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At least 487 records · Page 27Linked to original sources
PubMed1998

Three-dimensional echocardiographic planimetry of maximal regurgitant orifice area in myxomatous mitral regurgitation: intraoperative comparison with proximal flow convergence.

OBJECTIVES: We sought to validate direct planimetry of mitral regurgitant orifice area from three-dimensional echocardiographic reconstructions. BACKGROUND: Regurgitant orifice area (ROA) is an important measure of the severity of mitral regurgitation (MR) that up to now has been calculated from hemodynamic data rather than measured directly. We hypothesized that improved spatial resolution of the mitral valve (MV) with three-dimensional (3D) echo might allow accurate planimetry of ROA. METHODS: We reconstructed the MV using 3D echo with 3 degrees rotational acquisitions (TomTec) using a transesophageal (TEE) multiplane probe in 15 patients undergoing MV repair (age 59 +/- 11 years). One observer reconstructed the prolapsing mitral leaflet in a left atrial plane parallel to the ROA and planimetered the two-dimensional (2D) projection of the maximal ROA. A second observer, blinded to the results of the first, calculated maximal ROA using the proximal convergence method defined as maximal flow rate (2pi(r2)va, where r is the radius of a color alias contour with velocity va) divided by regurgitant peak velocity (obtained by continuous wave [CW] Doppler) and corrected as necessary for proximal flow constraint. RESULTS: Maximal ROA was 0.79 +/- 0.39 (mean +/- SD) cm2 by 3D and 0.86 +/- 0.42 cm2 by proximal convergence (p = NS). Maximal ROA by 3D echo (y) was highly correlated with the corresponding flow measurement (x) (y = 0.87x + 0.03, r = 0.95, p < 0.001) with close agreement seen (AROA (y - x) = 0.07 +/- 0.12 cm2). CONCLUSIONS: 3D echo imaging of the MV allows direct visualization and planimetry of the ROA in patients with severe MR with good agreement to flow-based proximal convergence measurements.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

An algorithm for targeted convergence of Euler or Newton iterations.

The concept of multistationarity has become essential for understanding cell differentiation. For this reason theoretical biologists have more and more frequently to determine the steady values, often multiple, of systems of non-linear differential equations. It is well known that iteration processes of current use converge or not towards a fixed point depending on the absolute value of the slope of the iteration function in the vicinity of the considered fixed point. A number of methods have been developed to obtain or accelerate convergence. As biologists, we do not pretend to review these works. Rather, we propose here a simple algorithm which permits to converge at will towards a chosen type of steady state. Others and we have used this procedure extensively for years for the analysis of complex biological systems. A compact program (using Mathematica) is available.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2001

A globally convergent Lagrange and barrier function iterative algorithm for the traveling salesman problem.

In this paper a globally convergent Lagrange and barrier function iterative algorithm is proposed for approximating a solution of the traveling salesman problem. The algorithm employs an entropy-type barrier function to deal with nonnegativity constraints and Lagrange multipliers to handle linear equality constraints, and attempts to produce a solution of high quality by generating a minimum point of a barrier problem for a sequence of descending values of the barrier parameter. For any given value of the barrier parameter, the algorithm searches for a minimum point of the barrier problem in a feasible descent direction, which has a desired property that the nonnegativity constraints are always satisfied automatically if the step length is a number between zero and one. At each iteration the feasible descent direction is found by updating Lagrange multipliers with a globally convergent iterative procedure. For any given value of the barrier parameter, the algorithm converges to a stationary point of the barrier problem without any condition on the objective function. Theoretical and numerical results show that the algorithm seems more effective and efficient than the softassign algorithm.

Algorithms↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Optical imaging of orientation and ocular dominance maps in area 17 of cats with convergent strabismus.

Strabismus (or squint) is both a well-established model for developmental plasticity of the brain and a frequent clinical symptom. While the layout and topographic relationship of functional domains in area 17 of divergently squinting cats has been analyzed extensively in recent years (e.g. Löwel et al., 1998), functional maps in convergently squinting animals have so far not been visualized with comparable detail. We have therefore investigated the functional organization of area 17 in adult cats with a surgically induced convergent squint angle. In these animals, visual acuity was determined by both behavioral tests and recordings of visual evoked potentials, and animals with comparable acuities in both eyes were selected for further experiments. The functional layout of area 17 was visualized using optical imaging of intrinsic signals. Monocular iso-orientation domains had a patchy appearance and their layout was different for left and right eye stimulation, so that segregated ocular dominance domains could be visualized. Iso-orientation domains exhibited a pinwheel-like organization, as previously described for normal and divergently squinting cats. Mean pinwheel density was the same in the experimental and control animals (3.4 pinwheel centers per mm2 cortical surface), but significantly (P < 0.00001) higher than that reported previously for normal and divergently squinting cats (2.7/mm2). A comparison of orientation with ocular dominance maps revealed that iso-orientation domains were continuous across the borders of ocular dominance domains and tended to intersect these borders at steep angles. However, in contrast to previous reports in normally raised cats, orientation pinwheel centers showed no consistent topographical relationship to the peaks of ocular dominance domains. Taken together, these observations indicate an overall similarity between the functional layout of orientation and ocular dominance maps in area 17 of convergently and divergently squinting cats. The higher pinwheel densities compared with previous reports suggest that animals from different gene pools might generally differ in this parameter and therefore also in the space constants of their cortical orientation maps.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Accelerated particle electrophoretic motion and separation in converging-diverging microchannels.

Accelerated particle electrophoretic motions were visualized in converging-diverging microchannels on poly(dimethylsiloxane) chips. The accelerated particle electrophoretic separation is highly desirable in on-chip flow cytometry and high-speed electrophoresis. The effects of electric field, particle size, particle trajectory, and channel structure on the particle electrophoretic motion are examined. We find that the ratio of the particle velocity in the throat to that in the straight channel is significantly lower than their cross-sectional area ratio. This discrepancy may be attributed to the locally higher electric field around the two poles of a particle, as compared to other regions inside the microchannel. We also find that the particle velocity ratio is increased for smaller particles moving through symmetric converging-diverging channels under lower electric fields. These variations may be attributed to the negative dielectrophoretic force that is generated by the nonuniform electric field in the converging-diverging section. In addition, we find that particle trajectory has insignificant influences on the maximum velocity ratio obtained in the throat.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2004

Toward fully synthetic glycoproteins by ultimately convergent routes: a solution to a long-standing problem.

A method is disclosed for the convergent synthesis of multiply glycosylated peptides. The approach centers on a convergent technique for generating masked, complex glycopeptide-containing C-terminal acyl donors. Activation of the latent donor in situ and use directly in segment coupling with a second peptide bearing a complex carbohydrate produces a completely unprotected, bifunctional glycopeptide. The system demonstrates a minimum level of hydrolysis and epimerization at the C-terminal amino acid residue of the acyl donor during fully convergent segment coupling and is therefore a powerful tool for the synthesis of glycoproteins.

Acylation↗
PubMed2005

On the convergence of parallel tempering Monte Carlo simulations of LJ38.

The convergence of parallel tempering Monte Carlo simulations of the 38-atom Lennard-Jones cluster starting from the Oh global minimum and from the C(5v) second-lowest-energy minimum is investigated. It is found that achieving convergence is appreciably more difficult, particularly at temperatures in the vicinity of the Oh --> C(5v) transformation when starting from the C(5v) structure. A strategy combining the Tsallis generalized ensemble and the parallel tempering algorithm is implemented and used to improve the convergence of the simulations in the vicinity of the Oh --> C(5v) transformation.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

Molecular dynamics simulations of DNA with polarizable force fields: convergence of an ideal B-DNA structure to the crystallographic structure.

We have investigated to what extent molecular dynamics (MD) simulations can reproduce DNA sequence-specific features, given different electrostatic descriptions and different cell environments. For this purpose, we have carried out multiple unrestrained MD simulations of the DNA duplex d(CCAACGTTGG)2. With respect to the electrostatic descriptions, two different force fields are studied: a traditional description based on atomic point charges and a polarizable force field. With respect to the cell environment, the difference between crystal and solution environments is emphasized, as well as the structural importance of divalent ions. By imposing the correct experimental unit cell environment, an initial configuration with two ideal B-DNA duplexes in the unit cell is shown to converge to the crystallographic structure. This convergence is measured by the appearance of sequence-dependent features that very closely resemble the crystallographic ones as well as by the decay of the all-atom root-mean-squared coordinates deviations (RMSD) with respect to the crystallographic structure. Given the appropriate crystallographic constraints, this is the first example of multiple nanosecond molecular dynamics trajectory that shows an ideal B-DNA model converging to an experimental structure, with a significant decay of RMSD.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1999

Effect of convergence angle and luting agent on the fracture strength of In ceram crowns.

This study compared the fracture strength of In ceram crown shapes fabricated with either 8 or 16 degrees total occlusal convergence; and attached with either a commercial zinc phosphate cement or a glass ionomer cement. Thirty crown shapes (8 mm diameter and 8.5 mm high) were fabricated for each preparation design on a brass master die with approximately the same dimensions as a premolar. In ceram crown shapes were luted on to the die using zinc phosphate or glass ionomer. The crown shapes were fractured in a testing machine (Instron) using a steel ball, 4 mm in diameter, that contacted the occlusal surface and the resulting data were statistically analyzed using a Mann-Whitney test. The results indicate that there is no statistical difference in the fracture strength values between preparations with 8 degrees total convergence compared with 16 degrees using the same cement. However, crown shapes luted with zinc phosphate on preparations with 8 and 16 degrees total occlusal convergence were significantly stronger than those luted using glass ionomer cements (p<0.05).

Journal Article↗
PubMed2004

Modelling converging hazards in survival analysis.

The Cox proportional hazards model has become the standard model for survival analysis. It is often seen as the null model in that "... explicit excuses are now needed to use different models" (Keiding, Proceedings of the XIXth International Biometric Conference, Cape Town, 1998). However, converging hazards also occur frequently in survival analysis. The Burr model, which may be derived as the marginal from a gamma frailty model, is one commonly used tool to model converging hazards. We outline this approach and introduce a mixed model which extends the Burr model and allows for both proportional and converging hazards. Although a semi-parametric model in its own right, we demonstrate how the mixed model can be derived via a gamma frailty interpretation, suggesting an E-M fitting procedure. We illustrate the modelling techniques using data on survival of hospice patients.

Algorithms↗
PubMed1996

Summation of activation: evidence from multiple primes that converge and diverge within semantic memory.

Six experiments addressed the combinatorial influence of multiple related primes in naming, lexical decision and relatedness judgment performance. Primes either converged on a single semantic representation (e.g., LION-STRIPES-TIGER) or diverged onto distinct semantic representations (e.g., KIDNEY-PIANO-ORGAN). The facilitatory influence of 2 related primes was well predicted by the sum of the influences from the single-related-prime conditions (a) for both convergent and divergent primes, (b) in lexical-decision and naming, (c) across varying prime-target stimulus onset asynchronies, and (d) under target-degradation conditions that increased the priming effects. The relatedness-judgment task yielded an additive pattern of priming for convergent prime conditions; however, an underadditive pattern of priming was found for divergent prime conditions. Discussion focuses on the role of attentional systems that modulate the type of information used to perform a given task.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Development of interocular equivalence of place learning in the rat requires convergence sites established prior to training.

Interocular equivalence for spatial-navigation learning requires that the neural pathways originating in each eye converge on common memory sites. Rats fail to display interocular equivalence if they are trained and tested on the Morris (1981) place-navigation task when they are 22 days old, but they succeed if they are trained and tested when they are 28 days old (Rudy & Stadler-Morris, 1987). This delay suggests that there is a period in development when the interhemispheric connections necessary for convergence are immature and rats behave temporarily as split-brain organisms. In the present experiment, rats completed training when they were 22 days old but were not tested for interocular equivalence until they were 28 days old. Nevertheless, these subjects failed to demonstrate equivalence. Thus, for interocular equivalence to be observed, the neural pathways from each eye must converge on common neural sites that are functional at the time the memory representation is established.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Stimulation at a site of auditory-somatosensory convergence in the medial geniculate nucleus is an effective unconditioned stimulus for fear conditioning.

The medial division of the medial geniculate nucleus (MGm) and the posterior intralaminar nucleus (PIN) are necessary for fear conditioning to an auditory conditioned stimulus (CS), receive both auditory and somatosensory input, and project to the amygdala, which is involved in production of fear conditioned responses. If CS-unconditioned stimulus (US) convergence in the MGm-PIN is critical for fear conditioning, then microstimulation of this area should serve as an effective US during classical conditioning, in place of standard footshock. Guinea pigs underwent conditioning (40-60 trials) using a tone as the CS and medial geniculate complex microstimulation as the US. Conditioned bradycardia developed when the US electrodes were in the PIN. However, microstimulation was not an effective US for conditioning in other parts of the medial geniculate or for sensitization training in the PIN or elsewhere. Learning curves were similar to those found previously for footshock US. Thus, the PIN can be a locus of functional CS-US convergence for previously for footshock US. Thus, the PIN can be a locus of functional CS-US convergence for fear conditioning to acoustic stimuli.

Amygdala↗
PubMed2004

Convergent evolution in mechanical design of lamnid sharks and tunas.

The evolution of 'thunniform' body shapes in several different groups of vertebrates, including whales, ichthyosaurs and several species of large pelagic fishes supports the view that physical and hydromechanical demands provided important selection pressures to optimize body design for locomotion during vertebrate evolution. Recognition of morphological similarities between lamnid sharks (the most well known being the great white and the mako) and tunas has led to a general expectation that they also have converged in their functional design; however, no quantitative data exist on the mechanical performance of the locomotor system in lamnid sharks. Here we examine the swimming kinematics, in vivo muscle dynamics and functional morphology of the force-transmission system in a lamnid shark, and show that the evolutionary convergence in body shape and mechanical design between the distantly related lamnids and tunas is much more than skin deep; it extends to the depths of the myotendinous architecture and the mechanical basis for propulsive movements. We demonstrate that not only have lamnids and tunas converged to a much greater extent than previously known, but they have also developed morphological and functional adaptations in their locomotor systems that are unlike virtually all other fishes.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Syndecan-4 regulates non-canonical Wnt signalling and is essential for convergent and extension movements in Xenopus embryos.

Early shaping of Xenopus laevis embryos occurs through convergent and extension movements, a process that is driven by intercalation of polarized dorsal mesodermal cells and regulated by non-canonical Wnt signalling. Here, we have identified Xenopus syndecan-4 (xSyn4), a cell-surface transmembrane heparan sulphate proteoglycan. At the gastrula stage, xSyn4 is expressed in the involuting dorsal mesoderm and the anterior neuroectoderm. Later, it is found in the pronephros, branchial arches, brain and tailbud. Both gain- and loss-of-function of xSyn4 impaired convergent extension movements in Xenopus embryos and in activin-treated ectodermal explants. xSyn4 interacts functionally and biochemically with the Wnt receptor Frizzled7 (xFz7) and its signal transducer Dishevelled (xDsh). Furthermore, xSyn4 is necessary and sufficient for translocation of xDsh to the plasma membrane - a landmark in the activation of non-canonical Wnt signalling. Our results suggest that the ability of xSyn4 to translocate xDsh is regulated by fibronectin, a component of the extracellular matrix required for proper convergent extension movements. We propose a model where xSyn4 and fibronectin cooperate with xFz7 and Wnt in the specific activation of the non-canonical Wnt pathway.

Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing↗
PubMed2026

Mapping convergent regulators of melanoma drug resistance by PerturbFate.

High-throughput genomic studies have uncovered associations between diverse genetic alterations and disease phenotypes. However, elucidating how perturbations in functionally disparate genes give rise to convergent cellular states remains challenging. Here we present PerturbFate, a high-throughput, cost-effective, combinatorial-indexing single-cell platform that enables systematic interrogation of massively parallel CRISPR interference1 perturbations across the full spectrum of gene regulation, from chromatin remodelling and nascent transcription to steady-state transcriptomic phenotypes. Using PerturbFate, we profiled more than 300,000 cultured melanoma cells to characterize multimodal phenotypic and gene regulatory responses to perturbations in more than 140 vemurafenib resistance-associated genes. We uncovered a shared dedifferentiated cell state marked by convergent cooperative transcription factor activities across diverse genetic perturbations. We further dissected phenotypic responses to perturbations in Mediator complex components, linking module-specific biochemical properties to convergent transcriptional activations. We identified common regulatory nodes that drive similar phenotypic outcomes across distinct genetic perturbations. We also delineated how perturbations in functionally unrelated genes reshape cell state. Thus, PerturbFate establishes a versatile platform for identifying key molecular regulators by anchoring multimodal regulatory dynamics to disease-relevant phenotypes.

Humans↗
PubMed1999

The convergent point of the endocytic and autophagic pathways in leydig cells.

Endocytic tracers and marker enzyme of lysosomes were used in the present study to analyze the processes of autophagocytosis and endocytosis, and the convergent point of these two pathways in Leydig cells. The endocytic and autophagic compartments can be easily identified in Leydig cells, which makes easier to define the stages of two pathways than was possible before. The evidences indicated that the late endosomes (dense MVBs) deliver their endocytosed gold tracers together with lysosomal enzymes to the early autophagosomes and they are the convergent point of the two pathways. During this convergent process, the early autophagosomes transform into late autophagosomes and the late endosomes transform into mature lysosomes.

Animals↗