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Features
Kinds of Features Terms modified by Features Selected AbstractsFEATURE-BASED KOREAN GRAMMAR UTILIZING LEARNED CONSTRAINT RULESCOMPUTATIONAL INTELLIGENCE, Issue 1 2005So-Young Park In this paper, we propose a feature-based Korean grammar utilizing the learned constraint rules in order to improve parsing efficiency. The proposed grammar consists of feature structures, feature operations, and constraint rules; and it has the following characteristics. First, a feature structure includes several features to express useful linguistic information for Korean parsing. Second, a feature operation generating a new feature structure is restricted to the binary-branching form which can deal with Korean properties such as variable word order and constituent ellipsis. Third, constraint rules improve efficiency by preventing feature operations from generating spurious feature structures. Moreover, these rules are learned from a Korean treebank by a decision tree learning algorithm. The experimental results show that the feature-based Korean grammar can reduce the number of candidates by a third of candidates at most and it runs 1.5 , 2 times faster than a CFG on a statistical parser. [source] CHARACTERISTIC INTRADUCTAL ULTRASONOGRAPHIC FEATURES OF PORTAL BILIOPATHYDIGESTIVE ENDOSCOPY, Issue 4 2008Tsukasa Ikeura The term ,portal biliopathy' is used to describe cholangiographic abnormalities seen in patients with extrahepatic portal vein obstruction. Portal biliopathy is mainly composed of extrinsic compression of the bile duct caused by enlarged venous collaterals. Herein we report a case of asymptomatic portal biliopathy caused by idiopathic extrahepatic portal vein obstruction. In the present case, intraductal ultrasonography showed normal anatomic layers of the distal common bile duct wall, surrounded by numerous tubular structures which were suspected to be collateral vessels. We suggest that intraductal ultrasonography may be a helpful imaging procedure for detection of this pathological condition. [source] CAPITAL CONTROLS AS A MEANS OF MINIMISING SPECULATIVE BUBBLES IN REAL EXCHANGE RATES: KEY FEATURES OF THE LITERATURE AND ITS APPLICATION TO CHINA AND INDIAECONOMIC PAPERS: A JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECONOMICS AND POLICY, Issue 3 2003CRAIG APPLEGATE First page of article [source] SHARED AND UNIQUE FEATURES OF DIVERSIFICATION IN GREATER ANTILLEAN ANOLIS ECOMORPHSEVOLUTION, Issue 2 2006R. Brian Langerhans Abstract Examples of convergent evolution suggest that natural selection can often produce predictable evolutionary outcomes. However, unique histories among species can lead to divergent evolution regardless of their shared selective pressures,and some contend that such historical contingencies produce the dominant features of evolution. A classic example of convergent evolution is the set of Anolis lizard ecomorphs of the Greater Antilles. On each of four islands, anole species partition the structural habitat into at least four categories, exhibiting similar morphologies within each category. We assessed the relative importance of shared selection due to habitat similarity, unique island histories, and unique effects of similar habitats on different islands in the generation of morphological variation in anole ecomorphs. We found that shared features of diversification across habitats were of greatest importance, but island effects on morphology (reflecting either island effects per se or phylogenetic relationships) and unique aspects of habitat diversification on different islands were also important. There were three distinct cases of island-specific habitat diversification, and only one was confounded by phylogenetic relatedness. The other two unique aspects were not related to shared ancestry but might reflect as-yet-unmeasured environmental differences between islands in habitat characteristics. Quantifying the relative importance of shared and unique responses to similar selective regimes provides a more complete understanding of phenotypic diversification, even in this much-studied system [source] CLASSIFYING PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES: THE CASE OF MANINKA FARMERS IN SOUTHWESTERN MALIGEOGRAFISKA ANNALER SERIES B: HUMAN GEOGRAPHY, Issue 4 2008Chris S. Duvall ABSTRACT. This article argues that understanding how people classify physical geographic features is necessary for identifying fundamental, cross-cultural geographic concepts that are required for successful communication of geographic knowledge. Academic geographers have not given sufficient attention to systems of local geographic knowledge, even though promising theoretical frameworks exist, particularly in the field of ethnoecology. However, the research approach that has characterized ethnoecology is insufficient to develop ethnogeography as a field of inquiry, because ethnoecologists have overemphasized limited aspects of local knowledge systems, such as soils, which has often led researchers to incompletely sample local knowledge systems. Using ethnographic methods, this article analyses the content and structure of physical geographic knowledge in the Maninka language as spoken in southwestern Mali, and compares Maninka knowledge to that of other cultural groups. The results suggest that broad physical geographic concepts may be shared pan-environmentally, but that most physical geographic knowledge is contained in culturally specific classifications embedded within a broad cross-cultural framework. Academic geographers should expect only broad correspondence between their categories of physical geographic variation and those of people who classify biophysical features according to local knowledge systems. Finally, this article also shows that ethnoecological research will be advanced if geographic theories of place are given more prominence in ethnoecological studies. [source] GENOMIC FEATURES OF COTESIA PLUTELLAE POLYDNAVIRUSINSECT SCIENCE, Issue 2 2003LIU Cai-ling Abstract Polydnavirus was purified from the calyx fluid of Cotesia plutellae ovary. The genomic features of C. plutellae polydnavirus (CpPDV) were investigated. The viral genome consists of at least 12 different segments and the aggregate genome size is a lower estimate of 80kbp. By partial digestion of CpPDV DNA with Bam HI and subsequent ligation with Bam HI-cut plasmid Bluescript, a representative library of CpPDV genome was obtained. [source] CLINICAL FEATURES OF INFLUENZA A VIRUS INFECTION IN OLDER HOSPITALIZED PERSONSJOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 8 2003Paul J. Drinka MD No abstract is available for this article. [source] EFFICACY OF SERUM PEPSINOGENS IN THE PREDICTION OF ENDOSCOPIC FEATURES OF GASTRITISJOURNAL OF GASTROENTEROLOGY AND HEPATOLOGY, Issue 12 2000Yoshihisa Urita Objective The efficacy of serum pepsinogen (PG) test is widely accepted as a screening test to select persons for endoscopy in the diagnosis of gastric cancer. In this study, we would like to examine whether serum PG levels give us information on endoscopic findings of gastric mucosa. Materials and methods The serum level of PG++ and PG+, and the PG+/PG, ratio were compared with endoscopic 13C-urea breath. H.pylori status was defined as an increase in the intragastric 13CO2/12CO2 ratio of 10% over baseline. Intestinal metaplasia was made visible as the purple-stained area using a 0.05% crystal violet spraying method. PG level of less than 70,g/L and I PG+/PG, ratio of less than 3 was adopted for a (+) result, and PG level of less than 30,g/L and a PG+/PG, ratio of less than 2 for a (++) result. Results Prevalence of endoscopic features and H. pylori infection in different groups classified by serum PG tests. Conclusions Lintestinal metaplasia was identified in more than 80% of PG positive patients. The prevalence of linear reddness and raised erosion in the antrum were higher in PG (-) group than in PG(+) and (++) groups. H. pylori-positive rate was the highest in PG (+) group. [source] IDENTIFICATION OF SALT FEATURES IN SEISMIC DATAJOURNAL OF PETROLEUM GEOLOGY, Issue 4 2008M. K. Jenyon Deciding on the viability of a salt deposit as a possible site for storage-cavern solution mining requires detailed geological studies of the salt and of its confining formations. Borehole data alone can seldom deliver the information required for such a study. It can impart great detail of the subsurface but only at the actual borehole location in an area. The most practical approach to developing 3D information is to carry out a seismic survey tied in to one or more boreholes which have been logged geophysically Ideally, a high-resolution seismic survey is needed to study relatively shallow zones of the subsurface and resolve the top and base of fairly thin beds. However in some cases it is possible to use "reach-me-down" seismic data acquired previously during hydrocarbon exploration. Although these data were not designed to meet the requirements of salt deposit studies, they may still be adequate for the purpose. Their use will lead to quicker and lower-cost results than the commissioning of a full field seismic survey with concomitant processing, although in both cases a seismic interpretation would be required. [source] A MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR: NEW ELECTRONIC FEATURESJOURNAL OF PHYCOLOGY, Issue 6 2003Article first published online: 24 NOV 200 No abstract is available for this article. [source] STRUCTURAL FEATURES OF NUCLEAR GENES IN THE CENTRIC DIATOM THALASSIOSIRA WEISSFLOGII (BACILLARIOPHYCEAE)JOURNAL OF PHYCOLOGY, Issue 5 2000E. Virginia Armbrust Thalassiosira weissflogii (Grun.) Fryxell et Hasle is one of the more commonly studied centric diatoms, and yet molecular studies of this organism are still in their infancy. The ability to identify open reading frames and thus distinguish between introns and exons, coding and noncoding sequence is essential to move from nuclear DNA sequences to predicted amino acid sequences. To facilitate the identification of open reading frames in T. weissflogii, two newly identified nuclear genes encoding ,-tubulin and t -complex polypeptide (TCP)-,, along with six previously published nuclear DNA sequences, were examined for general structural features. The coding region of the nuclear open reading frames had a G + C content of about 49% and could readily be distinguished from noncoding sequence due to a significant difference in G + C content. The introns were uniformly small, about 100 base pairs in size. Furthermore, the 5, and 3, splice sites of introns displayed the canonical GT/AG sequence, further facilitating recognition of noncoding regions. Six of the nuclear open reading frames displayed relatively little bias in the use of synonymous codons, as exemplified by the cDNAs encoding ,-tubulin and TCP-,. Two open reading frames displayed strong bias in the use of particular codons (although the codons used were different), as exemplified by the cDNA encoding fucoxanthin chlorophyll a/c binding protein. Knowledge of codon bias should facilitate, for example, design of degenerate PCR primers and potential heterologous reporter gene constructs. [source] CLINICAL AND IMMUNOLOGICAL FEATURES AND RESPONSE TO IVIg IN PATIENTS WITH CLINICALLY TYPICAL MULTIFOCAL MOTOR NEUROPATHY BUT NO OVERT CONDUCTION BLOCKJOURNAL OF THE PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM, Issue 1 2000E. Nobile-Orazio Multifocal motor neuropathy (MMN) is characterized by progressive asymmetric limb weakness usually predominant in the upper limbs associated with conduction block (CB) in motor but not sensory nerves. There are, however, occasional patients with clinically typical MMN in whom no CB can be detected. Whether these patients differ from patients with MMN and CB remains unclear. Since 1991, we have observed 24 patients with the typical clinical features of MMN. In 20 of them (14 men and 6 women), electrophysiological studies disclosed the presence of CB in at least one motor nerve. In four (all women), no evidence of CB could be detected in examined nerves even if three had some features of demyelination, including asymmetric reduction of motor conduction velocities (1 patient) or prolonged or absent F wave latencies (3 patients). Three of them had markedly reduced or absent proximal and distal CMAP amplitudes in some nerves. The mean age of onset of MMN was similar in patients with (41.5 years, range 21,70) and without CB (41.5 years, range 24,57). The mean duration of the disease at the time of our first visit was longer in patients without CB (18.5 years, range 13,25) than in those with CB (6.3 years, 3 months,25 years); only 3 patients with CB had a duration of the disease longer than 10 years. All patients without CB had a predominant or exclusive impairment of upper limbs compared with 18 (90%) of those with CB. The mean Rankin score before therapy was slightly worse in patients without (2.5) than with (2.2) CB. Anti-ganglioside antibodies were found in 1 patient without CB (25%) and in 8 (40%) with CB. All but 2 patients with CB (90%) consistently improved with IVIg. All patients without CB also improved with IVIg, but only one did so consistently. In conclusion, patients with the typical clinical presentation of MMN but no overt CB are clinically and immunologically indistinguishable from those with MMN and CB. The longer duration of the disease and frequent axonal impairment in patients without CB may explain the lower efficacy of IVIg in these patients than in those with CB. [source] SOME LESSER KNOWN FEATURES OF THE ANCIENT CEPHALOPOD ORDER ELLESMEROCERIDA (NAUTILOIDEA, CEPHALOPODA)PALAEONTOLOGY, Issue 3 2007BJÖRN KRÖGER Abstract:, Three specimens of the small breviconic ellesmeroceratid Paradakeoceras minor Flower, 1964 from the Tremadocian of the New York area preserve the annular elevation and muscle scars in moulds of the body chamber. The annular elevation is positioned at the base of the body chamber and is wider on the convex side of the shell than on the concave side. Multiple paired muscle scars can be seen within this annular elevation. A well-preserved body chamber of the breviconic ellesmeroceratid Levisoceras cf. edwardsi Ulrich, Foerste and Miller is described. Its body chamber shows a strong anterior,posterior asymmetry, which is common within the Ellesmeroceratida. The shape of the body chamber and of the soft body attachment structures has led to a reconstruction of an ellesmeroceratid soft body that is organized like a primitive conchiferan mollusc. Based on this reconstruction, a tryblidian cephalopod ancestor is supported. An evolutionary scenario is reconstructed from an ancestral nautiloid that is stretched along the anterior,posterior axis, and has serially arranged shell muscles and a small mantle cavity, towards a modern cephalopod with a dorsal,ventral body orientation, reduced number of shell muscles and a large mantle cavity. [source] PILONIDAL DISEASE IN SINGAPORE: CLINICAL FEATURES AND MANAGEMENTANZ JOURNAL OF SURGERY, Issue 3 2000H. C. Lee Background: Pilonidal disease has not been well documented in Asian people. The aims of the present study were to investigate any variations in the clinical features and effectiveness of various surgical treatments in such a population. Methods: A prospectively collected computerized database of 61 consecutive patients admitted to a specialist colorectal unit over a 9-year period was studied. The five methods of surgical treatment used during this period (incision and drainage; laying open; marsupialization; primary closure; and the flap procedure) were compared. Results: There were 38 men and 23 women with a mean age of 27 ± 1.02 years. Pilonidal disease was significantly more common among the Indian people (52.5% of patients) than the other ethnic races in the Singaporean community (P < 0.001). Chronic discharging sinuses were the most common presentation (93.4%). There were no differences between the various surgical techniques employed with regard to the time required for wound healing (mean: 48 ± 21 days) and recurrence rates (4/61, 6.6%). Wound dehiscence after primary wound closure (10%) and flap procedures (42%) meant that the overall healing rate was not faster than when the wound was just laid open. Furthermore, flap procedures required a longer hospitalization than other procedures (P = 0.005). Conclusion: Pilonidal disease was more common among Indian people, the more hirsute among the Singaporean population. Primary closure and flap procedure did not improve overall wound healing because of dehiscence. [source] FIXED-FREQUENCY RADIO-WAVE IMAGING OF SUBSURFACE ARCHAEOLOGICAL FEATURES: A MINIMALLY INVASIVE TECHNIQUE FOR STUDYING ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES*ARCHAEOMETRY, Issue 1 2005L. SOMERS In memoriam Tony Clark Sadly, this research marked the last field visit to the test site that the authors were able to share with their colleague Tony Clark. His enthusiasm, experience and encouragement inspired us to complete this project that, to many, must have appeared as grown men at play in a sand pit. A new approach to subsurface exploration has been developed, based on fixed-frequency radio-wave illumination from a buried transmitter. Data are collected from a buried, continuous wave source with a phase-coherent surface-scanning receiver and recorded in a digital archive from which images of the archaeological features are subsequently produced. An important feature of this approach is the opportunity to separate the data collection and archive functions, which form an uncompromised record of the site, from the more subjective image formation function. This paper reports the results of a feasibility assessment programme and discusses the future application of the method to real archaeological sites. [source] SELECTING EFFECTIVE FEATURES AND RELATIONS FOR EFFICIENT MULTI-RELATIONAL CLASSIFICATIONCOMPUTATIONAL INTELLIGENCE, Issue 3 2010Jun He Feature selection is an essential data processing step to remove irrelevant and redundant attributes for shorter learning time, better accuracy, and better comprehensibility. A number of algorithms have been proposed in both data mining and machine learning areas. These algorithms are usually used in a single table environment, where data are stored in one relational table or one flat file. They are not suitable for a multi-relational environment, where data are stored in multiple tables joined to one another by semantic relationships. To address this problem, in this article, we propose a novel approach called,FARS,to conduct both,Feature,And,Relation,Selection for efficient multi-relational classification. Through this approach, we not only extend the traditional feature selection method to select relevant features from multi-relations, but also develop a new method to reconstruct the multi-relational database schema and eliminate irrelevant tables to improve classification performance further. The results of the experiments conducted on both real and synthetic databases show that,FARS,can effectively choose a small set of relevant features, thereby enhancing classification efficiency and prediction accuracy significantly. [source] Resampling Feature and Blend Regions in Polygonal Meshes for Surface Anti-AliasingCOMPUTER GRAPHICS FORUM, Issue 3 2001Mario Botsch Efficient surface reconstruction and reverse engineering techniques are usually based on a polygonal mesh representation of the geometry: the resulting models emerge from piecewise linear interpolation of a set of sample points. The quality of the reconstruction not only depends on the number and density of the sample points but also on their alignment to sharp and rounded features of the original geometry. Bad alignment can lead to severe alias artifacts. In this paper we present a sampling pattern for feature and blend regions which minimizes these alias errors. We show how to improve the quality of a given polygonal mesh model by resampling its feature and blend regions within an interactive framework. We further demonstrate sophisticated modeling operations that can be implemented based on this resampling technique. [source] Outcomes Research/Evidence-Based Medicine: A New FeatureDERMATOLOGIC SURGERY, Issue 6 2003Murad Alam MD No abstract is available for this article. [source] Linking the concept of scale to studies of biological diversity: evolving approaches and toolsDIVERSITY AND DISTRIBUTIONS, Issue 3 2006Erik A. Beever ABSTRACT Although the concepts of scale and biological diversity independently have received rapidly increasing attention in the scientific literature since the 1980s, the rate at which the two concepts have been investigated jointly has grown much more slowly. We find that scale considerations have been incorporated explicitly into six broad areas of investigation related to biological diversity: (1) heterogeneity within and among ecosystems, (2) disturbance ecology, (3) conservation and restoration, (4) invasion biology, (5) importance of temporal scale for understanding processes, and (6) species responses to environmental heterogeneity. In addition to placing the papers of this Special Feature within the context of brief summaries of the expanding literature on these six topics, we provide an overview of tools useful for integrating scale considerations into studies of biological diversity. Such tools include hierarchical and structural-equation modelling, kriging, variable-width buffers, k -fold cross-validation, and cascading graph diagrams, among others. Finally, we address some of the major challenges and research frontiers that remain, and conclude with a look to the future. [source] Towards a predictive understanding of belowground process responses to climate change: have we moved any closer?FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY, Issue 6 2008Elise Pendall Summary 1Belowground processes, including root production and exudation, microbial activity and community dynamics, and biogeochemical cycling interact to help regulate climate change. Feedbacks associated with these processes, such as warming-enhanced decomposition rates, give rise to major uncertainties in predictions of future climate. 2Uncertainties associated with these processes are more likely to be reduced if two key challenges can be met: increasing interdisciplinarity among researchers, and measuring belowground ecosystem structure and function at relevant spatial and temporal scales. For instance, recognizing the relationship between belowground primary production and soil respiration enhances modelling of global-scale C cycle temperature responses. At the opposite end of the spectrum, applying genomic techniques at the scale of microns improves mechanistic understanding of root,microbe interactions. 3Progress has been made in understanding interactions of belowground processes with climate change, although challenges remain. We highlight some of these advances and provide directions for key research needs in this Special Feature of Functional Ecology, which results from a symposium that was convened at the Soil Science Society of America National Meeting in November, 2006. [source] Feature: UNESCO World Heritage and the Joggins cliffs of Nova ScotiaGEOLOGY TODAY, Issue 4 2004Howard J. Falcon-Lang UNESCO World Heritage status is the highest honour that may be bestowed on a palaeontological site. In addition to heightening conservation status, it confers international recognition of a locality's ,outstanding universal value' and often triggers the release of substantial regional development funds. Despite these incentives it is, perhaps, not surprising that only a handful of fossil sites have successfully navigated the World Heritage selection process. In this feature, we draw on our recent experience of developing a World Heritage bid for the Pennsylvanian ,Coal Age' locality of Joggins, Nova Scotia. As well as demonstrating the huge significance of Joggins, we hope that our findings will provide valuable guidelines for the assessment of World Heritage fossil sites in general. [source] Feature: The sedimentary signature of deserts and their response to environmental changeGEOLOGY TODAY, Issue 3 2004Nigel P. Mountney Desert sedimentary systems comprise a variety of related sub-environments including aeolian dunes, intervening interdunes, sandsheets, salt flats, playa lakes, ephemeral fluvial systems and alluvial fans. These are highly sensitive, and undergo subtle but systematic morphological and sedimentary adjustments in response to externally-imposed environmental change. This article presents a dynamic model explaining how desert successions , particularly aeolian dune and interdune environments , are determined both by intrinsic sedimentary behaviour, such as dune migration, and by the imposition of externally-forced changes such as climate change. [source] Feature: Implications of climate change for hazardous ground conditions in the UKGEOLOGY TODAY, Issue 2 2004Alan Forster Many geohazards affect the United Kingdom, both directly and indirectly. As climate might change in the future, it may affect the geohazards that we, and our descendents, will have to face as a consequence of those changes. [source] Mid-Holocene and glacial-maximum vegetation geography of the northern continents and AfricaJOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY, Issue 3 2000I. Colin Prentice Abstract BIOME 6000 is an international project to map vegetation globally at mid-Holocene (6000 14C yr bp) and last glacial maximum (LGM, 18,000 14C yr bp), with a view to evaluating coupled climate-biosphere model results. Primary palaeoecological data are assigned to biomes using an explicit algorithm based on plant functional types. This paper introduces the second Special Feature on BIOME 6000. Site-based global biome maps are shown with data from North America, Eurasia (except South and Southeast Asia) and Africa at both time periods. A map based on surface samples shows the method's skill in reconstructing present-day biomes. Cold and dry conditions at LGM favoured extensive tundra and steppe. These biomes intergraded in northern Eurasia. Northern hemisphere forest biomes were displaced southward. Boreal evergreen forests (taiga) and temperate deciduous forests were fragmented, while European and East Asian steppes were greatly extended. Tropical moist forests (i.e. tropical rain forest and tropical seasonal forest) in Africa were reduced. In south-western North America, desert and steppe were replaced by open conifer woodland, opposite to the general arid trend but consistent with modelled southward displacement of the jet stream. The Arctic forest limit was shifted slighly north at 6000 14C yr bp in some sectors, but not in all. Northern temperate forest zones were generally shifted greater distances north. Warmer winters as well as summers in several regions are required to explain these shifts. Temperate deciduous forests in Europe were greatly extended, into the Mediterranean region as well as to the north. Steppe encroached on forest biomes in interior North America, but not in central Asia. Enhanced monsoons extended forest biomes in China inland and Sahelian vegetation into the Sahara while the African tropical rain forest was also reduced, consistent with a modelled northward shift of the ITCZ and a more seasonal climate in the equatorial zone. Palaeobiome maps show the outcome of separate, independent migrations of plant taxa in response to climate change. The average composition of biomes at LGM was often markedly different from today. Refugia for the temperate deciduous and tropical rain forest biomes may have existed offshore at LGM, but their characteristic taxa also persisted as components of other biomes. Examples include temperate deciduous trees that survived in cool mixed forest in eastern Europe, and tropical evergreen trees that survived in tropical seasonal forest in Africa. The sequence of biome shifts during a glacial-interglacial cycle may help account for some disjunct distributions of plant taxa. For example, the now-arid Saharan mountains may have linked Mediterranean and African tropical montane floras during enhanced monsoon regimes. Major changes in physical land-surface conditions, shown by the palaeobiome data, have implications for the global climate. The data can be used directly to evaluate the output of coupled atmosphere-biosphere models. The data could also be objectively generalized to yield realistic gridded land-surface maps, for use in sensitivity experiments with atmospheric models. Recent analyses of vegetation-climate feedbacks have focused on the hypothesized positive feedback effects of climate-induced vegetation changes in the Sahara/Sahel region and the Arctic during the mid-Holocene. However, a far wider spectrum of interactions potentially exists and could be investigated, using these data, both for 6000 14C yr bp and for the LGM. [source] Transient Global Amnesia as the Presenting Feature of Heparin-Induced ThrombocytopeniaJOURNAL OF CARDIAC SURGERY, Issue 3 2010Chun Huat Teh M.B.Ch.B. Both immunoglobulin G-specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and serotonin release assay were strongly positive for the antibodies that cause heparin-induced thrombocytopenia. The patient's cognitive functions returned to normal following discontinuation of unfractionated heparin and warfarin and commencement of lepirudin infusion.,(J Card Surg 2010;25:300-302) [source] Facilitation in the conceptual melting potJOURNAL OF ECOLOGY, Issue 6 2009Rob W. Brooker Summary 1. Here we present an introduction to this issue's Special Feature arising from the British Ecological Society Symposium: Facilitation in Plant Communities (20,22 April 2009). 2. Papers in the Special Feature demonstrate the benefits that arise from cross-system application of general concepts, for example, the well-known stress gradient hypothesis. Such comparisons challenge our definition of facilitation, as well as our pre-conceptions on the nature of intermediary organisms. 3. We suggest that under some circumstances a clear definition of the two-way nature of interactions is essential, e.g. when considering the evolutionary implications of facilitation. In other cases, however, we can perhaps be more relaxed, e.g. when facilitation is a component of conservation ecology. 4.Synthesis. Overall we believe that establishing facilitation as an independent concept has driven substantial progress towards a clearer understanding of how ecological systems work. Through the links established by work such as that presented in this Special Feature, we believe this field will continue to make rapid progress and aid ecological understanding in general. [source] Atrial Lead Dysfunction: An Unusual Feature of HypothyroidismPACING AND CLINICAL ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY, Issue 12 2008KRISTEN K. PATTON M.D. Hypothyroidism is known to have a multitude of cardiac electrophysiologic effects, including bradycardia, atrioventricular block, prolonged QT interval, and elevated ventricular pacing thresholds. We report the case of a 36-year-old woman who presented with isolated dysfunction of her atrial pacemaker lead, which reversed with thyroid hormone replacement. [source] Impact of Fusion Avoidance on Performance of the Automatic Threshold Tracking Feature in Dual Chamber Pacemakers: A Multicenter Prospective Randomized StudyPACING AND CLINICAL ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY, Issue 11 2002RETO CANDINAS CANDINAS, R., et al.: Impact of Fusion Avoidance on Performance of the Automatic Threshold Tracking Feature in Dual Chamber Pacemakers: A Multicenter Prospective Randomized Study. The Autocapture algorithm enables automatic capture verification on a beat-by-beat basis by recognizing the evoked response signal following each pacemaker stimulus. The algorithm intends to increase patient safety while decreasing energy consumption. However, the occurrence of fusion beats, particularly during dual chamber pacing, may limit the energy saving effect of Autocapture. The aim of this multicenter, prospective, randomized study was to evaluate the impact of the Fusion Avoidance (FA) algorithm on the incidence of fusion beats. Thirty-eight patients (mean age 69 ± 13 years) with intrinsic AV conduction who were implanted with an Affinity DR were studied. After programming a PV/AV delay of 120/190 ms, patients were randomized to FA On or Off. Each group was further randomized with respect to activation of the AutoIntrinsic Conduction Search (AICS) algorithm. The total number of beats, ventricular paced beats, fusion beats, backup pulses, and threshold searches were analyzed from 24-hour Holter recordings. The number of total beats was comparable in both FA groups. The number of total ventricular paced beats, fusion beats, backup pulses, and threshold searches were significantly reduced in the FA On group (% reduction: 68% P < 0.001, 75% P < 0.01, 95% P < 0.01, and 94% P < 0.05, respectively). The number of ventricular paced beats with full capture was significantly reduced when AICS was activated (P < 0.05). In conclusion, the FA algorithm substantially reduces the amount of ventricular paced beats, fusion beats, unnecessary backup pulses and threshold searches, and therefore, provides added benefits in energy saving obtained by Autocapture. [source] Diaper Dermatitis: A New Clinical FeaturePEDIATRIC DERMATOLOGY, Issue 2 2001Margarita Larralde M.D., Ph.D. First page of article [source] Feature: The Integration of Immigrants and their Children in Europe: IntroductionTHE ECONOMIC JOURNAL, Issue 542 2010Alan Manning No abstract is available for this article. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||