This paper presents a structure-adaptive hybrid RBF-BP (SAHRBF-BP) classifier with an optimized learning strategy. SAHRBF-BP is composed of a structure-adaptive RBF network and a BP network of cascade, where the number of RBF hidden nodes is adjusted adaptively according to the distribution of sample space, the adaptive RBF network is used for nonlinear kernel mapping and the BP network is used...

Previous studies have suggested a link between renal metabolism and local kidney hemodynamics to prevent potential hypoxic injury of particularly vulnerable nephron segments, such as the outer medullary region. The present study used three different inspiratory oxygen concentrations to modify renal metabolic state in the conscious rat (hypoxia 10% O2, normoxia 20% 02, and hyperoxia 100% 02). Re...

In this review we bring together some of our recent work from the angle of the diversified RBF topologies, including three different topologies; (i) the RBF network with tunable nodes; (ii) the Box-Cox output transformation based RBF network (Box-Cox RBF); and (iii) the RBF network with boundary value constraints (BVC-RBF). We show that the modified topologies have some advantages over the conv...

Numerical models of glacier and ice sheet dynamics traditionally employ nite difference or nite element methods. Although these are highly developed and mature methods, they su er from some drawbacks, such as inability to handle complex geometries ( nite di erences) or a costly assembly procedure for nonlinear problems ( nite elements). Additionally, they are mesh-based, and therefore moving do...

BACKGROUND The burden of disease due to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is rising in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and funding for global health is increasingly limited. As a large contributor of development assistance for health, the US government has the potential to influence overall trends in NCDs. Results-based financing (RBF) has been proposed as a strategy to increase aid eff...

The role for ANG II in renal blood flow (RBF) autoregulation is unsettled. The present study was designed to test the effect of clamping plasma ANG II concentrations ([ANG II]) by simultaneous infusion of the angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor captopril and ANG II on RBF autoregulation in halothane-anesthetized Sprague-Dawley rats. Autoregulation was defined as the RBF response to acute ch...

When the renal nerves are stimulated with sinusoidal stimuli over the frequency range 0.04-0.8 Hz, low (< or =0.4 Hz)- but not high (> or =0.4 Hz)-frequency oscillations appear in renal blood flow (RBF) and are proposed to increase responsiveness of the renal vasculature to stimuli. This hypothesis was tested in anesthetized rats in which RBF responses to intrarenal injection of norepinephrine ...

We examined the relative contribution of renin-angiotensin system blockade and bradykinin potentiation to the renal hemodynamic effect of the angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor enalaprilat in sodium-deprived dogs. Six conscious dogs instrumented for monitoring of blood pressure (BP) and renal blood flow (RBF) were employed in five groups of experiments. In group 1, enalaprilat alone was ad...

To test the effect of insulin on renal perfusion and the participation of NO and PG as mediators of this response, renal blood flow (RBF) was measured in sheep (n = 8) implanted with ultrasonic flow probes around renal arteries and with a systemic arterial pressure (SAP, n = 4) telemetry device. Three protocols were performed: 1) RBF and SAP were recorded (0800 to 1800 h) in fed and fasted shee...

Results-based financing (RBF) schemes-including performance based financing (PBF) and conditional cash transfers (CCT)-are increasingly being used to encourage use and improve quality of institutional health care for pregnant women in order to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality in low-income countries. While there is emerging evidence that RBF can increase service use and quality, little is...