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Several Teams (several + team)
Selected AbstractsReview of the functional surgical treatment of dystoniaEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY, Issue 5 2001Paul Krack A review of functional surgery for dystonia is presented. Recently renewed interest in stereotaxy for dystonia has followed the resurgence of pallidotomy and the introduction of deep brain stimulation (DBS) in Parkinson's disease (PD) in the early 1990s. However, even since the 1950s, small series of patients treated with ablative surgery have been carefully studied, providing useful information, notably regarding the tolerability of surgery. In the setting of dystonia, thalamotomy was first performed with substantial benefits, but some authors outlined the great variability in outcome, and the high incidence of operative side-effects. In the ,modern' era of functional surgery for movement disorders, the globus pallidus internus (GPi) has emerged to be currently the best target for dystonia, based on small series of patients published in the last few years. Both bilateral posteroventral pallidotomy (PVP) and bilateral pallidal stimulation, performed by several teams, have benefited a variety of patients with severe dystonia, the most dramatic improvements being seen in primary dystonia with a mutation in the DYT1 gene. Whereas patients with secondary dystonia have often shown a lesser degree of improvement, some publications have nevertheless reported major benefit. There is today a strong need for carefully controlled studies comparing secondary and primary dystonia, DYT1 and non-DYT1 dystonia, ablative surgery and DBS, with additional assessment of neuropsychological changes, especially in children treated with bilateral pallidal procedures. [source] The DARPA LAGR program: Goals, challenges, methodology, and phase I resultsJOURNAL OF FIELD ROBOTICS (FORMERLY JOURNAL OF ROBOTIC SYSTEMS), Issue 11-12 2006L. D. Jackel The DARPA Learning Applied to Ground Vehicles (LAGR) program is accelerating progress in autonomous, perception-based, off-road navigation in unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) by incorporating learned behaviors. In addition, the program is using passive optical systems to accomplish long-range scene analysis. By combining long-range perception with learned behavior, LAGR expects to make a qualitative break with the myopic, brittle behavior that characterizes most UGV autonomous navigation in unstructured environments. The very nature of testing navigation in unstructured, off-road environments makes accurate, objective measurement of progress a challenging task. While no absolute measure of performance has been defined by LAGR, the Government Team managing the program has created a relative measure: the Government Team tests navigation software by comparing its effectiveness to that of fixed, but state-of-the-art, navigation software running on a standardized vehicle on a series of varied test courses. Starting in March 2005, eight performers have been submitting navigation code for Government testing on such a standardized Government vehicle. As this text is being written, several teams have already demonstrated leaps in performance. In this paper we report observations on the state of the art in autonomous, off-road UGV navigation, we explain how LAGR intends to change current methods, we discuss the challenges we face in implementing technical aspects of the program, we describe early results, and we suggest where major opportunities for breakthroughs exist as LAGR progresses. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] The Ghrelin/Obestatin Balance in the Physiological and Pathological Control of Growth Hormone Secretion, Body Composition and Food IntakeJOURNAL OF NEUROENDOCRINOLOGY, Issue 7 2010R. Hassouna Ghrelin and obestatin are two gastrointestinal peptides obtained by post-translational processing of a common precursor, preproghrelin. Ghrelin is an orexigenic and adipogenic peptide and a potent growth hormone secretagogue (GHS) modified by the enzyme ghrelin- O -acyl-transferase to bind and activate its receptor, the GHS-R. The ghrelin/GHS-R pathway is complex and the effects of ghrelin on GH secretion, adiposity and food intake appear to be relayed by distinct mechanisms involving different transduction signals and constitutive activity for the GH-R, different cofactors as modulators of endogenous ghrelin signalling and/or alternative ghrelin receptors. The discovery of obestatin in 2005 brought an additional level of complexity to this fascinating system. Obestatin was initially identified as an anorexigenic peptide and as the cognate ligand for GPR39, but its effect on food intake and its ability to activate GPR39 are still controversial. Although several teams failed to reproduce the anorexigenic actions of obestatin, this peptide has been shown to antagonise GH secretion and food intake induced by ghrelin and could be an interesting pharmacological tool to counteract the actions of ghrelin. Ghrelin and obestatin immunoreactivities are recovered in the blood with an ultradian pulsatility and their concentrations in plasma vary with the nutritional status of the body. It is still a matter of debate whether both hormones are regulated by independent mechanisms and whether obestatin is a physiologically relevant peptide. Nevertheless, a significant number of studies show that the ghrelin/obestatin ratio is modified in anorexia nervosa and obesity. This suggests that the ghrelin/obestatin balance could be essential to adapt the body's response to nutritional challenges. Although measuring ghrelin and obestatin in plasma is challenging because many forms of the peptides circulate, more sensitive and selective assays to detect the different preproghrelin-derived peptides are being developed and may be the key to obtaining a better understanding of their roles in different physiological and pathological conditions. [source] Social norms, coordination and collaboration in heterogeneous teamsMANAGERIAL AND DECISION ECONOMICS, Issue 7 2008Marilyne Antonetti This paper considers the coordinating role of social norms in a heterogeneous team of workers. We define an optimal unit of production as a form of organisation involving several teams and members, with the following properties: (i) a social norm operating to coordinate individual efforts; (ii) a team with heterogeneous skills, enabling generation of synergies. Our model suggests that competences of the best worker are transferred to his or her peers. This collaborative process enhances team efficiency but only if there is an implicit ex ante coordinating device based on social norms that discourage free riding. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The celebrated écorchés of honoré Fragonard, part 2: The details of the technique used by FragonardCLINICAL ANATOMY, Issue 3 2010Christophe Degueurce Abstract It is remarkable that the famous écorchés of Honoré Fragonard have survived the centuries to reach us today. Studies carried out by several teams have established details of the technique used by Fragonard that help to explain their longevity. The injection of the vessels was achieved by means of a mixture of mutton tallow and pine resin diluted in essence of turpentine and essential oils. This gave Fragonard a very high success rate. Above all, he did not add pigments to his mixture while injecting the veins, and this facilitated the procedure. The vessels were painted after preservation to give them the vivid colors that we can still see today. Another detail that explains their exceptional conservation is that the varnish used by Fragonard was composed of Venice turpentine, made from larch resin and known to repel insects. Clin. Anat. 23:258,264, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] | ||||||||||