Techniques are developed for nonparametric analysis of data under a Cox-regression-like model permitting time-dependent covariate effects determined by a regression function β0(t). Estimators ...resulting from maximization of an appropriate penalized partial likelihood are shown to exist and a computational approach is outlined. Weak uniform consistency (with a rate of convergence) and pointwise asymptotic normality of the estimators are established under regularity conditions. A consistent estimator of a common baseline hazard function is presented and used to construct a consistent estimator of the asymptotic variance of the estimator of the regression function. Extensions to multiple covariates, general relative risk functions and time-dependent covariates are discussed.
Simulating the Mind Dietrich, Dietmar; Fodor, Georg; Zucker, Gerhard
2008, 2008-11-30
eBook
Can psychoanalysis offer a new computer model? Can computer designers help psychoanalysts to understand their theory better?In contemporary publications human psyche is often related to neural ...networks. Why? The wiring in computers can also be related to application software. But does this really make sense? Artificial Intelligence has tried to implement functions of human psyche. The reached achievements are remarkable, however, the goal to get a functional model of the mental apparatus was not reached. Was the selected direction incorrect?The editors are convinced: yes, and they try to give answers here. If one accepts that the brain is an information processing system, then one also has to accept that computer theories can be applied to the brain`s functions, the human mental apparatus. The contributors of this book - Solms, Panksepp, Sloman and many others who are all experts in computer design, psychoanalysis and neurology are united in one goal: finding synergy in their interdisciplinary fields.
The Structural Genomics of Pathogenic Protozoa (SGPP) Consortium aimed to determine crystal structures of proteins from trypanosomatid and malaria parasites in a high throughput manner. The pipeline ...of target selection, protein production, crystallization, and structure determination, is sketched. Special emphasis is given to a number of technology developments including domain prediction, the use of "co-crystallants," and capillary crystallization. "Fragment cocktail crystallography" for medical structural genomics is also described.
Exposure to low ambient temperatures (Ta) accelerates appearance of the winter phenotype in Siberian hamsters transferred from long to short day lengths. Because melatonin transduces the effects of ...day length on the neuroendocrine axis, the authors assessed whether low Ta promotes the transition to winterlike traits by accelerating the onset of increased nocturnal melatonin secretion or by enhancing responsiveness to melatonin in short day lengths. Male hamsters were transferred from 16L (16 h light/day) to 8L (8 h light/day) photoperiods and held at 5 °C or 22 °C. Locomotor activity was recorded continuously, and body mass, testis size, and pelage color were determined biweekly for 8 weeks. The duration of nocturnal locomotion (.alpha), a reliable indicator of the duration of nocturnal melatonin secretion, lengthened significantly earlier in hamsters exposed to a Ta of 5 °C than 22 °C. Cold exposure increased the proportion of hamsters that were photoresponsive: gonadal regression in short days increased from 44% at 22 °C to 81% at 5 °C (p < 0.05); low Ta did not, however, accelerate testicular regression in animals that were photoresponsive. Nonphotoresponsive animals at 5 °C temporarily had longer .alphas during the first 4 weeks in short days and significant decreases in body mass and testicular size that were reversed during the ensuing weeks when .alpha decreased. In a 2nd experiment, pinealectomized male hamsters infused for 10 h/day with melatonin for 2 weeks had significantly lower body and testes masses when maintained at 5 °C but not 22 °C. Low-ambient temperature appears to accelerate the appearance of the winter phenotype primarily by increasing target tissue responsiveness to melatonin and to a lesser extent by augmenting the rate at which the duration of nocturnal melatonin secretion increases in short day lengths.
(ProQuest: ... denotes Hebrew characters omitted (or Cyrillic characters omitted.)) ONE OF THE UNRESOLVED MYSTERIES OF THE MIDDLE chapters of the Genesis narrative is the location of one of its ...central figures -the matriarch Sarah-for over 30 years.1 The last time Sarah appears alive is in Genesis 21, when she is in her early gos, dwelling with her husband Abraham and their son Isaac in or around Beersheba (Genesis 21:9 ff.) Abraham and Isaac figure prominently in Genesis 22 (the Akeidah, the Binding of Isaac), but Sarah is conspicuously absent. Using primarily biblical texts, but also midrashic, traditional and modern commentaries, I propose solutions to the mystery surrounding Sarah's whereabouts during her final 30 years, why she died in the environs of Hebron, and the significance for Sarah of the locale of B'er L'chai Ro-i.5 These suggestions are an alternative way of understanding the received tradition. Concluding remarks Sarah's disappearance from the biblical text for those many decades following Isaac's weaning and the silence surrounding her non-appearance in the Akeidah narrative begs for an explanation.
Background. Coronary bypass surgery carries a higher operative mortality and less favorable long-term clinical benefits for women than men. The impact of arterial revascularization on long-term ...results, including quality of life (QOL) in women, compared with men, has not been clearly defined.
Methods. A retrospective analysis was performed comparing 261 consecutive women patients from a single surgical practice receiving bilateral internal mammary artery (IMA) and supplemental vein grafts between January 1972 and October 1994 with a computer-matched cohort of 261 men undergoing bilateral IMA surgery during the same time period. Univariate analysis confirmed the homogeneity of the two groups based on multiple preoperative variables. The SF-36 QOL assessment tool was completed for all patients at follow-up, which ranged from 1 month to 25 years, with a mean follow-up of 9.1 years for women and 8.6 years for men.
Results. There was no significant difference in operative mortality, nor in the incidence of any of 10 postoperative complications evaluated. The actuarial survival at 15 years was 53.7% ± 4.8% for women and 50.9% ± 5.6% for men (
p = 0.218). At follow-up, 97.0% of women and 94.3% of men were free of angina and in Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS) class I or II. The need for reoperation (1.8% vs 1.9%) and PTCA (4.8% vs. 3.2%) was comparable in both groups. However, a higher rate of late myocardial infarction was found in women than men (1.8% vs 0.6,
p = 0.021). The long-term event-free survival was found to be no different in men than women (
p = 0.084). QOL as measured by the SF-36 was compared with the general population corrected for age and gender. Men and women scored as well or better than the general population in a majority of the eight health scales. Moreover, with regard to the health summary scores, men scored significantly higher (
p = 0.001) in physical health, whereas women scored significantly higher (
p = 0.011) in mental health when compared with age-adjusted norms.
Conclusions. Men and women undergoing coronary revascularization using bilateral internal mammary artery conduits experience comparable outcomes, excellent long-term results, and enjoy a QOL comparable to or better than the general population as measured by the SF-36.
As a result of 33 intercontinental Zoom calls, we characterise big Ramsey degrees of the generic partial order. This is an infinitary extension of the well known fact that finite partial orders ...endowed with linear extensions form a Ramsey class (this result was announced by Nešetřil and R\"odl in 1984 with first published proof by Paoli, Trotter and Walker in 1985). Towards this, we refine earlier upper bounds obtained by Hubička based on a new connection of big Ramsey degrees to the Carlson-Simpson theorem and we also introduce a new technique of giving lower bounds using an iterated application of the upper-bound theorem.
In most mammalian species, reduced androgen availability is associated with marked reductions in male sexuality; conversely, androgen replacement in castrated males restores sex behavior within a few ...weeks. Testosterone (T) pulse duration, amplitude, frequency, and inter-pulse interval may be as important as total amount of hormone in determining target tissue responsiveness. We remain ignorant of the number and duration of daily T pulses necessary and sufficient to sustain male mating behavior. An in-dwelling infusion system was employed to vary T-pulse frequencies and durations. Daily 4 h infusions of aqueous T (100 μg/0.064 ml) and twice daily 4 h pulses of T (each 50 μg/0.064 ml) were sufficient to maintain ejaculatory behavior of sexually experienced castrated hamsters for 11 weeks post-castration; castrated hamsters infused with vehicle ceased to display the ejaculatory pattern 3 weeks after gonadectomy. Circulating T concentrations of hormone-infused hamsters declined markedly 7 h after the termination of each infusion. These results establish that male sex behavior can be sustained with infusions of relatively low T concentrations for 4 h/day and suggests that the basal concentrations of T sustained by the gonad during inter-pulse intervals may not be necessary for maintenance of sex behavior. 4 h T infusions were sufficient to maintain penile and seminal vesicles weights, but not ventral prostate weights or flank gland dimensions; the threshold for maintaining male sex behavior is lower than that for some androgen-dependent peripheral structures. Development of effective androgen replacement regimens that sustain sex behavior in castrated animals may be useful in the design of androgen replacement therapy for hypogonadal men.
The "truth" campaign was created to change youth attitudes about tobacco and to reduce teen tobacco use throughout Florida by using youth-driven advertising, public relations, and advocacy. Results ...of the campaign include a 92 percent brand awareness rate among teens, a 15 percent rise in teens who agree with key attitudinal statements about smoking, a 19.4 percent decline in smoking among middle school students, and a 8.0 percent decline among high school students. States committed to results-oriented youth anti-tobacco campaigns should look to Florida's "truth" campaign as a model that effectively places youth at the helm of anti-tobacco efforts.
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