The feasibility of ideography as an empirical question for a science representational systems design.

The possibility of ideography is an empirical question. Prior examples of graphic codes do not provide compelling evidence for the infeasibility of ideography, because they fail to satisfy essential cognitive requirements that have only recently been revealed by studies of representational systems in cognitive science. Design criteria derived from cognitive principles suggest how effective graphic codes may be engineered.

Differential effects of protein intake versus intake of a defined oligopeptide on FGF-21 in obese human subjects in vivo.

BACKGROUND: FGF-21 is described as a powerful metabolic regulator with beneficial effects including glucose-lowering and improvement of insulin sensitivity without hypoglycaemia. On the other hand, FGF-21 is activated when muscle and other tissues are stressed by external effects or internal cellular pathogens that lead to shortcomings in metabolic balance. Previous results suggested that FGF-21 could be a promising target to develop future metabolic therapeutics. PURPOSE: The present study was performed to gain deeper insight into the regulation of FGF-21 by protein metabolism in obese human subjects. METHODS: FGF-21 serum concentrations were measured in a cohort of n = 246 obese humans ± type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) (median age 53.0 [46.0; 60.0] years and BMI 40.43 [35.11; 47.24] kg/m2) and related to the nutritional protein intake. In addition, the effect of a novel oligopeptide purified from a ß-casein hydrolysate on FGF-21 was examined in vitro in liver cells and in vivo in a human intervention study with the main focus on metabolic inflammation including 40 mainly obese subjects (mean age 41.08 ± 9.76 years, mean BMI 38.29 ± 9.4 kg/m2) in a randomized 20 weeks double-blind cross-over design. MAIN FINDINGS: In the cohort analysis, FGF-21 serum concentrations were significant lower with higher protein intake in obese subjects without T2DM but not in obese subjects with T2DM. Furthermore, relative methionine intake was inversely related to FGF-21. While global protein intake in obesity was inversely associated with FGF-21, incubation of HepG2 cells with a ß-casein oligopeptide increased FGF-21 expression in vitro. This stimulatory effect was also present in vivo, since in the clinical intervention study treatment of obese subjects with the ß-casein oligopeptide for 8 weeks significantly increased FGF-21 serum levels from W0 = 23.86 pg/mL to W8 = 30.54 pg/mL (p < 0.001), while no increase was found for placebo. CONCLUSION: While the total nutritional protein intake is inversely associated with FGF-21 serum levels, a purified and well characterised oligopeptide is able to induce FGF-21 serum levels in humans. These findings suggest a differential role of various components of protein metabolism on FGF-21, rather than this factor being solely a sensor of total nutritional protein intake.

Multi-touch Interaction Data Analysis System (MIDAS) for 2-D tactile display research.

The study of haptic perception and cognition requires data about how humans interact with tactile surfaces in the context of performing cognitive tasks. MIDAS is a set of three tools for the digital capture, coding, analysis, and interpretation of time-series, multitouch, interactive behaviors on a tactile surface. The MIDAS-logger uses the current screen technology of tablet computers to capture touches (up to ten fingers at high spatial and temporal resolution) through conventional tactile graphics that are overlaid on the screen. The MIDAS-analyser is a software program for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of MIDAS-logger touch data, which includes a fully interactive visualization of the data and a yoked display of a conventional simultaneous video recording made of the interactions. MIDAS-tactile protocol analysis (TPA) provides a scheme and a method to enable the rich coding and interpretation of tactile behaviors over multiple spatial and temporal scales. The efficacy of MIDAS was assessed against a set of criteria drawn from the successes and limitations of prior approaches to the study of tactile interactions. To demonstrate the functions of MIDAS, its three components were used to capture, analyze, code, and interpret the behavior of an experienced user and an inexperienced user of tactile graphics as they performed a shape-matching task.

Validating fatty acid intake as estimated by an FFQ: how does the 24 h recall perform as reference method compared with the duplicate portion?

OBJECTIVE: To compare the performance of the commonly used 24 h recall (24hR) with the more distinct duplicate portion (DP) as reference method for validation of fatty acid intake estimated with an FFQ. DESIGN: Intakes of SFA, MUFA, n-3 fatty acids and linoleic acid (LA) were estimated by chemical analysis of two DP and by on average five 24hR and two FFQ. Plasma n-3 fatty acids and LA were used to objectively compare ranking of individuals based on DP and 24hR. Multivariate measurement error models were used to estimate validity coefficients and attenuation factors for the FFQ with the DP and 24hR as reference methods. SETTING: Wageningen, the Netherlands. SUBJECTS: Ninety-two men and 106 women (aged 20-70 years). RESULTS: Validity coefficients for the fatty acid estimates by the FFQ tended to be lower when using the DP as reference method compared with the 24hR. Attenuation factors for the FFQ tended to be slightly higher based on the DP than those based on the 24hR as reference method. Furthermore, when using plasma fatty acids as reference, the DP showed comparable to slightly better ranking of participants according to their intake of n-3 fatty acids (0·33) and n-3:LA (0·34) than the 24hR (0·22 and 0·24, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The 24hR gives only slightly different results compared with the distinctive but less feasible DP, therefore use of the 24hR seems appropriate as the reference method for FFQ validation of fatty acid intake.

Combinations of Simple Mechanisms Explain Diverse Strategies in the Freehand Writing of Memorized Sentences.

Individual differences in the strategies that control sequential behavior were investigated in an experiment in which participants memorized sentences and then wrote them by hand, in a non-cursive style. Thirty-two participants each wrote eight sentences, which had hierarchical structures with five levels. The dataset included over 31,000 letters. Despite the deliberately constrained nature of the task and stimuli, 23 patterns of behavior were identified from the durations of pauses that occurred before the inscription of letters at four chunk levels, spanning letters, words, phrases, and sentences. A critical path task analytic model, Graphical Production of Memorized Sentences (GPoMS), shows that the control of writing relies on cues that continuously switch between motor actions and chunk retrievals in a just-in-time fashion at the level of letter information. GPoMS explains the individual differences in terms of variants of a motor production mechanism and variants of a chunk retrieval mechanism, which involve varying degrees of parallelism between cognitive actions and motor actions. A graphical technique for constructing GPoMS models was developed that enabled the estimation of ongoing working memory demands during production.

BMI was found to be a consistent determinant related to misreporting of energy, protein and potassium intake using self-report and duplicate portion methods.

OBJECTIVE: As misreporting, mostly under-reporting, of dietary intake is a generally known problem in nutritional research, we aimed to analyse the association between selected determinants and the extent of misreporting by the duplicate portion method (DP), 24 h recall (24hR) and FFQ by linear regression analysis using the biomarker values as unbiased estimates. DESIGN: For each individual, two DP, two 24hR, two FFQ and two 24 h urinary biomarkers were collected within 1·5 years. Also, for sixty-nine individuals one or two doubly labelled water measurements were obtained. The associations of basic determinants (BMI, gender, age and level of education) with misreporting of energy, protein and K intake of the DP, 24hR and FFQ were evaluated using linear regression analysis. Additionally, associations between other determinants, such as physical activity and smoking habits, and misreporting were investigated. SETTING: The Netherlands. SUBJECTS: One hundred and ninety-seven individuals aged 20-70 years. RESULTS: Higher BMI was associated with under-reporting of dietary intake assessed by the different dietary assessment methods for energy, protein and K, except for K by DP. Men tended to under-report protein by the DP, FFQ and 24hR, and persons of older age under-reported K but only by the 24hR and FFQ. When adjusted for the basic determinants, the other determinants did not show a consistent association with misreporting of energy or nutrients and by the different dietary assessment methods. CONCLUSIONS: As BMI was the only consistent determinant of misreporting, we conclude that BMI should always be taken into account when assessing and correcting dietary intake.

Dietary epicatechin intake and 25-y risk of cardiovascular mortality: the Zutphen Elderly Study.

BACKGROUND: Prospective cohort studies have shown that the consumption of cocoa and tea is associated with lower risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), and cocoa and tea have been shown to improve CVD risk factors in randomized controlled trials. Cocoa and tea are major dietary sources of the flavan-3-ol epicatechin. OBJECTIVE: We investigated the associations of dietary epicatechin intake with 25-y CVD mortality in elderly Dutch men. DESIGN: We used data from the Zutphen Elderly Study, which was a prospective cohort study of 774 men aged 65-84 y in 1985. Epicatechin intake was estimated 4 times in 15 y with the use of the crosscheck dietary history method. Time-dependent Cox proportional hazards models were used to investigate repeated measures of epicatechin intake in relation to 25-y CVD mortality. RESULTS: Mean intake of epicatechin was 15.2 ± 7.7 mg/d, and the major dietary sources were tea (51%), apples (28%), and cocoa (7%). During 25 y of follow-up, 329 men died from CVD, 148 died from coronary heart disease (CHD), and 72 men died from stroke. Risk of CHD mortality was 38% lower in men in the top tertile of epicatechin intake than in men in the bottom tertile of epicatechin intake (HR: 0.62; 95% CI: 0.39, 0.98). Epicatechin intake was also significantly associated with 46% lower risk of CVD mortality in men with prevalent CVD (HR: 0.54; 95% CI: 0.31, 0.96) but not in men who were free of CVD. CONCLUSIONS: We show, for the first time to our knowledge, that epicatechin intake is inversely related to CHD mortality in elderly men and to CVD mortality in prevalent cases of CVD. More studies are needed before conclusions can be drawn.

Probably good diagrams for learning: representational epistemic recodification of probability theory.

The representational epistemic approach to the design of visual displays and notation systems advocates encoding the fundamental conceptual structure of a knowledge domain directly in the structure of a representational system. It is claimed that representations so designed will benefit from greater semantic transparency, which enhances comprehension and ease of learning, and plastic generativity, which makes the meaningful manipulation of the representation easier and less error prone. Epistemic principles for encoding fundamental conceptual structures directly in representational schemes are described. The diagrammatic recodification of probability theory is undertaken to demonstrate how the fundamental conceptual structure of a knowledge domain can be analyzed, how the identified conceptual structure may be encoded in a representational system, and the cognitive benefits that follow. An experiment shows the new probability space diagrams are superior to the conventional approach for learning this conceptually challenging topic.

Erythroderma - A retrospective study with special emphasis on good prognosis

Background Erythroderma is a serious condition in itself, quite apart from hazards associated with the underlying disease, and is sometimes fatal. Prognostic studies are rare in the literature and to date there are no published studies to identify the factors that can determine good prognosis. Objectives The aim of the study is to determine the factors that can prognosticate the good outcome of erythroderma. Methodology Cross sectional study from patients diagnosed to have erythroderma between 2003 and 2007 were analyzed with regard to age, sex, race, underlying medical illness, aetiology, duration of rash before diagnosis of erythroderma, response to topical therapy and prognosis. Results Four variables (aetiology, gender, duration of rash before being diagnosed as erythroderma and response to topical therapy) were associated with good prognosis. These variables were statistically significant from univariate analysis. When these variables were included into the binary logistic model, the study did not have enough evidence to proof that ‘aetiology’ and ‘gender’ can determine good prognosis. Response to topical therapy and shorter duration of rash (equal and less than 120 days) were significant with odds ratio (CI) of 4.11 (1.556, 10.885) and 4.608 (1.903, 11.155) respectively. Conclusion Shorter duration of rash and response to topical therapy are important factors to determine a good prognosis.

Patch testing with different allergen series: Retrospective study from Selayang Hospital,Malaysia

Background: Majority of the hospitals in Malaysia have limited allergen series for patch testing. Since January 2011, Department of Dermatology in Selayang Hospital has extended its number of allergen series available for testing. Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether other series besides the European baseline series (EBS) deserve to be tested on suspected patient with contact dermatitis. Methods: Patch test results of patients visiting Dermatology clinic in Selayang Hospital from January 2001 to June 2011 were reviewed retrospectively. Results: Out of 129 patients who were patch tested, 98 (76%) patients had positive patch test, 30 (23.3%) patients had negative patch test and 1 (0.7%) patient had ‘Angry back’ reaction. The most commonly positive allergens were Nickel sulfate 45 (34.9%), Cobalt chloride 21 (16.3%), Potassium dichromate 15 (11.6%) and Balsam Peru 15 (11.6%). None of the patient had positive patch test to Mercaptobenzothiazole, Sesquiterpene lactone mix, Fragrance mix II and Lyral in the (EBS). The number of patient that will be missed if certain series are not tested were Textile Colours & Finish (TF) (n=4/7, 57.1%), Plastic & Glues (PG) (n=4/19, 21.1%), Hairdressing (n=1/5, 20%), Cosmetic (n=2/12, 16.7%), Rubber Additives (n=12/77, 15.6%), Medicament (n=1/9, 11.1%), Plant (n=0/5, 0%), Cutaneous Adverse Drug Reaction (n=0/3, 0%) and Leg Ulcer (n=0/1, 0%). Conclusion: The absence of positive patch test to Mercaptobenzothiazole, Sesquiterpene lactone mix, Fragrance mix II and Lyral does not support inclusion in the EBS in our region. Additional series especially TF and PG are important series to be tested in suspected patient.

Vocal tract articulation in zebra finches.

BACKGROUND: Birdsong and human vocal communication are both complex behaviours which show striking similarities mainly thought to be present in the area of development and learning. Recent studies, however, suggest that there are also parallels in vocal production mechanisms. While it has been long thought that vocal tract filtering, as it occurs in human speech, only plays a minor role in birdsong there is an increasing number of studies indicating the presence of sound filtering mechanisms in bird vocalizations as well. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Correlating high-speed X-ray cinematographic imaging of singing zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) to song structures we identified beak gape and the expansion of the oropharyngeal-esophageal cavity (OEC) as potential articulators. We subsequently manipulated both structures in an experiment in which we played sound through the vocal tract of dead birds. Comparing acoustic input with acoustic output showed that OEC expansion causes an energy shift towards lower frequencies and an amplitude increase whereas a wide beak gape emphasizes frequencies around 5 kilohertz and above. CONCLUSION: These findings confirm that birds can modulate their song by using vocal tract filtering and demonstrate how OEC and beak gape contribute to this modulation.

Topical application of cerium nitrate prevents burn edema after burn plasma transfer.

Thermal injuries of more than 20% body surface area (BSA) result in systemic capillary leakage with subsequent edema. This can similarly be induced by burn plasma transfer (BPT) from burned individuals to healthy rats. We evaluated if cerium nitrate (CN) bathing can prevent edema after BPT. Therefore, donor rats (DR) underwent thermal injury (100 degrees C water, 30%BSA, 12 s) for positive controls and were additionally bathed in CN (0.05M, at 10 and 120 min) for study groups. For negative controls DR underwent shamburn (37 degrees C water, 30%BSA, 12 s). DR-plasma (harvested 4 h post trauma) was transferred to healthy individuals. Intravital microscopy was performed in mesenteric venules (0/60/120 min). Edema was assessed by FITC-albumin extravasation. Additionally, leukocyte sticking (cells/mm(2)) and micro hemodynamic parameters were assessed. Significant systemic capillary leakage was observed after BPT at 120 min. Edema formation was significantly lower in negative controls. Topical CN application after 10 and 120 min reduced FITC-efflux to baseline levels. Adherent leukocytes increased slightly in all groups. Leukocyte-sticking tended to be reduced after CN bathing. In conclusion, BPT induces burn edema in healthy individuals. CN bathing after 10 and 120 min reduces mediator levels in burned individuals. Therefore, BPT after CN application does not induce burn shock anymore. Burn edema is partially independent from leukocyte activation because CN significantly influences macromolecular leakage whereas leukocyte activation is not significantly altered.

A three-dimensional kinematic analysis of tongue flicking in Python molurus.

The forked snake tongue is a muscular organ without hard skeletal support. A functional interpretation of the variable arrangement of the intrinsic muscles along the tongue requires a quantitative analysis of the motion performance during tongue protrusion and flicking. Therefore, high-speed fluoroscopy and high-speed stereo photogrammetry were used to analyse the three-dimensional shape changes of the tongue in Python molurus bivittatus (Boidae). The posterior protruding part of the tongue elongated up to 130% while the flicking anterior portion elongated maximally 60%. The differences in tongue strains relate to the absence or presence, respectively, of longitudinal muscle fibres in the peripheral tongue. Maximum overall protrusion velocity (4.3 m s(-1)) occurred initially when the tongue tip left the mouth. Maximum tongue length of approximately 0.01 body length (20 mm) was reached during the first tongue flick. These observations are discussed within the scope of the biomechanical constraints of hydrostatic tongue protrusion: a negative forward pressure gradient, longitudinal tongue compliance and axial tongue stiffness. The three-dimensional deformation varied along the tongue with a mean curvature of 0.06 mm(-1) and a maximum value of 0.5 mm(-1). At the basis of the anterior forked portion of the tongue tips, extreme curvatures up to 2.0 mm(-1) were observed. These quantitative results support previously proposed inferences about a hydrostatic elongation mechanism and may serve to evaluate future dynamic models of tongue flicking.

Arthroscopically assisted osteosynthesis for tibial plateau fractures.

BACKGROUND: Options for management of tibial plateau fracture are numerous, and the outcome depends on several factors. With the inherent advantages of arthroscopy, the results of tibial plateau fracture have been greatly improved. METHODS: Thirty-one patients were treated with arthroscopically assisted reduction for tibial plateau fracture, with an average follow-up period of 3 years. Evaluations were performed with the Hospital for Special Surgery knee score clinically, and with the Ahlbäck scale for osteoarthritis radiographically. RESULTS: Eighty percent of cases were Schatzker type II, III, or IV, and over half (52%) of the patients had concomitant intra-articular lesions. Twenty-nine patients (93.5%) had satisfactory results according to the Hospital for Special Surgery knee score, and only one patient developed degenerative arthritis during the period of follow-up. CONCLUSION: The arthroscopically assisted reduction of tibial plateau fracture is a safe and promising procedure. The results are comparable to traditional methods of open reduction.

Digital video combined with conventional radiography creates an excellent high-speed X-ray video system.

Analysing rapid internal movement in animals requires high-speed X-ray imaging to visualise motion of bony and soft body structures. The frame rate of X-ray cinematic camera is limited to 200 frames s(-1) with a shutter speed of 1/3000s, due to the low X-ray kV, required for small animals. These rates are often too slow for analysing the rapid accelerations of which small animals are capable. Here, we present three alternative digital-video systems that can be combined with a conventional X-ray intensifier to yield excellent slow-motion images of internal body parts of small animals. Each system shows high performance for different requirements of radiographic motion analysis.