bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Early discharge from a neonatal intensive care unit and rates of readmission
Authors: Seki Kazuo , Iwasaki Shiho , An Hiromi , Horiguchi Haruko , Mori Masaaki , Nishimaki Shigeru , Yokota Shumpei 
Published: June 2010

AbstractBackground:  Increasing admissions to neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) demand early discharge from the units. Our hospital aims to early discharge patients who meet the following requirements: they are able to regulate body temperature; neither apnea nor bradycardia is observed; and bodyweight increases with lactation. We studied the real state of this strategy.Methods:  We looked at postmenstrual age, bodyweight, complication at the time of discharge and the readmission rate in 609 patients with gestational age of less than 34 weeks, who were discharged from our NICU between January 2000 and March 2008.Results:  The postmenstrual age and bodyweight at discharge decreased with the increase of gestational age. This tendency was stronger in cases with gestational age of less than 26 weeks. A comparison was made between two patient groups with a gestational age of less than 26 weeks and with the age of 26 weeks or longer. Many patients with a gestational age of less than 26 weeks suffered frequently from complications and were on home oxygen therapy. The readmission rates within 3 months and 1 year of NICU discharge were 10.4% and 26.9% in patients with gestational age between 22 and 25 weeks, respectively, while those rates were 2.8% and 7.4% in patients with gestational weeks of 26 to 34, respectively.Conclusion:  The postmenstrual age and bodyweight at NICU discharge decreased in inverse proportion to gestational age, especially less than 26 weeks. Our requirements for early discharge were verified by the readmission rate in this investigation.
Prevalence and associations of blinding trachoma in indigenous Australians within central Australia: the Central Australian Ocular Health Study
Authors: Landers John , Henderson Tim , Craig Jamie 
Published: June 2010

AbstractPurpose:  To determine the prevalence and associations of blinding trachoma within the indigenous Australian population living in central Australia.Methods:  A total of 1884 individuals aged 20 years or older, living among 30 remote communities within the statistical local area of ‘Central Australia’, were recruited for this study. This equated to 36% of those aged 20 years or older and 67% of those aged 40 years or older within this district. Participants were recruited as they presented to the eye clinic at each remote community. Anterior segment examination was performed and the rates of trachomatous trichiasis (TT) and trachomatous corneal opacification (CO) were documented. The prevalence of TT and CO in one or both eyes was presented.Results:  There were 6.1% (95% CI 5.0–7.2) (8.3% of those aged 40 years or older) who had TT and 3.3% (95% CI 2.5–4.1) (4.4% of those aged 40 years or older) who had CO. Both TT and CO were associated with advancing age and female sex. Prevalence varied widely between communities, from 0% to 33% for TT and 0% to 27% for CO.Conclusion:  Our study has shown that blinding trachoma remains endemic among indigenous Australians in central Australia. However, compared with previous estimates, the prevalence of TT and CO appears to be decreasing.
Improved anticoagulant control in patients using home international normalized ratio testing and decision support provided through the internet
Authors: Harper P. , Pollock D. 
Published: June 2010

AbstractAim: To compare anticoagulant control using self‐testing and decision support provided via the internet with standard laboratory testing.Methods: A prospective comparative study of 41 patients on long‐term warfarin. All patients were monitored using a laboratory‐based service for at least 12 months prior to changing to self‐testing using a portable testing device and online decision support. The level of anticoagulant control was assessed using the time the international normalized ratio (INR) was within the therapeutic range (TTR), the proportion of INR results in range and the interval between tests. This was a non‐inferiority study.Results: There was no statistically significant difference between the two methods of anticoagulant control with a trend in favour of self‐testing; the mean TTR was 72% vs 81%. However, a small cohort of patients with poor control (TTR 38%) during laboratory testing achieved a significant improvement (TTR 71%) using self‐testing. The INR was above the therapeutic range for a similar time in both groups but below the range for a significantly shorter period during self‐testing suggesting a lower risk of complication in this group.Conclusion: Self‐testing with online computer decision support achieved anticoagulant control at least as good as laboratory management. Additional benefits of a home‐based service make this an attractive option for selected patients.
Immediate‐early gene response to repeated immobilization: Fos protein and arc mRNA levels appear to be less sensitive than c‐fos mRNA to adaptation
Authors: Ons Sheila , Rotllant David , Marín‐Blasco Ignacio J. , Armario Antonio 
Published: June 2010

AbstractStress exposure resulted in brain induction of immediate‐early genes (IEGs), considered as markers of neuronal activation. Upon repeated exposure to the same stressor, reduction of IEG response (adaptation) has been often observed, but there are important discrepancies in literature that may be in part related to the particular IEG and methodology used. We studied the differential pattern of adaptation of the IEGs c‐fos and arc (activity‐regulated cytoskeleton‐associated protein) after repeated exposure to a severe stressor: immobilization on wooden boards (IMO). Rats repeatedly exposed to IMO showed reduced c‐fos mRNA levels in response to acute IMO in most brain areas studied: the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), lateral septum (LS), medial amygdala (MeA), paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN) and locus coeruleus. In contrast, the number of neurons showing Fos‐like immunoreactivity was only reduced in the MeA and the various subregions of the PVN. IMO‐induced increases in arc gene expression were restricted to telencephalic regions and reduced by repeated IMO only in the mPFC. Double‐labelling in the LS of IMO‐exposed rats revealed that arc was expressed in only one‐third of Fos+ neurons, suggesting two populations of Fos+ neurons. These data suggest that c‐fos mRNA levels are more affected by repeated IMO than corresponding protein, and that arc gene expression does not reflect adaptation in most brain regions, which may be related to its constitutive expression. Therefore, the choice of a particular IEG and the method of measurement are important for proper interpretation of the impact of chronic repeated stress on brain activation.
Multi‐array silicon probes with integrated optical fibers: light‐assisted perturbation and recording of local neural circuits in the behaving animal
Authors: Royer Sébastien , Zemelman Boris V. , Barbic Mladen , Losonczy Attila , Buzsáki György , Magee Jeffrey C. 
Published: June 2010

AbstractRecordings of large neuronal ensembles and neural stimulation of high spatial and temporal precision are important requisites for studying the real‐time dynamics of neural networks. Multiple‐shank silicon probes enable large‐scale monitoring of individual neurons. Optical stimulation of genetically targeted neurons expressing light‐sensitive channels or other fast (milliseconds) actuators offers the means for controlled perturbation of local circuits. Here we describe a method to equip the shanks of silicon probes with micron‐scale light guides for allowing the simultaneous use of the two approaches. We then show illustrative examples of how these compact hybrid electrodes can be used in probing local circuits in behaving rats and mice. A key advantage of these devices is the enhanced spatial precision of stimulation that is achieved by delivering light close to the recording sites of the probe. When paired with the expression of light‐sensitive actuators within genetically specified neuronal populations, these devices allow the relatively straightforward and interpretable manipulation of network activity.
Generation of interneuron diversity in the mouse cerebral cortex
Authors: Gelman Diego M. , Marín Oscar 
Published: June 2010

AbstractGamma‐aminobutyric acid‐containing (GABAergic) interneurons play an important role in the function of the cerebral cortex. Through mostly inhibitory mechanisms, interneurons control hyperexcitability, and synchronize and shape the spatiotemporal dynamics of cortical activity underlying various brain functions. Their influence on cortical function is remarkably diverse, a reflection of the large variety of interneuronal populations that exist in the mammalian cortex. Research over the past few years has rapidly transformed our understanding of their mechanisms underlying the generation of different classes of interneurons. In this review, we summarize recent progress on this process, progress which holds the promise of providing a rational framework for their classification, as well as means to understand their role in cortical processing.
Distinct synaptic properties of perisomatic inhibitory cell types and their different modulation by cholinergic receptor activation in the CA3 region of the mouse hippocampus
Authors: Szabó Gergely G. , Holderith Noémi , Gulyás Attila I. , Freund Tamás F. , Hájos Norbert 
Published: June 2010

AbstractPerisomatic inhibition originates from three types of GABAergic interneurons in cortical structures, including parvalbumin‐containing fast‐spiking basket cells (FSBCs) and axo‐axonic cells (AACs), as well as cholecystokinin‐expressing regular‐spiking basket cells (RSBCs). These interneurons may have significant impact in various cognitive processes, and are subjects of cholinergic modulation. However, it is largely unknown how cholinergic receptor activation modulates the function of perisomatic inhibitory cells. Therefore, we performed paired recordings from anatomically identified perisomatic interneurons and pyramidal cells in the CA3 region of the mouse hippocampus. We determined the basic properties of unitary inhibitory postsynaptic currents (uIPSCs) and found that they differed among cell types, e.g. GABA released from axon endings of AACs evoked uIPSCs with the largest amplitude and with the longest decay measured at room temperature. RSBCs could also release GABA asynchronously, the magnitude of the release increasing with the discharge frequency of the presynaptic interneuron. Cholinergic receptor activation by carbachol significantly decreased the uIPSC amplitude in all three types of cell pairs, but to different extents. M2‐type muscarinic receptors were responsible for the reduction in uIPSC amplitudes in FSBC– and AAC–pyramidal cell pairs, while an antagonist of CB1 cannabinoid receptors recovered the suppression in RSBC–pyramidal cell pairs. In addition, carbachol suppressed or even eliminated the short‐term depression of uIPSCs in FSBC– and AAC–pyramidal cell pairs in a frequency‐dependent manner. These findings suggest that not only are the basic synaptic properties of perisomatic inhibitory cells distinct, but acetylcholine can differentially control the impact of perisomatic inhibition from different sources.
Testing for criticality in ecosystem dynamics: the case of Amazonian rainforest and savanna fire
Authors: Pueyo Salvador , De Alencastro Graça Paulo Maurício Lima , Barbosa Reinaldo Imbrozio , Cots Ricard , Cardona Eva , Fearnside Philip M. 
Published: June 2010

Ecology Letters(2010) 13: 793–802AbstractWe test for two critical phenomena in Amazonian ecosystems: self‐organized criticality (SOC) and critical transitions. SOC is often presented in the complex systems literature as a general explanation for scale invariance in nature. In particular, this mechanism is claimed to underlie the macroscopic structure and dynamics of terrestrial ecosystems. These would be inextricably linked to the action of fire, which is conceived as an endogenous ecological process. We show that Amazonian savanna fires display the scale‐invariant features characteristic of SOC but do not display SOC. The same is true in Amazonian rainforests subject to moderate drought. These findings prove that there are other causes of scale invariance in ecosystems. In contrast, we do find evidence of a critical transition to a megafire regime under extreme drought in rainforests; this phenomenon is likely to determine the time scale of a possible loss of Amazonian rainforest caused by climate change.
Decoding the Signal Effects of Job Candidate Attraction to Corporate Social Practices
Authors: SORENSON SARAH , MATTINGLY JAMES E. , LEE FELISSA K. 
Published: June 2010

ABSTRACTThis article seeks to go beyond the implied assumption from previous research that job candidate attraction to corporate social practices is equivalent across individuals. To this end, we propose a framework for categorizing individuals' attraction to different corporate social performance profiles. Our framework is grounded in relational models theory and Mitroff's model of managers' “ideal organizations.” An inductive approach was used to elaborate upon the model and assess the extent to which candidates preferences vary. Data were collected from prospective job seekers regarding their attraction to social practices that benefit or harm various stakeholders, and these responses were used to develop profiles of job candidates' attraction to distinct profiles of organizations' social practices. The results provide a guide for managers who wish to improve the likelihood that an organization's social practices reflect what is best about its culture.
User‐Controllable Color Transfer
Authors: An Xiaobo , Pellacini Fabio 
Published: June 2010

AbstractThis paper presents an image editing framework where users use reference images to indicate desired color edits. In our approach, users specify pairs of strokes to indicate corresponding regions in both the original and the reference image that should have the same color “style”. Within each stroke pair, a nonlinear constrained parametric transfer model is used to transfer the reference colors to the original. We estimate the model parameters by matching color distributions, under constraints that ensure no visual artifacts are present in the transfer result. To perform transfer on the whole image, we employ optimization methods to propagate the model parameters defined at each stroke location to spatially‐close regions of similar appearance. This stroke‐based formulation requires minimal user effort while retaining the high degree of user control necessary to allow artistic interpretations. We demonstrate our approach by performing color transfer on a number of image pairs varying in content and style, and show that our algorithm outperforms state‐of‐the‐art color transfer methods on both user‐controllability and visual qualities of the transfer results.
Contrast‐aware Halftoning
Authors: Li Hua , Mould David 
Published: June 2010

AbstractThis paper proposes two variants of a simple but efficient algorithm for structure‐preserving halftoning. Our algorithm extends Floyd‐Steinberg error diffusion; the goal of our extension is not only to produce good tone similarity but also to preserve structure and especially contrast, motivated by our intuition that human perception is sensitive to contrast. By enhancing contrast we attempt to preserve and enhance structure also.Our basic algorithm employs an adaptive, contrast‐aware mask. To enhance contrast, darker pixels should be more likely to be chosen as black pixels while lighter pixels should be more likely to be set as white. Therefore, when the positive error is diffused to nearby pixels in a mask, the dark pixels absorb less error and the light pixels absorb more. Conversely, negative error is distributed preferentially to dark pixels. We also propose using a mask with values that drop off steeply from the centre, intended to promote good spatial distribution. It is a very fast method whose speed mainly depends on the size of the mask. But this method suffers from distracting patterns.We then propose a variant on the basic idea which overcomes the first algorithm's shortcomings while maintaining its advantages through a priority‐aware scheme. Rather than proceeding in random or raster order, we sort the image first; each pixel is assigned a priority based on its up‐to‐date distance to black or to white, and pixels with extreme intensities are processed earlier. Since we use the same mask strategy as before, we promote good spatial distribution and high contrast.We use tone similarity, structure similarity, and contrast similarity to validate our algorithm. Comparisons with recent structure‐aware algorithms show that our method gives better results without sacrificing speed.
Multi‐Scale Geometry Interpolation
Authors: Winkler T. , Drieseberg J. , Alexa M. , Hormann K. 
Published: June 2010

AbstractInterpolating vertex positions among triangle meshes with identical vertex‐edge graphs is a fundamental part of many geometric modelling systems. Linear vertex interpolation is robust but fails to preserve local shape. Most recent approaches identify local affine transformations for parts of the mesh, model desired interpolations of the affine transformations, and then optimize vertex positions to conform with the desired transformations. However, the local interpolation of the rotational part is non‐trivial for more than two input configurations and ambiguous if the meshes are deformed significantly. We propose a solution to the vertex interpolation problem that starts from interpolating the local metric (edge lengths) and mean curvature (dihedral angles) and makes consistent choices of local affine transformations using shape matching applied to successively larger parts of the mesh. The local interpolation can be applied to any number of input vertex configurations and due to the hierarchical scheme for generating consolidated vertex positions, the approach is fast and can be applied to very large meshes.
Deformation Transfer to Multi‐Component Objects
Authors: Zhou Kun , Xu Weiwei , Tong Yiying , Desbrun Mathieu 
Published: June 2010

AbstractWe present a simple and effective algorithm to transfer deformation between surface meshes with multiple components. The algorithm automatically computes spatial relationships between components of the target object, builds correspondences between source and target, and finally transfers deformation of the source onto the target while preserving cohesion between the target's components. We demonstrate the versatility of our approach on various complex models.
Fast and Efficient Skinning of Animated Meshes
Authors: Kavan L. , Sloan P.‐P. , O'Sullivan C. 
Published: June 2010

AbstractSkinning is a simple yet popular deformation technique combining compact storage with efficient hardware accelerated rendering. While skinned meshes (such as virtual characters) are traditionally created by artists, previous work proposes algorithms to construct skinning automatically from a given vertex animation. However, these methods typically perform well only for a certain class of input sequences and often require long pre‐processing times. We present an algorithm based on iterative coordinate descent optimization which handles arbitrary animations and produces more accurate approximations than previous techniques, while using only standard linear skinning without any modifications or extensions. To overcome the computational complexity associated with the iterative optimization, we work in a suitable linear subspace (obtained by quick approximate dimensionality reduction) and take advantage of the typically very sparse vertex weights. As a result, our method requires about one or two orders of magnitude less pre‐processing time than previous methods.
Interactive High‐Quality Visualization of Higher‐Order Finite Elements
Authors: Üffinger Markus , Frey Steffen , Ertl Thomas 
Published: June 2010

AbstractHigher‐order finite element methods have emerged as an important discretization scheme for simulation. They are increasingly used in contemporary numerical solvers, generating a new class of data that must be analyzed by scientists and engineers. Currently available visualization tools for this type of data are either batch oriented or limited to certain cell types and polynomial degrees. Other approaches approximate higher‐order data by resampling resulting in trade‐offs in interactivity and quality. To overcome these limitations, we have developed a distributed visualization system which allows for interactive exploration of non‐conforming unstructured grids, resulting from space‐time discontinuous Galerkin simulations, in which each cell has its own higher‐order polynomial solution. Our system employs GPU‐based raycasting for direct volume rendering of complex grids which feature non‐convex, curvilinear cells with varying polynomial degree. Frequency‐based adaptive sampling accounts for the high variations along rays. For distribution across a GPU cluster, the initial object‐space partitioning is determined by cell characteristics like the polynomial degree and is adapted at runtime by a load balancing mechanism. The performance and utility of our system is evaluated for different aeroacoustic simulations involving the propagation of shock fronts.
Uncertain 2D Vector Field Topology
Authors: Otto Mathias , Germer Tobias , Hege Hans‐Christian , Theisel Holger 
Published: June 2010

AbstractWe introduce an approach to visualize stationary 2D vector fields with global uncertainty obtained by considering the transport of local uncertainty in the flow. For this, we extend the concept of vector field topology to uncertain vector fields by considering the vector field as a density distribution function. By generalizing the concepts of stream lines and critical points we obtain a number of density fields representing an uncertain topological segmentation. Their visualization as height surfaces gives insight into both the flow behavior and its uncertainty. We present a Monte Carlo approach where we integrate probabilistic particle paths, which lead to the segmentation of topological features. Moreover, we extend our algorithms to detect saddle points and present efficient implementations. Finally, we apply our technique to a number of real and synthetic test data sets.
Global Illumination Compensation for Spatially Augmented Reality
Authors: Sheng Yu , Yapo Theodore C. , Cutler Barbara 
Published: June 2010

AbstractWhen projectors are used to display images on complex, non‐planar surface geometry, indirect illumination between the surfaces will disrupt the final appearance of this imagery, generally increasing brightness, decreasing contrast, and washing out colors. In this paper we predict through global illumination simulation this unintentional indirect component and solve for the optimal compensated projection imagery that will minimize the difference between the desired imagery and the actual total illumination in the resulting physical scene. Our method makes use of quadratic programming to minimize this error within the constraints of the physical system, namely, that negative light is physically impossible. We demonstrate our compensation optimization in both computer simulation and physical validation within a table‐top spatially augmented reality system. We present an application of these results for visualization of interior architectural illumination. To facilitate interactive modifications to the scene geometry and desired appearance, our system is accelerated with a CUDA implementation of the QP optimization method.