			Home About us Contact

Direct Treatment (direct + treatment)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	37%
Chemistry	25%

Selected Abstracts

Implicit Surface Modelling with a Globally Regularised Basis of Compact Support

COMPUTER GRAPHICS FORUM, Issue 3 2006
C. Walder
We consider the problem of constructing a globally smooth analytic function that represents a surface implicitly by way of its zero set, given sample points with surface normal vectors. The contributions of the paper include a novel means of regularising multi-scale compactly supported basis functions that leads to the desirable interpolation properties previously only associated with fully supported bases. We also provide a regularisation framework for simpler and more direct treatment of surface normals, along with a corresponding generalisation of the representer theorem lying at the core of kernel-based machine learning methods. We demonstrate the techniques on 3D problems of up to 14 million data points, as well as 4D time series data and four-dimensional interpolation between three-dimensional shapes. Categories and Subject Descriptors (according to ACM CCS): I.3.5 [Computer Graphics]: Curve, surface, solid, and object representations [source]

Competitive Hebbian learning and the hippocampal place cell system: Modeling the interaction of visual and path integration cues

HIPPOCAMPUS, Issue 3 2001
Alex Guazzelli
Abstract The hippocampus has long been thought essential for implementing a cognitive map of the environment. However, almost 30 years since place cells were found in rodent hippocampal field CA1, it is still unclear how such an allocentric representation arises from an egocentrically perceived world. By means of a competitive Hebbian learning rule responsible for coding visual and path integration cues, our model is able to explain the diversity of place cell responses observed in a large set of electrophysiological experiments with a single fixed set of parameters. Experiments included changes observed in place fields due to exploration of a new environment, darkness, retrosplenial cortex inactivation, and removal, rotation, and permutation of landmarks. To code for visual cues for each landmark, we defined two perceptual schemas representing landmark bearing and distance information over a linear array of cells. The information conveyed by the perceptual schemas is further processed through a network of adaptive layers which ultimately modulate the resulting activity of our simulated place cells. In path integration terms, our system is able to dynamically remap a bump of activity coding for the displacement of the animal in relation to an environmental anchor. We hypothesize that path integration information is computed in the rodent posterior parietal cortex and conveyed to the hippocampus where, together with visual information, it modulates place cell activity. The resulting network yields a more direct treatment of partial remapping of place fields than other models. In so doing, it makes new predictions regarding the nature of the interaction between visual and path integration cues during new learning and when the system is challenged with environmental changes. Hippocampus 2001;11:216,239. © 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

Direct filtration of Procion dye bath wastewaters by nanofiltration membranes: flux and removal characteristics

JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY & BIOTECHNOLOGY, Issue 12 2003
Ismail Koyuncu
Abstract The treatment and reuse of industrial wastewaters by membrane processes has become more attractive in the last few years due to constraints on water usage. The aim of this study was to investigate the direct filtration of reactive dye house wastewaters by nanofiltration membranes based on permeate flux, and sodium chloride and colour removal. Experiments were performed using both synthetic and industrial dye bath wastewaters with the fluxes of the industrial dye bath wastewaters lower than those of the synthetic solutions. The effects of operating conditions such as pressure and pH were assessed. Studies with DS5 DK type (polysulfone,polyamide) membranes showed that nanofiltration membranes are suitable for direct treatment of wastewaters and the permeate quality was appropriate for reuse in the dyeing process. Pre-treatment and neutralisation were important for recovery of large amounts of salt and water from the permeate stream. Neutralisation of the solution with HCl rather than H2SO4 gave a better permeate from the point of view of the reuse. The highest permeate flux and colour removal and the lowest salt removal were achieved with the HCl neutralisation. Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry [source]

Impact of PTSD comorbidity on one-year outcomes in a depression trial

JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 7 2006
Bonnie L. Green
Low-income African American, Latino, and White women were screened and recruited for a depression treatment trial in social service and family planning settings. Those meeting full criteria for major depression (MDD; N = 267) were randomized to cognitive,behavior therapy (CBT), antidepressant medication, or community mental health referral. All randomly assigned participants were evaluated by baseline telephone and clinical interview, and followed by telephone for one year. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) comorbidity was assessed at baseline and one-year follow-up in a clinical interview. At baseline, 33% of the depressed women had current comorbid PTSD. These participants had more exposure to assaultive violence, had higher levels of depression and anxiety, and were more functionally impaired than women with depression alone. Depression in both groups improved over the course of one year, but the PTSD subgroup remained more impaired throughout the one-year follow-up period. Thus, evidence-based treatments (antidepressant medication or structured psychotherapy) decrease depression regardless of PTSD comorbidity, but women with PTSD were more distressed and impaired throughout. Including direct treatment of PTSD associated with interpersonal violence may be more effective in alleviating depression in those with both diagnoses. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol 62: 815,835, 2006. [source]

Integrating Pediatric Obesity Treatment Into Clinical Practice

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF ORTHOPSYCHIATRY, Issue 4 2006
Barry Panzer PhD
Childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the United States and other industrialized nations. Despite the significant psychosocial consequences, mental health professionals have been reluctant to provide direct treatment for these children and their parents. The author proposes a practice model for agency, clinic, and private settings, with the mental health practitioner as primary clinician. On the basis of intervention research methodology, the model presents consensus generalizations and clinical applications for evaluation and treatment. A typology of diagnostic profiles with corresponding strategies for combining diet, activity, and mental health interventions is included. [source]

Alumina-Supported Ni,Au: Surface Synergistic Effects in Catalytic Hydrodechlorination

CHEMCATCHEM, Issue 2 2009

Abstract Catalytic gas-phase hydrodechlorination (HDC) of 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) has been investigated over Ni/Al2O3 and Au/Al2O3 prepared by impregnation, and Au,Ni/Al2O3 prepared by reductive deposition of Au onto Ni. Catalyst activation by temperature-programmed reduction is examined and the activated catalysts are characterized in terms of H2 chemisorption, XRD and TEM-energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) measurements. Ni/Al2O3 (<1,10,nm) and Au/Al2O3 (<1,15,nm) exhibit a relatively narrow metal size distribution while Au,Ni/Al2O3 bore larger particles (1,30,nm) with variable surface Ni/Au ratios. Au/Al2O3 exhibits low H2 uptake and low HDC activity to generate 2-chlorophenol (2-CP) as the sole product. H2 chemisorption on Au,Ni/Al2O3 was approximately five times lower than that recorded for Ni/Al2O3 but both catalysts delivered equivalent initial HDC activities. Ni/Al2O3 exhibits an irreversible temporal deactivation where partial dechlorination to 2-CP is increasingly favored over full dechlorination to phenol. In contrast, thermal treatment of Au,Ni/Al2O3 in H2 after reaction elevates HDC activity with a preferential full HDC to phenol. This response is linked to a surface reconstruction resulting in a more homogeneous combination of Ni and Au. This result was also achieved by a direct treatment of Au,Ni/Al2O3 with HCl. A parallel/ consecutive kinetic model is used to quantify the catalytic HDC response. [source]

Neonatal renal vein thrombosis and prothrombotic risk

ACTA PAEDIATRICA, Issue 7 2010
SL Harris
Abstract A case of extensive deep venous thrombosis in a four a day old infant was presented. Unusually this patient was shown to be heterozygous for three thrombophilia genes; Factor V Leiden, prothrombin and antithrombin gene mutations, the latter being novel. Conclusion: There are no randomized controlled trials to guide management in deep venous thrombosis in the newborn but knowledge of the prothrombotic risk factors may help direct treatment. [source]

Salbutamol for hyperkalaemia in children

ACTA PAEDIATRICA, Issue 11 2001
E Helfrich
Hyperkalaemia is a potentially fatal disorder that demands direct treatment. The efficacy of traditional medical treatment is unpredictable, limited, of short duration or carries the risk of serious adverse events. The administration of salbutamol for hyperkalaemia in children is described in several clinical trials and case reports. Conclusion: Salbutamol, inhaled or infused, is safe and efficacious and results in a predictable and long-lasting reduction in serum potassium. Salbutamol merits a place as the preferred medication for hyperkalaemia in children without arrhythmias. If follow-up with haemodialysis is required, the administration of salbutamol gives time to make the necessary preparations. [source]