Visualizing Movement Control Optimization Landscapes.

A large body of animation research focuses on optimization of movement control, either as action sequences or policy parameters. However, as closed-form expressions of the objective functions are often not available, our understanding of the optimization problems is limited. Building on recent work on analyzing neural network training, we contribute novel visualizations of high-dimensional control optimization landscapes; this yields insights into why control optimization is hard and why common practices like early termination and spline-based action parameterizations make optimization easier.

Impulse oscillometry at preschool age is a strong predictor of lung function by flow-volume spirometry in adolescence.

Background: The transition from early childhood wheezing to persistent asthma is linked to lung function impairment over time. Little is known how the methods used to study lung function at different ages correlate longitudinally.

Methods: Sixty-four children with a history of hospitalization for bronchiolitis before 6 months of age were prospectively studied with impulse oscillometry (IOS) at the mean age of 6.

Reference values for pulmonary diffusing capacity for adult native Finns.

Measurement standards for pulmonary diffusing capacity were updated in 2005 by the ATS/ERS Task Force. However, in Finland reference values published in 1982 by Viljanen et al. have been used to date.

Impaired gallbladder function in patients after total gastrectomy.

Background And Aims: The incidence of gallstones and gallbladder sludge is higher in patients after total gastrectomy than in general population. Formation of gallstones after gastrectomy is multifactorial. Here, we investigate the changes in gallbladder and biliary tract functions by cholescintygraphy and monitored changes in cholecystokinin (CCK) release in long-term survivors after total gastrectomy for gastric carcinoma.

Following up infant bronchiolitis patients provided new evidence for and against the united airway disease hypothesis.

Aim: The united airway disease (UAD) hypothesis suggests that allergic rhinitis and asthma develop together. We evaluated the evidence for and against the UAD hypothesis at five to seven years of age after hospitalisation for bronchiolitis at less than six months.

Methods: This study used prospective follow-up data for 102 children hospitalised for bronchiolitis under the age of six months.

Gene Polymorphism of Toll-Like Receptors and Lung Function at Five to Seven Years of Age after Infant Bronchiolitis.

Aim: Toll-like receptors (TLR) play a crucial role in innate immunity, protecting the host from pathogens such as viruses. Genetic variations in TLRs have been associated with the severity of viral bronchiolitis in infancy and with the later occurrence of post-bronchiolitis asthma. The aim of the present study was to evaluate if there are any exploratory associations between TLR gene polymorphisms and lung function at 5 to 7 years of age in former bronchiolitis patients.

IL-10 Gene Polymorphisms Are Associated with Post-Bronchiolitis Lung Function Abnormalities at Six Years of Age.

Aim: Interleukin-10 (IL-10) has been associated with wheezing and asthma in children and the genetic variation of the IL-10 cytokine production may be linked to post-bronchiolitis lung function. We used impulse oscillometry (IOS) to evaluate the associations of IL10 polymorphisms with lung function at a median age of 6.3 years in children hospitalised for bronchiolitis before six months of age.

Reference values of spirometry for Finnish adults.

Background: Diagnostic assessment of lung function necessitates up-to-date reference values. The aim of this study was to estimate reference values for spirometry for the Finnish population between 18 and 80 years and to compare them with the existing Finnish, European and the recently published global GLI2012 reference values.

Methods: Spirometry was performed for 1380 adults in the population-based FinEsS studies and for 662 healthy non-smoking volunteer adults.

Obesity and bronchial obstruction in impulse oscillometry at age 5-7 years in a prospective post-bronchiolitis cohort.

Background And Aims: Obesity has been linked with asthma symptoms, need for asthma treatment and reduced lung function but not with increased bronchial reactivity in children. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between previous or current weight status and current lung function and bronchial reactivity to exercise at early school age.

Methods: Ninety-nine children hospitalized for bronchiolitis at the age of less than 6 months were studied with impulse oscillometry (IOS) at the mean age of 6.

Lung function by impulse oscillometry at age 5-7 years after bronchiolitis at age 0-6 months.

Background: Viral bronchiolitis in infancy has been associated with increased bronchial reactivity and reduced lung function in later childhood and even in adulthood. However, lung function at preschool age is less studied, mainly due to technical difficulties. The purpose of the study was to evaluate lung function and bronchial reactivity at preschool age in children who were hospitalized for bronchiolitis in early infancy.

Pravastatin-induced improvement in coronary reactivity and circulating ATP and ADP levels in young adults with type 1 diabetes.

Aims: Extracellular ATP and ADP regulate diverse inflammatory, prothrombotic and vasoactive responses in the vasculature. Statins have been shown to modulate their signaling pathways in vitro. We hypothesized that altered intravascular nucleotide turnover modulates vasodilation in patients with type 1 diabetes (T1DM), and this can be partly restored with pravastatin therapy.

[The effect of public defense of a doctoral thesis on the heart rate of the doctoral candidate].

The effect of public defense of a doctoral thesis on the heart rate of the doctoral candidate Most doctoral candidates find the public defense of a doctoral thesis an exciting and stressful experience. In this study, Holter recording during the defense was made for four doctoral candidates of the Faculty of Medicine. Maximum heart rate among the subjects was on the average 172 beats/min with a median heart rate of 116 beats/min.

Decreased endothelin-1 levels after acute consumption of red wine and de-alcoholized red wine.

Background: Red wine consumption may influence on vasoconstrictive peptide endothelin-1 levels, and this may be one mechanism leading to improved vasodilation after red wine consumption. Endothelin-1 levels and their association with coronary epicardial diameter and flow rate, however, have not been studied in vivo after consumption of red wine and de-alcoholized red wine. The purpose of this randomized trial was to determine the acute effects of these beverages on endothelin-1 levels and compare them to coronary artery epicardial diameter and flow rate.

High dose of red wine elicits enhanced inhibition of fibrinolysis.

Background And Design: The purpose of this randomized controlled cross-over study was to determine the acute effects of high doses of alcoholic beverages on circulating markers related to atherosclerosis and fibrinolysis.

Methods: Twenty-two healthy men consumed a high dose (8.1+/-0.

Effects of cognac on coronary flow reserve and plasma antioxidant status in healthy young men.

Background: The cardioprotective effects of certain alcoholic beverages are partly related to their polyphenol content, which may improve the vasodilatory reactivity of arteries. Effect of cognac on coronary circulation, however, remains unknown. The purpose of this randomized controlled cross-over study was to determine whether moderate doses of cognac improve coronary reactivity as assessed with cold pressor testing (CPT) and coronary flow reserve (CFR) measurement.

Overnight variability in transcutaneous carbon dioxide predicts vascular impairment in women.

While there are a number of studies demonstrating association between arterial oxyhaemoglobin saturation events during sleep and markers of vascular impairment, the contribution of peripheral carbon dioxide to the development of atherosclerosis is poorly understood. We used ultrasound imaging to measure carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT), as well as flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) and nitroglycerin-mediated dilatation (NMD) of brachial artery, in 103 generally healthy 46-year-old (+/-2 years) women. Characteristic event patterns were extracted from their overnight recordings of arterial oxyhaemoglobin saturation , end-tidal partial pressure of carbon dioxide and transcutaneous partial pressure of carbon dioxide .

A moderate dose of red wine, but not de-alcoholized red wine increases coronary flow reserve.

Background: Red wine consumption is associated with reduced cardiovascular disease mortality. Its cardioprotective properties may be partly related to its ability to improve endothelial function. The purpose of this randomized controlled cross-over study was to determine whether moderate doses of red wine and de-alcoholized red wine improve coronary flow velocity reserve (CFR).

Myocardial perfusion, oxidative metabolism, and free fatty acid uptake in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy attributable to the Asp175Asn mutation in the alpha-tropomyosin gene: a positron emission tomography study.

Background: The relationship between myocardial metabolic changes and the severity of left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is largely unknown. We characterized metabolic abnormalities in patients with a genetically identical cause for HCM but with variable LV hypertrophy.

Methods And Results: Eight patients with HCM attributable to the Asp175Asn mutation in the alpha-tropomyosin gene underwent myocardial perfusion, oxidative, and free fatty acid (FFA) metabolism measurements via positron emission tomography and oxygen 15-labeled water, carbon 11 acetate, and fluorine 14(R,S)-[18F] Fluoro-6-thia-heptadecanoic acid (18 FTHA).

Myocardial and peripheral vascular functional adaptation to exercise training.

Exercise training seems to restore impaired vascular function in both peripheral and myocardial vessels in patients with coronary artery and peripheral vascular disease or in patients with risk factors for these diseases. However, the results on the effects of exercise training on vascular function in apparently healthy subjects are controversial. We studied the effects of long-term volitionally increased physical activity on peripheral and myocardial vascular function in nine young healthy male monozygotic twin pairs discordant for physical activity and fitness.

Vasodilation of epicardial coronary artery can be measured with transthoracic echocardiography.

Transthoracic Doppler echocardiography (TTE) has been introduced as a noninvasive tool to measure coronary flow velocity reserve (CFVR). Velocity measurement, however, fails to take into account epicardial coronary artery vasodilation during hyperemia and this may cause underestimation of CFVR measurements. Therefore, we sought to determine whether the vasodilation of epicardial coronary artery can be measured during cold pressor test (CPT) and adenosine infusion simultaneously with the flow velocity measurement using TTE.

Coronary artery flow velocity profile measured by transthoracic Doppler echocardiography predicts myocardial viability after acute myocardial infarction.

Objective: To study whether flow velocity profile in the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) measured by transthoracic Doppler echocardiography (TTDE) predicts myocardial viability after reperfused anterior acute myocardial infarction (AMI).

Patients And Methods: 15 patients who had their first anterior ST elevation AMI and were successfully reperfused by coronary angioplasty and five controls without coronary artery disease were selected. Blood flow velocity spectrum was measured from the mid-LAD by TTDE 3 days after coronary angioplasty.

Determinants of coronary flow velocity reserve in healthy young men.

The objective of this study was to identify risk markers for attenuated coronary flow velocity reserve (CFVR) that exist in healthy young men without evident atherosclerotic risk factors. Coronary blood flow velocity was measured with transthoracic Doppler echocardiography at baseline and during adenosine infusion in 37 healthy nonsmoking men [mean age, 27 yr (SD 4.0)].

Insulin improves myocardial blood flow in patients with type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease.

Insulin infusion improves myocardial blood flow (MBF) in healthy subjects. Until now, the effect of insulin on myocardial perfusion in type 2 diabetic subjects with coronary artery disease (CAD) has been unknown. We studied the effects of insulin on MBF in ischemic regions evaluated by single-photon emission-computed tomography and coronary angiography and in nonischemic regions in 43 subjects (ages 63 +/- 7 years) with type 2 diabetes (HbA(1c) 7.

Rosiglitazone improves myocardial glucose uptake in patients with type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease: a 16-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

Rosiglitazone therapy improves insulin sensitivity and glucose uptake in patients with uncomplicated type 2 diabetes. In coronary artery disease (CAD), glucose is an important source of energy and preserved myocardial glucose uptake is essential for the viability of jeopardized myocardium. The aim was to test whether rosiglitazone changes myocardial metabolism in type 2 diabetic patients with CAD.