BACKGROUND & AIMS: :Binaural hearing aids potentially provide binaural cues that can improve the dectability and the spatial separation of multiple sound sources. This paper considers the use of binaural cues and the resultant spatial percepts on listeners' ability to separate simultaneous sound sources. In backgrounds with continuous noise or multiple talkers, the main problem is the detection of individual acoustic components. On the other hand, if a single masking sound is very similar to the target, and both target and masker are spectro-temporally sparse, as is the case with speech, the main problem, at least for listeners with normal hearing, is to decide whether a particular spectro-temporal feature belongs to the target source and to track that source across time. Although the subjective location of a sound source can help in grouping features across time, its effect is most easily observed in the absence of other differences between the sound sources.

背景与目标： ：双耳助听器可能会提供双耳提示，从而可以改善多个声音源的可分辨性和空间分离性。本文考虑了双耳线索的使用以及由此产生的空间感知对听众分离同时声源的能力的影响。在具有连续噪声或多个讲话者的背景下，主要问题是检测单个声学成分。另一方面，如果单个掩蔽声音与目标非常相似，并且目标和掩蔽器都在频谱上是稀疏的（例如语音），则主要问题（至少对于听力正常的听众而言）是特定的光谱时空特征是否属于目标源并跨时间跟踪该源。尽管声源的主观位置可以帮助跨时间对特征进行分组，但是在声源之间不存在其他差异的情况下，最容易观察到其效果。

BACKGROUND & AIMS: :In the first step of retroviral integration, integrase cleaves the linear viral DNA within its long terminal repeat (LTR) immediately 3' to the CA dinucleotide step, resulting in a reactive 3' OH on one strand and a 5' two base overhang on the complementary strand. In order to investigate the structural properties of the 3' end processing site within the Moloney murine leukemia virus (MMLV) LTR d(TCTTTCATT), a host-guest crystallographic method was employed to determine the structures of four self-complementary 16 bp oligonucleotides including LTR sequences (underlined), d(TTTCATTGCAATGAAA), d(CTTTCATTAATGAAAG), d(TCTTTCATATGAAAGA) and d(CACAATGATCATTGTG), the guests, complexed with the N-terminal fragment of MMLV reverse transcriptase, the host. The structures of the LTR-containing oligonucleotides were compared to those of non-LTR oligonucleotides crystallized in the same lattice. Properties unique to the CA dinucleotide step within the LTR sequence, independent of its position from the end of the duplex, include a positive roll angle and negative slide value. This propensity for the CA dinucleotide step within the MMLV LTR sequence to adopt only positive roll angles is likely influenced by the more rigid, invariable 3' and 5' flanking TT dinucleotide steps and may be important for specific recognition and/or cleavage by the MMLV integrase.

背景与目标： ：在逆转录病毒整合的第一步中，整合酶立即将其长末端重复序列（LTR）内的线性病毒DNA切割到CA二核苷酸步骤的3'处，从而在一条链上产生反应性3'OH，并在其上形成5'两个碱基的突出端互补链。为了研究莫洛尼鼠白血病病毒（MMLV）LTR d（TCTTTCATT）中3'末端加工位点的结构特性，采用宿主客体晶体学方法确定了四个自我互补的16 bp寡核苷酸的结构，包括LTR序列（带下划线），d（TTTCATTGCAATGAAA），d（CTTTCATTAATGAAAG），d（TCTTTCATATGAAAGA）和d（CACAATGATCATTGTG），来宾与MMLV逆转录酶的N端片段（宿主）复合。将含LTR的寡核苷酸的结构与在相同晶格中结晶的非LTR的寡核苷酸的结构进行比较。 LTR序列中CA二核苷酸步骤所特有的属性（独立于双链体末端的位置）包括正侧倾角和负侧滑值。 MMLV LTR序列中CA二核苷酸步骤仅采用正侧倾角的倾向可能受到更刚性，不变的3'和5'侧接TT二核苷酸步骤的影响，并且对于MMLV的特异性识别和/或裂解可能很重要整合。

BACKGROUND & AIMS: :SPARX (single particle analysis for resolution extension) is a new image processing environment with a particular emphasis on transmission electron microscopy (TEM) structure determination. It includes a graphical user interface that provides a complete graphical programming environment with a novel data/process-flow infrastructure, an extensive library of Python scripts that perform specific TEM-related computational tasks, and a core library of fundamental C++ image processing functions. In addition, SPARX relies on the EMAN2 library and cctbx, the open-source computational crystallography library from PHENIX. The design of the system is such that future inclusion of other image processing libraries is a straightforward task. The SPARX infrastructure intelligently handles retention of intermediate values, even those inside programming structures such as loops and function calls. SPARX and all dependencies are free for academic use and available with complete source.

背景与目标： ：SPARX（用于扩展分辨率的单粒子分析）是一种新的图像处理环境，特别着重于透射电子显微镜（TEM）结构的确定。它包括一个图形用户界面，该界面提供具有新颖数据/流程基础设施的完整图形编程环境，执行特定TEM相关计算任务的Python脚本扩展库以及基本C图像处理功能的核心库。另外，SPARX依赖于EMAN2库和cctbx（来自PHENIX的开源计算晶体学库）。系统的设计使得将来包含其他图像处理库是一项简单的任务。 SPARX基础结构可以智能地处理中间值的保留，甚至包括循环和函数调用之类的编程结构内部的中间值。 SPARX和所有依赖项对于学术用途都是免费的，并提供完整的源代码。

BACKGROUND & AIMS: :High temperature steam gasification/reforming of biomass-methane mixtures was carried out in an indirectly heated entrained flow reactor to analyze the feasibility of controlling the output composition of the major synthesis gas products: H(2), CO, CO(2), CH(4). A 2(3) factorial experimental design was carried out and compared to thermodynamic equilibrium predictions. Experiments demonstrated the product gas composition is mostly dependent on temperature and that excess steam contributes to CO(2) formation. Results showed that with two carbon-containing reactants it is possible to control the gas composition of the major products. At 1500 °C, the equilibrium results accurately predicted the syngas composition and can be used to guide optimization of the syngas for downstream liquid fuel synthesis technologies.

背景与目标： ：在间接加热的夹带流反应器中进行了高温蒸汽气化/生物质-甲烷混合物的重整，以分析控制主要合成气产物H（2），CO，CO（2）， CH（4）。进行了2（3）阶乘实验设计，并将其与热力学平衡预测进行了比较。实验表明，产物气体的成分主要取决于温度，过量的蒸汽会导致CO（2）的形成。结果表明，使用两种含碳反应物可以控制主要产物的气体组成。在1500°C下，平衡结果准确地预测了合成气的组成，可用于指导下游液体燃料合成技术对合成气的优化。

BACKGROUND & AIMS: :Age-related changes in brain function are complex. Although ageing is associated with a reduction in cerebral blood flow and neuronal activity, task-related processing is often correlated with an enlargement of the corresponding and additionally recruited brain areas. This supplemental employment is considered an attempt to compensate for deficits in the ageing brain. Although there are contradictory reports regarding the role of the primary somatosensory cortex (SI), currently, there is little knowledge about age-related functional changes in other brain areas in the somatosensory network (secondary somatosensory cortex (SII), and insular, anterior (ACC) and posterior cingulate cortices (PCC)). We investigated 16 elderly (age range, 62-71 years) and 18 young subjects (age range, 21-28 years) by determining the current perception threshold (CPT) and applying functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) using a 3.0 Tesla scanner under tactile stimulation of the right hand. CPT was positively correlated with age. fMRI analysis revealed significantly increased activation in the contralateral SI and ipsilateral motor cortex in elderly subjects. Furthermore, we demonstrated age-related reductions in the activity in the SII, ACC, PCC, and dorsal parts of the corpus callosum. Our study revealed dramatic age-related differences in the processing of a simple tactile stimulus in the somatosensory network. Specifically, we detected enhanced activation in the contralateral SI and ipsilateral motor cortex assumingly caused by deficient inhibition and decreased activation in later stages of somatosensory processing (SII, cingulate cortex) in elderly subjects. These results indicate that, in addition to over-activation to compensate for impaired brain functions, there are complex mechanisms of modified inhibition and excitability involved in somatosensory processing in the ageing brain.

背景与目标： ：与年龄相关的脑功能变化非常复杂。尽管衰老与脑血流量和神经元活动的减少有关，但与任务相关的处理过程通常与相应的和额外招募的大脑区域的扩大有关。这种补充性就业被认为是对衰老脑部缺陷的补偿。尽管关于主要体感皮层（SI）的作用有相互矛盾的报道，但目前，关于体感网络（次要体感皮层（SII）和岛状，前侧（ ACC）和后扣带回皮质（PCC））。我们通过确定当前知觉阈值（CPT）并使用3.0 Tesla扫描仪应用功能磁共振成像（fMRI）在以下条件下对16位老年人（年龄范围为62-71岁）和18位年轻受试者（年龄范围为21-28岁）进行了调查右手的触觉刺激。 CPT与年龄呈正相关。 fMRI分析显示，老年受试者对侧SI和同侧运动皮层的激活显着增加。此外，我们证明了与年龄有关的SII，ACC，PCC和call体背部活动减少。我们的研究揭示了在体感网络中简单触觉刺激的处理过程中与年龄有关的戏剧性差异。具体而言，我们检测到对侧SI和同侧运动皮层的激活增强，推测是由于抑制作用不足引起的，而在老年受试者的体感处理后期（SII，扣带回皮层）的激活降低。这些结果表明，除了过度激活以补偿受损的脑功能外，衰老的大脑的体感处理还涉及复杂的抑制和兴奋性机制。

BACKGROUND & AIMS: BACKGROUND:The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of sensory processing strategies in improving the activity level of children with sensory integration dysfunction. METHODS:The study used a matching-only pretest-posttest control group design, which requires random matching of sensory integration dysfunction to the corresponding intervention group (n = 18) and control group (n = 18). The intervention group comprised 3-6-year-old children who received an 8-week school-day intervention during implementation of the theme curriculum. RESULTS:The 8-week treatment significantly reduced the activity level and foot-swinging episodes in children with sensory integration dysfunction, and obtained a medium-effect size. However, the level of improvement in the control group did not show any statistically significant change. CONCLUSION:Sensory processing strategies could improve activity levels in children with sensory integration dysfunction. However, this study was unable to exclude a developmental effect. The social validity results show that sensory processing strategies can be integrated into the theme curriculum and improve activity levels in children.

背景与目标： 摘要背景：本研究的目的是探讨感觉处理策略在改善感觉统合功能障碍儿童活动水平方面的有效性。
方法：该研究采用仅匹配的前测-后测对照组设计，该设计要求将感觉统合功能障碍随机匹配至相应的干预组（n = 18）和对照组（n = 18）。干预小组由3-6岁的儿童组成，他们在实施主题课程期间接受了为期8周的上学日干预。
结果：为期8周的治疗显着降低了感觉统合功能障碍儿童的活动水平和摆动脚步发作，并获得了中等程度的效果。但是，对照组的改善水平没有显示任何统计学上的显着变化。
结论：感觉处理策略可以提高感觉统合功能障碍儿童的活动水平。但是，这项研究无法排除发育的影响。社会有效性的结果表明，可以将感官加工策略整合到主题课程中，并提高儿童的活动水平。

BACKGROUND & AIMS: :Genomic analyses have become an important tool to identify new avenues for therapy. This is especially true for cancer types with extremely poor outcomes, since our lack of effective therapies offers no tangible clinical starting point to build upon. The highly malignant brain tumor glioblastoma (GBM) exemplifies such a refractory cancer, with only 15 month average patient survival. Analyses of several hundred GBM samples compiled by the TCGA (The Cancer Genome Atlas) have produced an extensive transcriptomic map, identified prevalent chromosomal alterations, and defined important driver mutations. Unfortunately, clinical trials based on these results have not yet delivered an improvement on outcome. It is, therefore, necessary to characterize other regulatory routes known for playing a role in tumor relapse and response to treatment. Alternative splicing affects more than 90% of the human coding genes and it is an important source for transcript variation and gene regulation. Mutations and alterations in splicing factors are highly prevalent in multiple cancers, demonstrating the potential for splicing to act as a tumor driver. As a result, numerous genes are expressed as cancer-specific splicing isoforms that are functionally distinct from the canonical isoforms found in normal tissue. These include genes that regulate cancer-critical pathways such as apoptosis, DNA repair, cell proliferation, and migration. Splicing defects can even induce genomic instability, a common characteristic of cancer, and a driver of tumor evolution. Importantly, components of the splicing machinery are targetable; multiple drugs can inhibit splicing factors or promote changes in splicing which could be exploited to begin improving clinical outcomes. Here, we review the current literature and present a case for exploring RNA processing as therapeutic route for the treatment of GBM.

背景与目标： 基因组分析已成为识别治疗新途径的重要工具。对于结局极差的癌症类型尤其如此，因为我们缺乏有效的治疗方法，无法提供任何切实可行的临床起点。高度恶性的脑肿瘤胶质母细胞瘤（GBM）就是这种难治性癌症的例证，患者平均存活仅15个月。由TCGA（癌症基因组图谱）汇编的数百个GBM样品的分析已产生了广泛的转录组图谱，确定了普遍的染色体改变，并定义了重要的驱动程序突变。不幸的是，基于这些结果的临床试验尚未改善预后。因此，必须表征已知在肿瘤复发和对治疗的反应中起作用的其他调节途径。选择性剪接影响超过90％的人类编码基因，它是转录本变异和基因调控的重要来源。剪接因子的突变和改变在多种癌症中非常普遍，证明了剪接作为肿瘤驱动因子的潜力。结果，许多基因被表达为癌症特异性剪接同工型，其功能与正常组织中发现的典型同工型不同。这些基因包括调控癌症关键通路的基因，例如凋亡，DNA修复，细胞增殖和迁移。剪接缺陷甚至可能导致基因组不稳定，这是癌症的共同特征，也是肿瘤发展的驱动力。重要的是，拼接机的组件是可定位的；多种药物可抑制剪接因子或促进剪接变化，这些变化可被用来开始改善临床结果。在这里，我们回顾当前的文献，并提出了探索RNA加工作为治疗GBM的治疗途径的案例。

BACKGROUND & AIMS: :Bsoft is a software package written for image processing of electron micrographs, interpretation of reconstructions, molecular modeling, and general image processing. The code is modularized to allow for rapid testing and deployment of new processing algorithms, while also providing sufficient infrastructure to deal with many file formats and parametric data. The design is deliberately open to allow interchange of information with other image and molecular processing software through a standard parameter file (currently a text-based encoding of parameters in the STAR format) and its support of multiple image and molecular formats. It also allows shell scripting of processes and allows subtasks to be distributed across multiple computers for concurrent processing. Bsoft has undergone many modifications and advancements since its initial release [Heymann, J.B., 2001. Bsoft: image and molecular processing in electron microscopy. J. Struct. Biol. 133, 156-169]. Much of the emphasis is on single particle analysis and tomography, and sufficient functionality is available in the package to support most needed operations for these techniques. The key graphical user interface is the program bshow, which displays an image and is used for many interactive purposes such as fitting the contrast transfer function or picking particles. Bsoft also offers various tools to manipulate atomic structures and to refine the fit of a known molecular structure to a density in a reconstruction.

背景与目标： ：Bsoft是一个软件包，用于电子显微照片的图像处理，重构的解释，分子建模和常规图像处理。该代码经过模块化处理，可以快速测试和部署新的处理算法，同时还提供了足够的基础结构来处理许多文件格式和参数数据。该设计特意开放，以允许通过标准参数文件（当前为STAR格式的参数的基于文本的编码）与其他图像和分子处理软件交换信息，并支持多种图像和分子格式。它还允许进程的外壳脚本编写，并允许子任务分布在多台计算机上以进行并发处理。自从最初发布以来，Bsoft经历了许多修改和发展[Heymann，J.B.，2001. Bsoft：电子显微镜中的图像和分子处理。 J.结构。生物学133，156-169]。大部分重点放在单颗粒分析和断层扫描上，包装中提供了足够的功能来支持这些技术最需要的操作。关键的图形用户界面是程序bshow，该程序显示图像，并用于许多交互式目的，例如，装配对比度传递函数或拾取粒子。 Bsoft还提供各种工具来操纵原子结构，并在重建过程中将已知分子结构的密度调整到合适的密度。

BACKGROUND & AIMS: :Most patients with Tourette syndrome report characteristic sensory experiences (premonitory urges) associated with the expression of tic symptoms. Despite the central role of these experiences to the clinical phenomenology of Tourette syndrome, little is known about their underlying brain processes. In the present article we present the results of a systematic literature review of the published studies addressing the pathophysiological mechanisms of premonitory urges. We identified some preliminary evidence for specific alterations in sensorimotor processing at both cortical and subcortical levels. A better insight into the brain correlates of premonitory urges could lead to the identification of new targets to treat the sensory initiators of tics in patients with Tourette syndrome.

背景与目标： ：大多数患有抽动秽语综合征的患者报告与抽动症状的表达相关的特征性感觉体验（监测冲动）。尽管这些经历对Tourette综合征的临床现象起着核心作用，但对其潜在的大脑过程知之甚少。在本文中，我们介绍了系统的文献综述，这些文献针对已发表的研究对先兆冲动的病理生理机制进行了研究。我们为皮质和皮层下水平的感觉运动过程中的特定变化确定了一些初步证据。更好地了解先兆冲动的大脑相关性可能会导致确定新的靶点，以治疗抽动秽语综合征患者抽动的感觉诱发剂。

BACKGROUND & AIMS: :Previous surveys showed a poor quality of the web sites providing health information about low back pain. However, the rapid and continuous evolution of the Internet content may question the current validity of those investigations. The present study is aimed to quantitatively assess the quality of the Internet information about low back pain retrieved with the most commonly employed search engines. An Internet search with the keywords "low back pain" has been performed with Google, Yahoo!® and Bing™ in the English language. The top 30 hits obtained with each search engine were evaluated by five independent raters and averaged following criteria derived from previous works. All search results were categorized as declaring compliant to a quality standard for health information (e.g. HONCode) or not and based on the web site type (Institutional, Free informative, Commercial, News, Social Network, Unknown). The quality of the hits retrieved by the three search engines was extremely similar. The web sites had a clear purpose, were easy to navigate, and mostly lacked in validity and quality of the provided links. The conformity to a quality standard was correlated with a marked greater quality of the web sites in all respects. Institutional web sites had the best validity and ease of use. Free informative web sites had good quality but a markedly lower validity compared to Institutional websites. Commercial web sites provided more biased information. News web sites were well designed and easy to use, but lacked in validity. The average quality of the hits retrieved by the most commonly employed search engines could be defined as satisfactory and favorably comparable with previous investigations. Awareness of the user about checking the quality of the information remains of concern.

背景与目标： ：以前的调查显示，提供有关下腰痛的健康信息的网站质量很差。但是，Internet内容的快速和持续发展可能会质疑这些调查的当前有效性。本研究旨在定量评估使用最常用的搜索引擎检索到的有关腰痛的Internet信息的质量。 Google，Yahoo！®和Bing™已使用英语进行了关键字为“腰痛”的Internet搜索。每个搜索引擎获得的前30个匹配均由5个独立的评分者进行了评估，并根据从先前工作得出的标准进行了平均。根据网站类型（机构，免费，商业，新闻，社交网络，未知），所有搜索结果均归类为声明是否符合卫生信息质量标准（例如HONCode）。三个搜索引擎检索到的匹配的质量非常相似。该网站的目的明确，易于浏览，并且大多缺乏所提供链接的有效性和质量。在各个方面，对质量标准的符合与网站质量的显着提高相关。机构网站具有最佳的有效性和易用性。与机构网站相比，免费的信息网站质量好，但有效性明显较低。商业网站提供了更多有偏见的信息。新闻网站的设计良好且易于使用，但缺乏有效性。由最常用的搜索引擎检索到的匹配的平均质量可以定义为令人满意，并且可以与以前的调查相媲美。用户关于检查信息质量的意识仍然值得关注。

BACKGROUND & AIMS: The zona pellucida (zona) is a glycoprotein coat that envelopes the oocyte and embryo, binds sperm during fertilization and facilitates transfer of the embryo through the Fallopian tube. Before implantation can occur, the blastocyst must hatch from the zona. Several lines of evidence suggest that the zona is multilaminar. We hypothesized that the multilaminar structure of the zona filaments could be imaged non-destructively with the polarized light microscope. A recent modification of the polarized light microscope (pol-scope), which combines innovations in polarization optics with novel image processing software, allows measurement of birefringence at all points of the image. Hamster metaphase II oocytes were placed on glass coverslips which replaced the bottom of culture dishes, imaged under differential interference contrast (DIC) and pol-scope optics, then digitized and processed to measure birefringence magnitude and orientation. The pol-scope revealed the zona to be divided into outer and inner layers separated by a zone of low retardance. This finding is consistent with filaments in the outer layer oriented tangentially and in the inner layer oriented radially. The multilaminar structure of the mammalian zona suggested by differential lectin binding and by scanning electron microscopy could be imaged non-destructively with the pol-scope. Because the pol-scope provides a non-destructive method to identify macro-molecular organization of the zona, it may prove useful in developmental studies of hatching and to direct resection of the zona.

背景与目标： 透明带（zona）是一种糖蛋白涂层，覆盖卵母细胞和胚胎，在受精过程中结合精子，并促进胚胎通过输卵管转移。在发生植入之前，胚泡必须从透明带孵化出来。有几条证据表明，透明带是多层的。我们假设可以使用偏振光显微镜对透明带的多层结构进行无损成像。偏振光显微镜（pol-scope）的最新改进将偏振光学的创新与新颖的图像处理软件结合在一起，可以测量图像所有点的双折射。将仓鼠中期II卵母细胞放在玻璃盖玻片上，该盖玻片代替培养皿的底部，在微分干涉对比（DIC）和pol-scope光学下成像，然后进行数字化处理，以测量双折射的大小和方向。 pol镜显示，透明带分为外层和内层，并由低延迟区隔开。这一发现与切向取向的外层和径向取向的内层中的长丝一致。差异凝集素结合和扫描电子显微镜表明的哺乳动物透明带的多层结构可以用pol镜无损成像。因为pol镜提供了一种非破坏性的方法来识别透明带的大分子组织，所以它可能在孵化的发育研究和直接切除透明带中很有用。

BACKGROUND & AIMS: :Dunking, the softening of dry food in water to speed up consumption time, is normally a very rare behaviour in wild Carib grackles (Quiscalus lugubris) of Barbados. Its frequency can be experimentally increased when large numbers of dry items are repeatedly placed near a standing source of water in conditions that minimize intraspecific competition and risk of theft. To reconcile the normally low frequency of the behaviour in the wild with the high rates obtained in previous experiments, we tested three conditions where dunking varied between 0 and 70%. Dunking was very rare when it had been made unnecessary by pre-soaking the food, water was far from the dry items offered and only one food item was given, focusing all competitive interactions and theft attempts on a single individual. In contrast, dunking rate was high when food was not pre-soaked, water was close to dry food and more than one item (and hence target for competition and theft) was given. These experiments confirm that dunking rates, like other proto-tool-like food-processing techniques, depend on the costs and benefits of the situation where they are used.

背景与目标： ：灌水是软化干食品以加快消耗时间的水，通常在巴巴多斯的野生加勒比海gra（Quiscalus lugubris）中非常罕见。在将种内竞争和盗窃风险降至最低的条件下，将大量干燥物品反复放置在站立的水源附近时，可以通过实验提高其频率。为了使正常情况下野生动物行为的低频与先前实验中获得的高频率相一致，我们测试了3种情况，其中扣篮在0％到70％之间变化。当通过预先浸泡食物而使不必要的粪便稀少，水远离所提供的干粮时，仅提供一种粮食，所有竞争性互动和盗窃企图都集中在一个人身上。相比之下，当不预先浸泡食物时，扣篮率很高，水接近干粮，并且不止一项（因此成为竞争和盗窃的目标）。这些实验证实，与其他类似原型工具的食品加工技术一样，灌篮率取决于使用情况的成本和收益。

BACKGROUND & AIMS: OBJECTIVES:Iopentol (Nycomed Imaging AS, Oslo, Norway) and iopromide (Schering AG, Berlin, Germany) are low-osmolar, non-ionic, iodinated contrast media (CM) used in abdominal CT examinations. The intravenous safety profile and radiological efficacy of iopentol and iopromide were studied in 518 patients. Specifically, frequency of adverse events (AEs), subjective change in quality of diagnostic information, and quantitative enhancement characteristics were compared. MATERIALS AND METHODS:A prospective, double-blind, randomized, multicentre, parallel-group study was conducted at 8 hospitals. Patients received 100 ml of either iopentol 300 mg I/ml or iopromide 300 mg I/ml. RESULTS:The incidence of patients with AEs was statistically significantly lower in the iopentol group compared to the iopromide group (2.3% vs. 8.9%, p < 0.001). Discomfort was frequent in both groups (44.8% vs. 49.4%, p = 0.33), sensation of heat and warmth being most common. Overall, diagnostic information was similar in both groups. Both CM gave high percentages of examinations rated as optimal (87.1% vs. 90.5%, p = 0.34) and in which diagnostic confidence was increased (87.5% vs. 91.1%, p = 0.22). No significant differences between the two CM were found concerning quantitative enhancement characteristics. CONCLUSIONS:In this study iopentol was significantly safer than iopromide for contrast enhanced CT examination of the abdomen. Radiological efficacy was similar with both CM.

背景与目标： 目的：Iopentol（Nycomed Imaging AS，挪威奥斯陆）和iopromide（Schering AG，柏林，德国）是用于腹部CT检查的低渗，非离子，碘化造影剂（CM）。研究了518例患者中的碘戊醇和碘普罗胺的静脉内安全性和放射线有效性。具体来说，比较了不良事件（AE）的发生频率，诊断信息质量的主观变化以及定量增强特征。
材料与方法：在8家医院进行了一项前瞻性，双盲，随机，多中心，平行分组的研究。患者接受100 ml的iopentol 300 mg I / ml或iopromide 300 mg I / ml。
结果：与戊普罗米特组相比，碘戊醇组的AE患者发生率在统计学上显着较低（2.3％对8.9％，p <0.001）。两组的不适感都很常见（44.8％vs. 49.4％，p = 0.33），最常见的是热感和温暖感。总体而言，两组的诊断信息相似。两种CM均给出了较高的检查率，被认为是最佳检查（87.1％对90.5％，p = 0.34），并且诊断可信度有所提高（87.5％对91.1％，p = 0.22）。在定量增强特性方面，未发现两个CM之间存在显着差异。
结论：在这项研究中，碘伏特醇比碘普罗胺显着增强腹部CT检查的安全性。两种CM的放射线疗效均相似。

BACKGROUND & AIMS: :Regarding the evoked potential (EP) as a superposition of evoked EEG rhythms in several frequency ranges, we investigated the following issue: Are distinct evoked rhythms, in particular the alpha (8-15 Hz) response, related to separable physiological processes? Frequency domain analysis of EPs was used to evaluate results of cross-modality experiments, i.e.: responses to auditory stimuli were simultaneously recorded from the auditory cortex (adequate stimulation) and from the visual cortex (inadequate stimulation). Responses to visual stimuli were recorded from the same sites. The results of these experiments and further measurements (EEG and MEG responses in humans, among them multiple sclerosis patients) are consistent in the following respect: The amplitudes of alpha responses are dependent on whether or not a stimulus applied is adequate. Alpha responses may thus be related mostly to primary sensory processing. In contrast, theta responses (4-7 Hz) were observed for adequate as well as inadequate stimuli. They may be related rather to associative and cognitive processing than to primary sensory processing. Thus frequency responses, in particular the alpha response, are not artificial results of digital filtering, but functionally significant brain responses.

背景与目标： ：关于诱发电位（EP）在几个频率范围内的诱发脑电节律的叠加，我们研究了以下问题：明显的诱发节律，特别是alpha（8-15 Hz）反应与可分离的生理过程有关吗？ EP的频域分析用于评估交叉模态实验的结果，即：同时记录听觉皮层（足够的刺激）和视觉皮层（不足的刺激）对听觉刺激的反应。从相同部位记录对视觉刺激的反应。这些实验的结果和进一步的测量结果（人类的EEG和MEG反应，其中包括多发性硬化症患者）在以下方面是一致的：α反应的幅度取决于所施加的刺激是否足够。因此，阿尔法响应可能主要与主要的感觉处理有关。相反，对于适当的和不充分的刺激观察到θ响应（4-7Hz）。它们可能与联想和认知处理有关，而不是与主要的感觉处理有关。因此，频率响应，尤其是alpha响应，不是数字滤波的人工结果，而是功能上重要的大脑响应。

BACKGROUND & AIMS: The purpose of this study was to determine if quantitative measurements of regional asynergy add independent prognostic information to global ejection fraction in patients with chronic coronary artery disease. Four hundred eighty-six patients with a history of Q-wave myocardial infarction who underwent gated-equilibrium radionuclide angiography at least 3 months after infarction were monitored for a median duration of 4.7 years. During follow-up there were 95 deaths. Four of five regional asynergy indexes analyzed were associated with overall mortality. The strength of the association between overall mortality and the index that proved to be optimal (univariate chi2 = 26.4, p < 0.001) was stronger than for global ejection fraction (univariate chi2 = 21.5, p < 0.001). For patients with global ejection fraction <40%, 4-year survival was 87% for those with a low asynergy index versus 65% for those with a high asynergy index (p = 0.016). In conclusion, indexes of regional asynergy add independent prognostic information to global left ventricular ejection fraction.

背景与目标： 这项研究的目的是确定是否定量测量区域性无力增加慢性冠状动脉疾病患者总射血分数的独立的预后信息。在梗死后至少3个月接受门控平衡放射性核素血管造影的466例有Q波心肌梗塞病史的患者的中位持续时间为4.7年。在随访期间，有95人死亡。所分析的五个区域无力指数中有四个与总体死亡率相关。总死亡率和被证明是最佳指标（单变量chi2 = 26.4，p <0.001）之间的关联强度要强于总体射血分数（单变量chi2 = 21.5，p <0.001）。对于总体射血分数<40％的患者，低无反应指数的患者的4年生存率为87％，而无高反应指数的患者的4年生存率为65％（p = 0.016）。综上所述，区域无力指标为整体左心室射血分数增加了独立的预后信息。