ÐThe time-triggered message-triggered object (TMO) scheme was formulated a few years ago as a major extension of the conventional object structuring schemes with the idealistic goal of facilitating general-form design and timeliness-guaranteed design of complex real-time application systems. Recently, as a new scheme for realizing TMO-structured distributed and parallel computer systems capable...

The time-triggered message-triggered object (TMO) scheme was formulated a few years ago as a major extension of the conventional object structuring schemes with the idealistic goal of facilitating general-form design and timeliness-guaranteed design of complex real-time application systems. Recently, as a new scheme for realizing TMO-structured distributed and parallel computer systems capable ...

BACKGROUND Repeated exposure to peritoneal dialysis (PD) solutions contributes to cumulative intraperitoneal inflammation and peritoneal injury. The present study aimed to explore the capacity of dialysate interleukin-6(IL-6) to a) predict peritoneal membrane function and peritonitis in incident PD patients, and b) to evaluate the influence of neutral pH, low glucose degradation product (GDP) P...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Peritoneal protein clearance (Pcl) is determined by both effective (small pores) membrane area and relative capillary leakiness (large pores). It is not known how these two components change with duration of peritoneal dialysis (PD) in the context of progressive membrane injury and differential attrition of patients with higher Pcl, which has been associated with incre...

PURPOSE We characterized the morphologic and functional changes in optic nerve crushed mice and evaluated electroretinogram (ERG) responses as tools to monitor retinal ganglion cell (RGC) dysfunction. METHODS We performed optic nerve crush (ONC) unilaterally in adult BALB/cJ mice. The neuronal loss in the RGC layer (GCL) and superior colliculus (SC) was determined by Nissl staining. Retinal t...

Currently, oversupply coal and coal-based power in China poses a great challenge to energy structure optimization and emissions reduction. The energy industry, however, is closely linked to the financial sector. In view of this, using a non-linear Panel Smooth Transition Regression (PSTR) model, this paper examines the threshold effects of financial developments on energy supply structures for ...

PURPOSE Processing of information through the cellular layers of the retina occurs in a serial manner. In the electroretinogram (ERG), this complicates interpretation of inner retinal changes as dysfunction may arise from "upstream" neurons or may indicate a direct loss to that neural generator. We propose an approach that addresses this issue by defining ERG gain relationships. METHODS Regre...

PURPOSE To determine the presence and magnitude of the photopic negative response (PhNR) component of the electroretinogram (ERG) in the mouse eye and to test if it is altered by short-term elevation of intraocular pressure (IOP). METHODS Photopic and scotopic ERGs were recorded from 12-month-old C57BL/6J mice and analyzed for photoreceptoral responses (a-wave), bipolar cell responses (b-wave...

AIM To describe and compare the differences in electroretinographic responses between two different age groups of adult Dark Agouti (DA) rats and to better understand the effect of age on retinal histology and function. METHODS The electroretinographic responses of two different age groups of adult DA rats were compared. Animals were divided into younger adult DA rats 10-12wk (n=8) and older ...

Face images in a video sequence should be registered accurately before any analysis, otherwise registration errors may be interpreted as facial activity. Subpixel accuracy is crucial for the analysis of subtle actions. In this paper we present PSTR (Probabilistic Subpixel Temporal Registration), a framework that achieves high registration accuracy. Inspired by the human vision system, we develo...