AIMS Different echocardiographic techniques are available for assessing right ventricular (RV) volumes but their clinical validity has not been well established. We compared the feasibility, reproducibility and accuracy of three different echocardiographic techniques for measuring RV volumes and ejection fraction (EF) in children after tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) repair. METHODS AND RESULTS Sev...

rangeland ecosystem contains various patches with different functions. structural and functional characteristics of rangeland patches are changed by management practices and can be used to interpret management effects. the structural and functional characteristics of fertilized patches in two rangeland ecosystems of ghareh ghir and maraveh tapeh were measured and analyzed in this study. a group...

storaging or transmission of speech signals at very low bit rate is a hot area in the field of speech processing. we used stochastic inter-frame interpolators and vector quantization (vq) as a new method for developing a high quality 1200 bps speech vocoder. the objective and subjecgtive test results show that performance of the new vocoder is compairable with 4800 bps standard vocoders (as celp).

To understand manual tactile functions in primates, it is essential to explore the interactions between the finger pad representations in somatosensory cortex. To this end, we used optical imaging and electrophysiological mapping to guide neuroanatomical tracer injections into distal digit tip representations of Brodmann area 3b in the squirrel monkey. Retrogradely labeled cell densities and an...

PURPOSE Pink gingival esthetic especially on the anterior teeth has been an important success criterion in implant-supported restoration. Inter-implant papillae are a critical factor for implant esthetics, and various techniques for inter-implant papilla reconstruction have been introduced. The aim of this study is to suggest and evaluate a surgical technique for reconstructing inter-implant pa...

This paper presents a simple, cheap and easily accessible demonstration experiment in two modifications. A typical example of a physical system for which damping forces have to be involved into equations is a damped spring mechanical oscillator. Here we use two models of the damping force, being produced by Foucault currents and by the force of the drag in air. It turns out, maybe as a slightly...

BACKGROUND Conjunctival ultraviolet autofluorescence (UVAF) photography was developed to detect and characterise pre-clinical sunlight-induced UV damage. The reliability of this measurement and its relationship to outdoor activity are currently unknown. METHODS 599 people aged 16-85 years in the cross-sectional Norfolk Island Eye Study were included in the validation study. 196 UVAF individua...

Structural equation modeling (SEM) and fMRI were used to test whether changes in the regional activity are accompanied by changes in the inter-regional connectivity as motor practice progresses. Ten healthy subjects were trained to perform finger movement task daily for 4 weeks. Three sessions of fMRI images were acquired within 4 weeks. The changes in inter-regional connectivity were evaluated...

this paper introduces an indirect adaptive fuzzy sliding mode controller as a power system stabilizer for damping local and inter-area modes of oscillations of multi-machine power systems. this controller is designed based on the combination of sliding mode controller and the fuzzy logic systems. the fuzzy systems are used to approximate the unknown functions of power system model. generator sp...

OBJECTIVES To determine the inter-study reproducibility of left ventricular (LV) mechanical dyssynchrony measures based on standard cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) cine images. DESIGN Steady-state free precession (SSFP) LV short-axis stacks and three long-axes were acquired on the same day at three time points. Circumferential strain systolic dyssynchrony indexes (SDI), area-SDI as we...