196,083 research outputs found

    Longitudinal Study of the Respiratory Function in Preterm Born Children: Comparison Between Subjects with and without Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia

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    Abstract The long-term changes of the respiratory function in patients with broncho-pulmonary dysplasia (BPD) are still largely unknown. Aim: To study longitudinally the lung function of patients with BPD approaching the adulthood, compared with preterm born subjects without BPD (non-BPD). Methods: 23 preterm born subjects with a gestational age of 23 ± 3 weeks and birth weight of 1296 ± 543 gr were studied and divided in two groups, one with BPD (n = 13) and one without BDP (n = 10) according to the Shennan definition and then reclassified following the definition NICHHD (n = 16 BPD and n = 7 non-BPD). Pulmonary function testing was performed at age of 9.2 ± 2.2 yr (T1) and 15.2 ± 2.3 yr (T2). The two groups were compared both at T1 and T2 and changes from T1 and T2 were assessed in both groups. Results: The functional parameters of the non-BPD subjects were in the normal range at T1, except FEF25-75% that, however, showed a tendency towards the normality at T2. The BPD patients had mild airflow obstruction, mainly localized in the small airways, with marked air trapping at T1. A significant improvement of lung volumes and maximal expiratory flows was observed at T2. Conclusions: The presence of BPD was associated with an obstructive ventilatory defect at age 9, substantially involving the peripheral airways that still persisted at age 15, although with a lesser degree of severity

    Observing crustal deformation and atmospheric signals from COSMO-SKYMED and GPS data

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    The combined use of InSAR and GPS allows for the full exploitation of the complementary aspects of the two techniques by overcoming the limitations inherent in the use of each technique alone. Additionally, GPS-based estimates of tropospheric delays may contribute in obtaining better corrections of the wet tropospheric path delay in InSAR signals. This will enhance the coherence and will allow the application of InSAR in a wider range of applications. We have compared the InSAR and GPS data at Bologna (urbanized area) and Medicina (agricultural area), in northeastern Italy, where two permanent GPS stations of the University of Bologna are operational since mid 1999 and 1996 respectively. The InSAR data used are the COSMO-SkyMed (CSK) images made available by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) in the framework of the research contract AO-1140. The Permanent Scatterers (PS) technique was applied to a number of repeated CSK strip map SAR images acquired over a 40x40 square km area encompassing the two towns mentioned above. The results of this work demonstrate on the one hand the CSK capabilities to operate in a repeated interferometric survey mode for measuring ground deformation with millimeter accuracy in different environments. On the other, the comparison of the differential height between the two stations derived with the GPS and the InSAR data, using both acquisition geometries, is satisfactory. Elevation, ground deformation and atmospheric artifacts were estimated in correspondence of the identified PS and compared with the GPS measurements carried out at the same acquisition time by the permanent stations at Bologna and Medicina. The comparison of the differential height between the two stations shows the sensitivity of the GPS height solution to the length of the observation interval. The vertical dispersion achieved by GPS is higher than that achieved by PS InSAR, as expected; however, a similar linear trend appears in the results of both techniques. The comparison of differential tropospheric delays has been carried out. Two GPS solutions derived with different session length and data acquisition rate were considered. The InSAR results were those relevant to two PS located at a very close distance from the GPS stations. These are representative of the majority of PSs identified around the two stations. A similar behavior is present in the results achieved by both GPS and PS-InSAR techniques, despite of expected differences due to the almost instantaneous nature of the PS-InSAR estimates compared to the GPS 5-min averaged results

    A novel method to detect differences in start behavioural conditions of anterior reaching activity

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    Introduction: Anticipatory postural adjustments (APA) are unconscious activities that precede voluntary movements and actively contribute to them. Previous studies have underlined the differences in APAs under different start behavioural conditions[1,2]; all these results have been obtained even without a defined method to differentiate between APA and focal movement[3–6]. Our aim is to detect differences in APAs under different behavioural conditions with a novel method to distinguish the onset of voluntary movement. Methods: We obtained informed consent and evaluated 9 healthy subjects (age 22±2; gender 5 females). Subjects were standing and performed a standing anterior reaching of a cylinder at 117 cm of height from the ground and at the 100% of the arm length. The subjects performed 3 repetitions of the movement for each of the two behavioural conditions: a reaction-time start (external trigger), and a self-placed start (free start). The behavioural conditions were randomly given to the subjects. We used a BTS SMART-DX400 (with 8 cameras, 28 markers[3] and 1 on the cylinder) and a BTS FREEEMG 300, with 8 channels measuring bilaterally: tibialis anterior, biceps femori, rectus of the abdomen and lumbar paravertebral muscles. The voluntary movement onset is defined as the moment in which the hand moves for the last time towards the object, according to the evaluation of the displacement of the markers on hand and object. Data analysis was performed in MATLAB environment. For the statistical analysis, we verified the null hypothesis of samples drawn from a normally distributed population, we compared the variance with the Flinger-Killen test. Results: The results are shown in table 1

    Dr. Duane M. Jackson, Morehouse College, July 2011

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    This video is a conversation with Dr. Duane M. Jackson. Dr. Jackson talks about his paper, "Recall and the Serial Position Effect: The Role of Primacy and Recency on Accounting Students' Performance." Jackie Daniel, AUC Woodruff Library, is the interviewer

    "Reflections on the subject of Emigration from Europe with a view to Settlement in the United States" By M. Carey.

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    "Reflections on the subject of Emigration from Europe with a view to Settlement in the United States: containing bried sketches of the moral and political character of those states. By M. Carey, member of the American philosophical, and of the American Antiquarian Society, and author of The Olive Branch, Cindiciae Hibernicae, essays on banking, on political economy, and on internal improvement. To which are now added the English editor's comments on the subject; together with Important Advice to Emigrants, and Cautions Against Impositions Practiced in the Outports
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