A learning curve of a performance measure provides a graphical method with many benefits for judging classifier properties. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) is a useful and increasingly popular performance measure. In this paper, we consider the computational aspects of calculating AUC learning curves. A new method is provided for incrementally updating exact AUC curves and for calculating ap...

BACKGROUND Endothelial-cardiac myocyte (CM) interactions play a key role in regulating cardiac function, but the role of these interactions in CM survival is unknown. This study tested the hypothesis that endothelial cells (ECs) promote CM survival and enhance spatial organization in a 3-dimensional configuration. METHODS AND RESULTS Microvascular ECs and neonatal CMs were seeded on peptide h...

BACKGROUND/AIMS Angiotensin II (AngII) type 1 receptor (AT1R) could be activated by mechanical stress without the involvement of AngII during the development of cardiac hypertrophy. We aimed to identify sensing sites of AT1R for activation by mechanical stretch. METHODS We constructed several site-directed mutations of AT1R (AT1R(K199Q), AT1R(L212F), AT1R(Q257A) and AT1R(C289A)), transfected ...

BACKGROUND Human genetically inherited cardiac diseases have been studied mainly in heterologous systems or animal models, independent of patients' genetic backgrounds. Because sources of human cardiomyocytes (CMs) are extremely limited, the use of urine samples to generate induced pluripotent stem cell-derived CMs would be a noninvasive method to identify cardiac dysfunctions that lead to path...

INTRODUCTION In this study we investigated muscle magnetic resonance imaging in congenital myasthenic syndromes (CMS). METHODS Twenty-six patients with 9 CMS subtypes and 10 controls were imaged. T1-weighted (T1w) and short-tau inversion recovery (STIR) 3-Tesla MRI images obtained at thigh and calf levels were scored for severity. RESULTS Overall mean the T1w score was increased in GFPT1 an...

BACKGROUND Long QT syndrome (LQTS) is associated with increased risk of ventricular arrhythmias and cardiac arrest. LQTS type 1 (LQT1), the most prevalent subtype of LQTS, is caused by defects of slow delayed rectifier potassium current (IKs) that lead to abnormal cardiac repolarization. Here we used pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-technology to investigate both the electrophysiological and also f...

The chronic mild stress (CMS) model of depression is considered by many to be the animal model of depression that has the greatest validity and translational potential, but it has often been criticized for a perceived lack of reliability. The aims of this study were to establish the extent to which the procedure is reproducible, and to identify experimental variables relevant to its reliability...

1 In this paper, we focus on the accident messages displayed on freeway changeable message signs 2 (CMS), and study their effect on drivers’ route choice behavior. Previous studies on the effect of 3 CMS messages have shown mixed results, due to differences in event types and modeling choices. 4 Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to ascertain the real effect of CMS accident messages, 5 and...

BACKGROUND Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) provide means to study the pathophysiology of genetic disorders. Catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT) is a malignant inherited ion channel disorder predominantly caused by mutations in the cardiac ryanodine receptor (RyR2). In this study the cellular characteristics of CPVT are investigated and whether the electrophysiolog...