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Distribution by Scientific Domains
Medical Sciences42%

Selected Abstracts

De Vetula: a Medieval Manuscript Containing Probability Calculations

INTERNATIONAL STATISTICAL REVIEW, Issue 2 2000
D.R. Bellhouse
Summary De Vetula, a poem that contains probability calculations on the throw of three dice, was written in the mid-thirteenth century. The poem was widely circulated, read and quoted. There is strong evidence that some of the medieval readers clearly understood how the probability calculations were obtained. Based on the discussion given here, it is put forward that an elementary probability calculus was established and known in Europe from about the year 1250. A translation of the relevant section of the poem is given. [source]

Visualization of active devices and automatic slice repositioning ("SnapTo") for MRI-guided interventions

MAGNETIC RESONANCE IN MEDICINE, Issue 4 2010
Ashvin K. George
Abstract The accurate visualization of interventional devices is crucial for the safety and effectiveness of MRI-guided interventional procedures. In this paper, we introduce an improvement to the visualization of active devices. The key component is a fast, robust method ("CurveFind") that reconstructs the three-dimensional trajectory of the device from projection images in a fraction of a second. CurveFind is an iterative prediction-correction algorithm that acts on a product of orthogonal projection images. By varying step size and search direction, it is robust to signal inhomogeneities. At the touch of a key, the imaged slice is repositioned to contain the relevant section of the device ("SnapTo"), the curve of the device is plotted in a three-dimensional display, and the point on a target slice, which the device will intersect, is displayed. These features have been incorporated into a real-time MRI system. Experiments in vitro and in vivo (in a pig) have produced successful results using a variety of single- and multichannel devices designed to produce both spatially continuous and discrete signals. CurveFind is typically able to reconstruct the device curve, with an average error of approximately 2 mm, even in the case of complex geometries. Magn Reson Med 63:1070,1079, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

The trouble with drink: why ideas matter

ADDICTION, Issue 5 2010
Griffith Edwards
ABSTRACT This paper builds upon the work of previous authors who have explored the evolution of ideas in the alcohol arena. With revisions in the relevant sections of ICD and DSM forthcoming, such matters are of considerable contemporary importance. The focus here will be upon the history of the last 200 years. The main themes to be explored include the flux of ideas on what, over time, has counted as the trouble with drink, ideas on the cause of the problem and the impact of this thinking on public action. Medical authorities of the late Enlightenment period made the revolutionary suggestion that habitual drunkenness constituted a disease, rather than a vice. The thread of that idea can be traced to the present day, but with an alternative perception of drink itself or alcohol-related problems generally, as cause for concern, also having a lineage. There are several inferences to be drawn from this history: the need for vigilance lest disease formulations become stalking-horses for moralism and social control, the need to integrate awareness of alcohol dependence as a dimensional individual-level problem, with a public health understanding of the vastly amorphous and at least equally important universe of alcohol-related problems; the dangers lurking in scientific reductionism when the problems at issue truly require a multi-disciplinary analysis; and the need for global consensus rather than cultural imposition of ideas on what counts as the problem with drink. [source]

What are the Categories in Sein und Zeit?

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY, Issue 2 2007
Brandom on Heidegger on Zuhandenheit
In his essay, ,Heidegger's Categories in Sein und Zeit', Robert Brandom argues that Heidegger, particularly in the notion of Zuhandenheit, anticipates his own normatively pragmatist conception of intentionality. He attempts to demonstrate this by marshalling short passages from right across the relevant sections of Sein und Zeit in such a way that they do seem to say what Brandom claims. But does one reach the same conclusion when one examines, more or less in sentence-by-sentence fashion, the large slab of text in which Heidegger introduces the notion of Zuhandenheit? I believe not. First, however, let us look at how Brandom reads Heidegger, in particular, how he interprets the notion of Zuhandenheit, which, in contrast both to Macquarrie and Robinson and to Brandom, I shall translate as ready-to-handedness.1 [source]

Popitam: Towards new heuristic strategies to improve protein identification from tandem mass spectrometry data

PROTEINS: STRUCTURE, FUNCTION AND BIOINFORMATICS, Issue 6 2003
Patricia Hernandez
Abstract In recent years, proteomics research has gained importance due to increasingly powerful techniques in protein purification, mass spectrometry and identification, and due to the development of extensive protein and DNA databases from various organisms. Nevertheless, current identification methods from spectrometric data have difficulties in handling modifications or mutations in the source peptide. Moreover, they have low performance when run on large databases (such as genomic databases), or with low quality data, for example due to bad calibration or low fragmentation of the source peptide. We present a new algorithm dedicated to automated protein identification from tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) data by searching a peptide sequence database. Our identification approach shows promising properties for solving the specific difficulties enumerated above. It consists of matching theoretical peptide sequences issued from a database with a structured representation of the source MS/MS spectrum. The representation is similar to the spectrum graphs commonly used by de novo sequencing software. The identification process involves the parsing of the graph in order to emphazise relevant sections for each theoretical sequence, and leads to a list of peptides ranked by a correlation score. The parsing of the graph, which can be a highly combinatorial task, is performed by a bio-inspired algorithm called Ant Colony Optimization algorithm. [source]

You be the examiner!

BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY EDUCATION, Issue 6 2007
"Model answers" that require critical thinking
Abstract "You be the examiner!" is an online approach to providing students with immediate, readily accessible, and nonthreatening feedback on their understanding of key biochemical concepts. The feedback aims to affirm correct understanding and, where further study appears necessary, direct the student to the relevant sections of their textbook and/or lecturer-provided study notes. Rather than providing model answers to previous examination questions, "You be the examiner" asks the students to evaluate typical "student" answers to such questions. Instead of a single "correct" answer, students encounter a range of answers that they must assess for accuracy and appropriateness. [source]

Recording previous adverse drug reactions,a gap in the system

BRITISH JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY, Issue 6 2001
Gillian M. Shenfield
Aims, To measure the accuracy of recording of previous adverse drug reaction (ADR) history in patients admitted to a teaching hospital before and after an education programme. Methods, One month survey of patients on one medical and one surgical ward, repeated after a 1 month education programme. Patients answered a questionnaire about previous ADRs and this information was compared with that in all relevant sections of their medical records and medication charts. Results, Of 117 patients at baseline, 50 had a total of 81 previous ADRs. Only 75% were recorded on medication charts and 57% and 64%, respectively, in medical and nursing notes. In the post education survey of 124 patients, 56 had 105 previous ADRs, 85% were recorded on medication charts and 64% and 70% in medical and nursing records. These differences were not significant. Serious ADRs were also poorly recorded at baseline but, due to intervention by ward pharmacists, their recording on medication charts improved significantly after education. Pharmacists also significantly improved the quality of description of previous ADRs in both parts of the study. Conclusions, Previous ADR history obtainable from hospital patients is poorly recorded in medical records and an intensive education programme only produced a significant change in recording by ward pharmacists. Better strategies are needed to improve this essential aspect of history taking. [source]