Framework for interactive million-neuron simulation.

SUMMARY: Large simulations have become increasingly complex in many fields, tending to incorporate scale-dependent modeling and algorithms and wide-ranging physical influences. This scale of simulation sophistication has not yet been matched in neuroscience. The authors describe a framework aimed at enabling natural interaction with complex simulations: their configuration, initial conditions, monitoring, and analysis. The architecture is built on three cornerstone components: active probes, adaptive data capture, and visual interface. The resulting synthesis will enable interactive exploration of live simulations running on supercomputing platforms.     

Parental influences on young girls’ fruit and vegetable, micronutrient, and fat intakes

Objective To evaluate parents’ fruit and vegetable intake and their use of pressure to eat in child feeding as predictors of their 5-year-old daughters’ fruit and vegetable, micronutrient, and fat intakes.Subjects Data were obtained from 191 non-Hispanic white families with 5-year-old girls.Design Parent data included reports of pressure in child feeding and their own fruit and vegetable intake. Girls’ intakes of fruits and vegetables, selected micronutrients, and fat were the main outcomes of interest.Statistical analysis Structural equation modeling was used to test a model describing relationships among parents’ fruit and vegetable intake, parents’ use of pressure in child feeding, and daughters’ fruit and vegetable, micronutrient, and fat intakes.Results The model provided a good fit to the data, revealing that girls’ fruit and vegetable intake was positively related to their parents’ reported fruit and vegetable intake. Parents who consumed fewer fruits and vegetables tended to report greater pressure in child feeding and had daughters who consumed fewer fruits and vegetables. Girls’ reported fruit and vegetable intakes were positively related to their micronutrient intakes and negatively associated with fat intake.Applications/conclusions This research demonstrates that parents’ own fruit and vegetable intake may encourage fruit and vegetable intake in their daughters, leading to higher micronutrient intakes and lower dietary fat intakes. Conversely, pressure to eat may discourage fruit and vegetable intake among young girls. J Am Diet Assoc. 2002;102:58–64.     

The heart in rheumatoid arthritis--a clinical and echocardiographic study

A clinical and echocardiographic study was carried out in a randomly selected group of 101 patients with rheumatoid arthritis to determine the prevalence of cardiac abnormalities. Adequate two-dimensional assessments were obtained in 84 patients and 77 patients had adequate M mode recordings. Thirty-one patients (37 per cent) had 45 echocardiographic abnormalities. Five patients (6 per cent) had a pericardial effusion. Eleven abnormalities of the mitral valve were noted in 10 patients (13 per cent). Three patients had mitral valve prolapse, one patient with aortic incompetence had flutter on the mitral valve, five patients had mitral annular calcium and one patient had hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy and mitral annular calcification. A reduction in the E-F slope was noted in 12 patients, seven of whom had associated cardiac disease, one patient had a sinus tachycardia and four patients (5 per cent) had a mild reduction without any other cardiac abnormality. Apart from the presence of pericardial effusion in 6 per cent and minor abnormalities of the E-F slope in 5 per cent of patients, all the other significant echocardiographic abnormalities could be related to the presence of associated cardiac disease.     

A microcomputer-based procedure for carrying out rhinomanometry

The determination of nasal airway resistance by the technique of anterior rhinomanometry is made difficult by several factors. Among these are the variability in the breath by breath measurement of airflow and pressure, the effect of under or over breathing, and the ability to produce a smooth transition between inspiration and expiration during which period the measurements are made. To overcome some of these problems a standard procedure has been developed (in our laboratory) for active anterior rhinomanometry. The nasal resistance is calculated from the mean of three sets of three readings with a rest interval between each set. To enable the procedure to be carried out with consistency it has been implemented on a BBC microcomputer. This enables a breathing guide to be provided for the subject, as well as providing a display of each flow pressure curve, a display of the mean curve, plus and minus one standard deviation, and the calculation of left, right and total nasal airway resistance.     

Über die Validität von Persönlichkeitsprofilen in der nervenärztlichen Begutachtung

Although symptom validity tests have become available to German test users during the last few years, there is very little research into measures of negative response bias in personality assessment. The present study investigates the effects of negative response bias as measured by the Word Memory Test (WMT) and the Structured Inventory of Malingered Symptomatology (SIMS) on self-report personality scales. A retrospective analysis was performed on data from 93 patients who had undergone neuropsychiatric assessment in the context of independent medical examination. Complete data sets were available for the WMT, the SIMS, and the Freiburg Personality Inventory-Revised (FPI-R). Significant differences were found for a number of personality scales, depending on WMT and SIMS classification. The FPI-R validity scale (Openness) was linked to neither WMT nor SIMS, whereas the results in the latter two instruments showed a significant overlap of classification results (φ=0.44). A principal axis analysis yielded corresponding results. It is concluded that self-report personality measures may be considerably distorted by negative response bias. FPI-R Openness scale scores do not allow any interpretation in terms of negative response bias. More effort should be directed in German-speaking countries towards the development and validation of appropriate validity scales.