversies and inconsistencies in diagnosis, management, prognostics, and outcome. Anxiety is heightened by the addition of another, smaller patient. Trauma affects 7% of all pregnancies and requires admission in 4 of 1000 pregnancies. The incidence increases with advancing gestational age. Just over half of trauma during pregnancy occurs in the third trimester. Motor vehicle crashes comprise 50% of these traumas, and falls and assaults account for 22% each. These data were considered to be underestimates because many injured pregnant patients are not seen at trauma centers. Trauma during pregnancy is the leading cause of nonobstetric death and has an overall 6% to 7% maternal mortality. Fetal mortality has been quoted as high as 61% in major trauma and 80% if maternal shock is present. The anatomy and physiology of pregnancy make diagnosis and treatment difficult

Plasma TGF-β1 in pediatric cystic fibrosis: Potential biomarker of lung disease and response to therapy

Transforming growth factor beta-1 (TGF-β1) is an important genetic modifier of lung disease severity in cystic fibrosis (CF), yet the mechanism behind this disease association remains unknown. Initial steps in the investigation of the relationship between TGF-β1 and CF lung disease include determining the most appropriate available biospecimen for TGF-β1 protein measurement

The Campbells: lordship, literature and liminality

The Campbells have the potential to offer much to the theme of literature and borders, given that the kindred’s astonishing political success in the late medieval and early modern period depended heavily upon the ability to negotiate multiple frontiers: between Highlands and Lowlands; between Gaelic Scotland and Ireland, and, especially after the Reformation, with England and the matter of Britain. This paper will explore the literary dimension to Campbell expansionism, from the Book of the Dean of Lismore in the earlier sixteenth century, to poetry addressed to dukes of Argyll in the earlier eighteenth century. Particular attention will be paid to the literary proclivities of the household of the Campbells of Glenorchy on either side of what appears to be a major watershed in 1550; and to the agenda of the Campbell protégé John Carswell, first post-Reformation bishop of the Isles, and author of the first printed book in Gaelic in either Scotland or Ireland, Foirm na n-Urrnuidheadh (‘The Form of Prayers’), published at Edinburgh in 1567

Greater fear reactivity and psychophysiological hyperactivity among infants with later conduct problems and callous-unemotional traits

Approximately one-third of children who meet criteria for conduct problems (CP) are also characterized by elevated callous-unemotional (CU) traits. This subgroup is at elevated risk for more pervasive and extreme levels of later antisocial behavior and has been characterized by a fearlessness temperament and blunted stress psychophysiology at older ages. The objective of this study is to examine group differences in fear reactivity and stress psychophysiology in infancy among children classified as having CP with CU (CP+CU), CP without CU (CP-only), or no CP in later childhood

Influence of threshold selection and image sequence in in-vivo segmentation of enlarged perivascular spaces

BACKGROUND: Growing interest surrounds perivascular spaces (PVS) as a clinical biomarker of brain dysfunction given their association with cerebrovascular risk factors and disease. Neuroimaging techniques allowing quick and reliable quantification are being developed, but, in practice, they require optimisation as their limits of validity are usually unspecified.NEW METHOD: We evaluate modifications and alternatives to a state-of-the-art (SOTA) PVS segmentation method that uses a vesselness filter to enhance PVS discrimination, followed by thresholding of its response, applied to brain magnetic resonance images (MRI) from patients with sporadic small vessel disease acquired at 3 T.RESULTS: The method is robust against inter-observer differences in threshold selection, but separate thresholds for each region of interest (i.e., basal ganglia, centrum semiovale, and midbrain) are required. Noise needs to be assessed prior to selecting these thresholds, as effect of noise and imaging artefacts can be mitigated with a careful optimisation of these thresholds. PVS segmentation from T1-weighted images alone, misses small PVS, therefore, underestimates PVS count, may overestimate individual PVS volume especially in the basal ganglia, and is susceptible to the inclusion of calcified vessels and mineral deposits. Visual analyses indicated the incomplete and fragmented detection of long and thin PVS as the primary cause of errors, with the Frangi filter coping better than the Jerman filter.COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHODS: Limits of validity to a SOTA PVS segmentation method applied to 3 T MRI with confounding pathology are given.CONCLUSIONS: Evidence presented reinforces the STRIVE-2 recommendation of using T2-weighted images for PVS assessment wherever possible. The Frangi filter is recommended for PVS segmentation from MRI, offering robust output against variations in threshold selection and pathology presentation.</p