A family study in Oman: large, consanguineous, polygamous Omani Arab pedigrees

OBJECTIVE: To establish a suitable human model for the study of the genetics of complex diseases. METHODS: We have selected an Omani Arab population to provide the statistical power required to study the genetics of complex diseases with confidence. This model consists of five multigenerational highly inbred pedigrees, descending from a small number of founders just a few generations ago with environmental homogeneity, restricted geographical distribution, detailed records and well-ascertained and -validated pedigrees. Stringent criteria were adopted for defining the phenotypes of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemias and obesity. The SOLAR genetic software package was used to draw the pedigree structure. RESULTS: Outstanding statistical power to detect susceptibility loci was obtained. CONCLUSIONS: This model represents a large homogeneous human family-based population for the study of genetic and environmental factors contributing to complex diseases.     

Eigenvalue Asymptotics of the Stokes Operator for Fractal Domains

The leading asymptotic term for the function that counts theeigenvalues of the Stokes operator is determined for fairlygeneral underlying bounded domains. Moreover, the remainderis estimated in terms of the fractality of the boundary of thedomain. The results obtained resemble corresponding ones forthe Dirichlet Laplacian. 1991 Mathematics Subject Classification:35P20.     

Narrow band quantitative and multivariate electroencephalogram analysis of peri-adolescent period

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: The peri-adolescent period is a crucial developmental moment of transition from childhood to emergent adulthood. The present report analyses the differences in Power Spectrum (PS) of the Electroencephalogram (EEG) between late childhood (24 children between 8 and 13 years old) and young adulthood (24 young adults between 18 and 23 years old). RESULTS: The narrow band analysis of the Electroencephalogram was computed in the frequency range of 0--20 Hz. The analysis of mean and variance suggested that six frequency ranges presented a different rate of maturation at these ages, namely: low delta, delta-theta, low alpha, high alpha, low beta and high beta. For most of these bands the maturation seems to occur later in anterior sites than posterior sites. Correlational analysis showed a lower pattern of correlation between different frequencies in children than in young adults, suggesting a certain asynchrony in the maturation of different rhythms. The topographical analysis revealed similar topographies of the different rhythms in children and young adults. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) demonstrated the same internal structure for the Electroencephalogram of both age groups. Principal Component Analysis allowed to separate four subcomponents in the alpha range. All these subcomponents peaked at a lower frequency in children than in young adults. CONCLUSIONS: The present approaches complement and solve some of the incertitudes when the classical brain broad rhythm analysis is applied. Children have a higher absolute power than young adults for frequency ranges between 0-20 Hz, the correlation of Power Spectrum (PS) with age and the variance age comparison showed that there are six ranges of frequencies that can distinguish the level of EEG maturation in children and adults. The establishment of maturational order of different frequencies and its possible maturational interdependence would require a complete series including all the different ages.     

Causal loop diagrams as a de-escalation technique

Escalation of commitment, the tendency of decision makers to keep on investing in losing courses of action, has been shown to be a costly decision bias that affects many areas of decision making. Even though escalation is a widely studied phenomenon, there has been comparatively little research on how to avoid this bias. The present study focuses on de-escalation of commitment and proposes that causal loop diagrams (CLDs) can help to decrease escalating commitment to a failing course of action. By means of an experiment, this study shows that using a CLD decreases escalation tendencies.     

A Spectrofluorimetric Sequential Injection Method for the Determination of Penicillamine Using Fluorescamine in the Presence of β-cyclodextrins

A simple, robust and sensitive sequential injection spectrofluorimetric method for the determination of penicillamine (PA) in pharmaceutical formulations is developed. The method is based on the formation of a highly fluorescent derivative when penicillamine is reacted with fluorescamine (FL) in borate buffer of pH 9.3. The derivative produced is monitored at an emission wavelength of 495 nm using an excitation wavelength of 355 nm. The optimum conditions for the determination of PA with FL were: 3 mM FL, pH 9.3, 5 mM methyl-β-cyclodextrin, sample volume of 75 μL and reagent volume of 75 μL. Furthermore, the effect of various media on the fluorescence intensity of the PA–FL derivative was studied and methyl-β-cyclodextrin was found to give the largest enhancement. A linear dynamic range for the determination of PA of 5–80 ppm was obtained with a sampling frequency of 50 h⁻¹ and a relative standard deviation of less than 2.5%. The method was applied to the determination of PA in pharmaceutical formulations with reasonable recoveries ranging from 101.0–103.1%, indicating that no interference is observed from concomitants usually present in dosage forms.