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PubMed1998

Species, sex, and seasonal differences in VNO size.

Differences in the sizes of sensory and neural structures are used as an indication of differences in the function of those structures. Large VNOs often are interpreted to mean that this sense is particularly important in the life history of the animal. They also are assumed to be associated with more primitive animals. I examined VNO sizes across mammalian, reptilian, and amphibian lineages while attempting to account for total body size, because VNO and total body sizes are related. Most descriptions of VNO size and development are not quantified and often ambiguous. Large VNOs in a lineage should not be interpreted necessarily as primitive. Comparisons across smaller taxonomic ranges are easier to interpret. Plethodontid salamanders are a diverse set of species for which VNO descriptions show trends in size associated with habitat, sex, and season. Semiaquatic species tend to have proportionately larger VNOs than terrestrial species, males have larger organs than females, and VNOs can show increases and decreases in size that may be associated with seasonal activities. Salamanders may use their VNOs to locate and identify mates, as part of the courtship sequences, or to identify and assess neighboring territory holders.

Animals↗

PubMed2000

Magnetic phenomena at and near nu = 1 / 2 and 1 / 4: theory, experiment, and interpretation

I show that the Hamiltonian theory of composite fermions is capable of yielding a unified description in fair agreement with recent experiments on polarization P and relaxation rate 1/T1 in quantum Hall states at filling nu = p/(2ps+1), at and near nu = 1 / 2 and 1 / 4 ( s = 1,2) at zero and nonzero temperatures. I show how rotational invariance and two dimensionality can make the underlying interacting theory behave like a free one in a limited context.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2005

Evaluation of BioCreAtIvE assessment of task 2.

BACKGROUND: Molecular Biology accumulated substantial amounts of data concerning functions of genes and proteins. Information relating to functional descriptions is generally extracted manually from textual data and stored in biological databases to build up annotations for large collections of gene products. Those annotation databases are crucial for the interpretation of large scale analysis approaches using bioinformatics or experimental techniques. Due to the growing accumulation of functional descriptions in biomedical literature the need for text mining tools to facilitate the extraction of such annotations is urgent. In order to make text mining tools useable in real world scenarios, for instance to assist database curators during annotation of protein function, comparisons and evaluations of different approaches on full text articles are needed. RESULTS: The Critical Assessment for Information Extraction in Biology (BioCreAtIvE) contest consists of a community wide competition aiming to evaluate different strategies for text mining tools, as applied to biomedical literature. We report on task two which addressed the automatic extraction and assignment of Gene Ontology (GO) annotations of human proteins, using full text articles. The predictions of task 2 are based on triplets of protein--GO term--article passage. The annotation-relevant text passages were returned by the participants and evaluated by expert curators of the GO annotation (GOA) team at the European Institute of Bioinformatics (EBI). Each participant could submit up to three results for each sub-task comprising task 2. In total more than 15,000 individual results were provided by the participants. The curators evaluated in addition to the annotation itself, whether the protein and the GO term were correctly predicted and traceable through the submitted text fragment. CONCLUSION: Concepts provided by GO are currently the most extended set of terms used for annotating gene products, thus they were explored to assess how effectively text mining tools are able to extract those annotations automatically. Although the obtained results are promising, they are still far from reaching the required performance demanded by real world applications. Among the principal difficulties encountered to address the proposed task, were the complex nature of the GO terms and protein names (the large range of variants which are used to express proteins and especially GO terms in free text), and the lack of a standard training set. A range of very different strategies were used to tackle this task. The dataset generated in line with the BioCreative challenge is publicly available and will allow new possibilities for training information extraction methods in the domain of molecular biology.

Computational Biology↗

PubMed2006

Assessment of electrocardiogram visual interpretation strategy based on scanpath analysis.

Automated ECG interpretation systems are supposed to follow human expert reasoning. Despite well-established standards, the visual interpretation strategy of the human is still undisclosed today. This paper presents a new approach to the interpretation process research based on eyetrack features captured from a human expert during biosignal visual inspection. This approach required a set of visual tasks consisting in ECG interpretation by volunteers of different degrees of expertise. The recorded eyeglobe trajectories were analysed in the context of medical data represented in the displayed ECG traces and revealed interesting information on diagnostic data distribution and principles of interpretation strategies. The scanpath-derived data make benefit of oculomotoric habits gathering in everyday practice, unconscious mutual perception-recognition interactions and are not affected by human memory or verbalization limits. For these reasons, they provide more objective assessment than any other method willingly controlled by the human. Besides new information about the ECG contents and quantitative descriptions of medical data distribution, our experiment reveals some eyetrack parameters as distinctive for interpretation skills estimation.

Cardiology↗

PubMed1988

Electroencephalographic monitoring for ischemia during carotid endarterectomy: visual versus computer analysis.

In a retrospective study, we compared the use of computer-generated spectral electroencephalographic descriptors with a neurologist's interpretation of raw EEG data. Data were collected from patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy and anesthetized with isoflurane in nitrous oxide and oxygen. The EEG was recorded on magnetic tape during the period immediately before and after occlusion. These tapes were then analyzed off-line using a computer to generate averaged changes in 18 spectral descriptors. A strip-chart of raw EEG before and after the carotid occlusion was interpreted by a neurologist, who assigned changes in the EEG following occlusion to one of four visual inspection groups, depending on the severity of change. A descriptive examination of the distribution of changes in spectral descriptors revealed that no single descriptor adequately reflected the neurologist's interpretation of the raw EEG. Using data from 20 patients, the percent change from preocclusion to postocclusion values for total power, spectral edge frequency, spectral variance, and log spectral variance was examined. Only for the visual inspection group judged by the electroencephalographer to have the most severe ischemic change was there a significant difference in total power and log spectral variance. Although computer-processed EEG devices are of value as trending devices for detecting visual patterns associated with inadequate cerebral perfusion, single descriptors in this study did not consistently reflect a neurologist's diagnosis of ischemia. Single descriptors of spectral EEG analysis may not be sufficient to use as alarm variables in the recognition of cerebral ischemia.

Brain Ischemia↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Radiology in family practice: experience in community practice.

This study examined the utilization and interpretation of office x-rays in community practice. Analysis of physician and practice descriptive data obtained by survey from the Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians Research Network, a representative sample of family physicians in Minnesota, leads to these conclusions: (1) Most (87.3%) of the study physicians have on-site x-ray facilities. (2) An extensive variety of x-rays is obtained in the office. (3) Most (54.2%) family physicians interpret their own x-rays and self-select those they want re-read by a radiologist; 43.8% referred all x-rays to a radiologist. (4) Of those who self-select x-rays for referral, 68.9% refer 10% or fewer films. (5) Reasons for referral are: (a) to follow an "a priori" decision, (b) to make a diagnosis when clinical findings are inconclusive, (c) to confirm the physician's own clinical diagnosis, (d) to protect from medical-legal problems, and (e) to consult because of the seriousness of the problem. The study physicians also believe that the interpretation of office x-rays is a basic skill of the family physician, that residents should be trained to interpret 90% or more of their office x-rays, and that radiologists should be used as consultants on the basis of identified need similar to the way other consultants are used. The study also showed that decision criteria for referral are based on sound clinical and quality of care issues, that liability concerns have a definite influence on referral rates for x-ray interpretation, and that a contractual reading arrangement with a radiologist and close proximity to a radiologist both tend to increase his or her use.

Adult↗

PubMed2000

Communicator styles of hospital patients during nurse-patient counseling.

This article describes nurse-patient communication during counseling sessions. It focuses on the patient as a participant in a discussion and aims at a description of patients' communicator styles, which were observed on videotape based on 38 counseling sessions transcribed word by the word. Interviews of the participating nurses and patients were used for partial support of the interpretations. The analytic method chosen was typology, and it has been used for achieving a multifaceted qualitative description of patient communication. The research material yielded seven types of communicator styles: Quietly Assenting, Emotionally Expressive, Storyteller, Stoic Observer, Inquisitive of Detail, Dominant, and Critical Self-observer. The communicator styles were indicative of the multitude of ways in which patients participate in counseling discussions and they make it possible to describe the varying expressions of patient communication. This article presents new background information on patient communication and the outcome may prove to be useful for developing health counseling.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Can whole genome analysis refine the taxonomy of the genus Rhodococcus?

The current systematics of the genus Rhodococcus is unclear, partly because many members were originally included before the application of a polyphasic taxonomic approach, central to which is the acquisition of 16S rRNA sequence data. This has resulted in the reclassification and description of many new species. Hence, the literature is replete with new species names that have not been brought together in an organized and easily interpreted form. This taxonomic confusion has been compounded by assigning many xenobiotic degrading isolates with phylogenetic positions but without formal taxonomic descriptions. In order to provide a framework for a taxonomic approach based on multiple genetic loci, a survey was undertaken of the known genome characteristics of members of the genus Rhodococcus including: (i) genetics of cell envelope biosynthesis; (ii) virulence genes; (iii) gene clusters involved in metabolic degradation and industrially relevant pathways; (iv) genetic analysis tools; (v) rapid identification of bacteria including rhodococci with specific gene RFLPs; (vi) genomic organization of rrn operons. Genes encoding virulence factors have been characterized for Rhodococcus equi and Rhodococcus fascians. Based on peptide signature comparisons deduced from gene sequences for cytochrome P-450, mono- and dioxygenases, alkane degradation, nitrile metabolism, proteasomes and desulfurization, phylogenetic relationships can be deduced for Rhodococcus erythropolis, Rhodococcus globerulus, Rhodococcus ruber and a number of undesignated Rhodococcus spp. that may distinguish the genus Rhodococcus into two further genera. The linear genome topologies that exist in some Rhodococcus species may alter a previously proposed model for the analysis of genomic fingerprinting techniques used in bacterial systematics.

Actinobacteria↗

PubMed2006

Culturally-sensitive complaints of depressions and anxieties in women.

BACKGROUND: Current classifications of Mental Disorders are centered on Westernized concepts and constructs. "Cross-cultural sensitivity" emphasizes culturally-appropriate translations of symptoms and questions, assuming that concepts and constructs are applicable. METHODS: Groups and individual psychiatrists from various cultures from Asia, Latin America, North Africa and Eastern Europe prepared descriptions of main symptoms and complaints of treatment-seeking women in their cultures, which are interpreted by clinicians as a manifestation of a clinically-relevant dysphoric disorder. They also transliterated the expressions of DSM IV criteria of main dysphoric disorders in their cultures. RESULTS: In many non-western cultures the symptoms and constructs that are interpreted and treated as dysphoric disorders are mostly somatic and are different from the Western-centered DSM or ICD systems. In many cases the DSM and ICD criteria of depression and anxieties are not even acknowledged by patients. LIMITATIONS: The descriptive approach reported here is a preliminary step which involved local but Westernized clinicians-investigators following a biomedical thinking. It should be followed by a more systematic-comprehensive surveys in each culture. CONCLUSIONS: Westernized concepts and constructs of mental order and disorders are not necessarily universally applicable. Culturally-sensitive phenomena, treatments and treatment responses may be diversified. Attempts at their cross-cultural harmonization should take into consideration complex interactional multi-dimensional processes.

Adult↗

PubMed1998

The cure for colon cancer: results from the EUROCARE study.

The interpretation of time trends and geographical differences of population-based survival rates is generally not easy, due to the difficulty in disentangling the effects of observational biases, diagnostic and therapeutic procedures and their interactions. Whereas descriptive analysis of relative survival is generally based on survival levels estimated at fixed time since diagnosis, interpretation issues can take advantage from the analysis of the shape of the considered relative survival. Parametric survival models allowing the estimation of the fraction of cured patients are applied here to analyze and discuss the differences in colon cancer relative survival between European countries, according to age and period of diagnosis. The survival curves of colon cancer patients are described according to 2 parameters: the proportion of cured patients and the mean survival time of fatal cases. These parameters are estimated by least square nonlinear regression of relative survival values derived from the EUROCARE Project publication. Exponential and Weibull survival functions are used to model the relative survival curve for the fraction of fatal cases. The Weibull model gives generally a better fit with respect to the exponential model, thus indicating that the mortality rate for fatal cases is decreasing with time since diagnosis. For the youngest patients, however, the 2 survival functions give practically overlapping estimates. The overall proportion of colon cancer patients in Europe that are estimated to be cured was 38.6%. This proportion increased from 36% to 40% for patients diagnosed in 1978-1980 and in 1983-1985, respectively. Accordingly, mean survival time of fatal cases increased from 1.18 to 1.52 years. According to age, the proportion of cured patients present a marked decrease from young (48.4% at age 15-44 years) to middle-aged patients (38.6% at age 5564 years) and only a mild decrease from these to the oldest patients (34.4% at age 75 or more). The opposite effect was shown by survival time of fatal cases, i.e., 1.71, 1.75 and 0.77 years for the same age classes, respectively. Proportion of cured cases and mean survival time of fatal cases tended to be positively correlated with each other across countries. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that a real improvement in colon cancer survival took place in Europe during the years 1978-1985 and also suggest that the well-known decrease of relative survival with age at diagnosis could be mostly due to a decreasing efficacy of early diagnosis for patients under 60 years old and to less effective therapies for older patients.

Adult↗

PubMed1991

[Freud's interpretation of the manifest dream. Attempt at theoretical historical and biographical motives of ambivalent dream devaluation].

Freud's description of the manifest dream is characterized by an implicit appreciation and an explicit devaluation of dream images. The theoretical motives for this ambivalent evaluation are, according to the author, already apparent in Freud's primacy of the written word evident in his preanalytical writings, which submit dream images to the standard of the written word and therefore devaluate them. According to the author the underlying biographic motive is an ambivalent internalization of the jewish law that prohibits the creation of idols which was conveyed to Freud by his father and the Philippson Bible.

Dreams↗

PubMed2003

An exploration of the concept of comfort.

This paper explores the concept of comfort within conceptual frameworks that identify comfort as a key component. The paper focuses on two main issues: firstly, descriptions of comfort and how comfort is defined; secondly, the relationship between comfort and other core concepts and how it is similar to, or differs from these concepts. The descriptions of comfort identify the difficulty of defining comfort and note that historical interpretations of comfort have changed over time. Key authors provide different perspectives of comfort and hence a uniform definition is not evident. The degree to which patients' perspectives are represented varies within the frameworks which suggests that further clarity is needed in this area. The relationship between comfort and other concepts considers the boundaries between comfort and two concepts: nursing as therapy and caring. Comfort tends to be seen as a minor aspect of these concepts focusing on relief of discomfort or actions that demonstrate caring. The paper concludes that there is a lack of clarity around the use of the term comfort which fits with a view of comfort as an emerging concept. Descriptions of comfort are clearly evident in the literature but differ in relation to the authors' views of nursing. The relationship between comfort and nursing as therapy and caring is also complex and highlights the debate in relation to comfort as a part of caring or as the overall focus of care.

Empathy↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Quality of life after among ovarian germ cell cancer survivors: a narrative analysis.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: To describe and interpret the meaning of experiences that are important to the quality of living of ovarian germ cell cancer survivors. RESEARCH APPROACH: Qualitative description within a constructivist paradigm. SETTING: 32 member sites of the Gynecologic Oncology Group and the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. PARTICIPANTS: 109 women between the ages of 19-64 (median age = 36) who were enrolled on prospective clinical trials of cisplatin-based chemotherapy after surgery and disease-free for at least two years. METHODOLOGIC APPROACH: As part of a larger study, narrative responses to four semistructured questions were collected at the end of a telephone interview. Using naturalistic inquiry and qualitative description techniques, content labels were assigned to units of text that seemed to encapsulate one complete thought or idea. The labeled groups were collapsed into interpreted subthemes. Finally, four general themes were constructed as representations of shared narrative responses and meanings. FINDINGS: The four constructed themes are celebrating illness, experiencing empathetic affirmation, mourning losses, and valuing illness. INTERPRETATION: In addition to measuring physical, psychological, and sexual functioning in women surviving ovarian germ cell cancer, nurses also must understand how these issues fit into their everyday lived experiences. The four themes may help clinicians and researchers to understand issues that are important to the quality of living of ovarian germ cell cancer survivors.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Getting language rights, shifting linguistic traditions.

"Endangerment," "loss," "death," and related terms are increasingly familiar in descriptions of sociolinguistic changes now occurring at an unprecedented scale due to forces of globalization. They can serve both as names for shared concerns of linguists and anthropologists, and as descriptions of otherwise different scenes of social encounter, because they are subject to multiple uses and interpretations. This paper focuses on tacit, enabling assumptions of three distinct strategies for framing and redressing "threats" to marginalized languages and speech communities. Recognition of their ideological grounds helps develop a sharper sense of their different uses, and the different social saliences which linguistic descriptions can have in and for marginalized communities.

Anthropology, Cultural↗

PubMed1998

Highly restricted fertility: very small families in the British fertility decline.

From the earliest stages of the British fertility decline, falling mean family size was accompanied by marked rises in the proportion of married women who remained childless or who bore only a single child. This paper summarises those changes, their impact on average family size, and the implications for estimates of the proportions of couples who attempted to space their children in the early years of marriage. The explanatory power of some commonly cited interpretations of the general decline in marital fertility is then considered in the context of this growth in number of families of highly restricted fertility. The paper highlights a need for more emphasis on descriptive and analytical approaches that are sensitive to distributions within populations. Also emphasized is the importance of developing interpretations that allow for the possibility that different factors may operate on different sub-sets of families at different points in time.

Birth Rate↗

PubMed1993

An overview of ventilator observations.

Nursing staff new to intensive care can often be apprehensive when observing, recording and interpreting ventilator observations. This review of ventilation and the necessary observations involved offers a description of the observations performed, with a problem-solving approach to cause, rationale and possible action that may be required. Calculations related to spontaneous and mechanical respiratory function are discussed, with recommendations for individual requirements. Explanation of available settings, demonstrating the functions and delivery methods of different ventilators is included, and a discussion on alarm settings and rationale. For the purpose of assessing the ventilatory support in use there is a guide to interpretation of arterial blood gases with suggestions and rationale for necessary changes of parameters.

Blood Gas Analysis↗

PubMed1977

Suicidal behavior as a form of communication in married couples.

Suicidal behavior, specifically threats of suicide and acts of self-injury and self-poisoning, are interpreted by suicidologists as acts of communication directed to some person important in the social life of the potential victim. Four groups of married couples were studied using a measure of their marital communication habits and an intensive personal interview. These groups included wives who (a) were volunteer workers in a suicide prevention center, (b) were experiencing marital problems but were not actively suicidal, (c) had called the suicide prevention center and made a verbal threat of suicide, and (d) had actually committed acts of self-injury or self-poisoning for which they received emergency room or hospital treatment. Analysis of the data revealed that the quality of interpersonal communication between spouses significantly deteriorated across the groups as the degree of suicidal behavior increased. Descriptive data are discussed for their relevance to clinicians who, if they correctly interpret the meaning of the "suicide attempt," may be in a position to facilitate its being a successful one.

Attitude↗

PubMed2000

From symbols to flesh: the polymorphous destiny of narration.

The author analyses certain aspects of the narration of a generally taciturn hysterico-phobic obsessional patient as they appear in the transference relationship, pinpointing its phallic mastery and the sadistic impact of the domination over the audience/analyst that underlies this mode of discourse. She examines them in relation to Proust's 'A la recherche du temps perdu', discussing the place of perversion in analytic listening and interpretation. She then outlines some of the key structuralist and formalist views of narration as a form of syntactic structure expanded by the resolution of an enigma via a hero's ordeal, arguing that if syntactic structure exists, it consists neither of affirmation nor of negation but rather of interrogation. The author notes that what makes psychoanalytic theory radically different from other interpretive theories is the co-presence of sexuality and thought: psychoanalysis reinforces the formal description of a signifying act by the unconscious psychosexual conditions of its possibility. She then discusses the poetic narrative of Nerval and also that of Proust, which is dominated by the acting out of perverse fantasy, the resulting polyphony of various psychosexual registers, its philosophical and metaphysical impact and its relevance to the analyst's own interpretive acts when formulating stories within the countertransference relationship.

Countertransference↗