Anomalous Condition Research Articles

Children's and Adults’ Processing of Anomaly and Implausibility during Reading: Evidence from Eye Movements

The eye movements of 24 children and 24 adults were monitored to compare how they read sentences containing plausible, implausible, and anomalous thematic relations. In the implausible condition the incongruity occurred due to the incompatibility of two objects involved in the event denoted by the main verb. In the anomalous condition the direct object of the verb was not a possible verb argument. Adults exhibited immediate disruption with the anomalous sentences as compared to the implausible sentences as indexed by longer gaze durations on the target word. Children exhibited the same pattern of effects as adults as far as the anomalous sentences were concerned, but exhibited delayed effects of implausibility. These data indicate that while children and adults are alike in their basic thematic assignment processes during reading, children may be delayed in the efficiency with which they are able to integrate pragmatic and real-world knowledge into their discourse representation.

Handrückenhöcker - Carpe bossu

Fiolle (10) was the first to describe a bony protuberance of a carpometacarpal joint and named it carpe bossu. This anomalous anatomical condition occasionally becomes a--widely unknown--common clinical entity. The reasons are discussed. The clinical diagnosis can be confirmed by a lateral tangential radiograph. Discomfort and pain are rare and can be treated usually by conservative means, surgery is seldom indicated.

Iron Out-of-Balance: A Risk Factor for Acute and Chronic Diseases

The numerous acute and chronic diseases associated with excessive/misplaced iron are categorized in this review in the following sections: 1) iron, by itself, can initiate the disease; 2) iron can be a cofactor in promoting the disease; 3) iron deposits are observed in disease-associated tissue sites; 4) body iron loading is associated with above normal incidence of the disease; and 5) maternal antibodies can impair fetal iron metabolism. Also discussed is the anomalous condition in which persons whose macrophages are low in iron are resistant to microbial pathogens that require iron loaded macrophages for in vivo growth. Thus, hemochromatotic mutations have apparently had survival value during outbreaks of tuberculosis, plague and typhoid fever.

Clinical Characteristics of Children with Persistent Cloaca: A Urological Perspective

Purpose: Persistent cloaca is a rare multiple anomalous condition which involves the gastrointestinal, neurological and urogenital systems. We evaluated the clinical characteristics and urogenital anomalies of patients with persistent cloaca, and we investigated the factors that must be considered from a urological perspective. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 11 patients who were diagnosed with persistent cloaca at our institution during the last 7 years. Results: Nine of the 11 patients who were followed up at the urology clinic were subjected to this study. Nonspecific abnormalities, such as antenatal hydronephrosis, were noted in 5 of 9 patients. The chief complaints upon visits to the urologic clinic were recurrent urinary tract infections in 3, preoperative evaluation before neurosurgery in 3, urinary incontinence in 1, urinary retention in 1 and an elevated creatinine level in 1. The urological anomalies included 2 cases of renal agenesis and 1 horseshoe kidney. Vesicoureteral reflux was noted in 6 patients, and 4 of these patients underwent antireflux surgery. Videourodynamic study was performed in 8 patients and all of them were diagnosed with neurogenic bladder. Currently, 5 children are on intermittent catheterization, 2 have undergone vesicostomy and 2 void spontaneously. Conclusions: Most patients with persistent cloaca had urological anomalies of the upper urinary tract and neurogenic bladder. Therefore, a multidisciplinary approach for diagnosis and treatment from various departments, including the urology, pediatric surgery, neurosurgery departments is mandatory. (Korean J Urol 2008;49:77-81) 󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏

An MEG Study of Silent Meaning

Although research on the neural bases of language has made significant progress on how the brain accesses the meanings of words, our understanding of sentence-level semantic composition remains limited. We studied the magnetoencephalography (MEG) responses elicited by expressions whose meanings involved an element not expressed in the syntax, which enabled us to investigate the brain correlates of semantic composition without confounds from syntactic composition. Sentences such as the author began the book, which asserts that an activity was begun although no activity is mentioned in the syntax, were contrasted with control sentences such as the author wrote the book, which involved no implicit meaning. These conditions were further compared with a semantically anomalous condition (the author disgusted the book). MEG responses to the object noun showed that silent meaning and anomaly are associated with distinct effects, silent meaning, but not anomaly, eliciting increased amplitudes in the anterior midline field (AMF) at 350-450 msec. The AMF was generated in ventromedial prefrontal areas, usually implicated for social cognition and theory of mind. Our results raise the possibility that silent meaning interpretation may share mechanisms with these neighboring domains of cognition.

High speed drive using a slotless PM motor

In high speed applications, slotless permanent magnet (PM) motors appear an attractive solution, being almost insensitive to magneto-motive force harmonics and to pulsewidth modulation (PWM) current ripple and exhibiting lower stator iron losses and rotor losses (significant with squarewave current control). This paper illustrates advantages and drawbacks of a high speed drive using a slotlessPMmotor. The difficulties found during the realization of a 30-krpm 1-kW PM motor prototype are also highlighted. A low-cost commercial sensorless brushless dc motor controller has been used to force squarewave currents without a significant PWM ripple. In order to recognize a possible unexpected rotor arrest, that is not detected by the integrated circuit, an additional control circuit has been designed to detect that anomalous condition and to restart the motor when it occurs.

Hydrography and geostrophic currents in the Northern Gulf of California during the 1997–1998 El Niño

Conductivity, temperature and depth (CTD) data taken during July and November 1997 and March 1998 are used to analyze the hydrographic conditions in the Northern Gulf of California during the 1997–98 El Niño. The CTD data are compared to data from other years and an anomalous high salinity, lower density water is found near the bottom, whereas a relatively fresh surface layer is found on the eastern side of the gulf during July. The relatively fresh surface water is attributed to advection of tropical waters from the Pacific Ocean. During November and March, positive surface temperature anomalies are identified. Geostrophic currents are calculated across an entire cross section of the gulf passing through the northern tip of Angel de la Guarda Island using either salt or mass conservation as constraints. The most salient feature of the geostrophic currents is the existence of relatively intense bottom currents. The bottom current on the eastern side of the island is southeastward, toward the mouth of the gulf, during July, whereas it is toward the head of the gulf on the western side of the island. This pattern is inverted during November and March and, in all cases, suggests a near-bottom circulation between both basins separated by the island. The near-bottom current toward the head of the gulf on the eastern side of the island appears to be a permanent feature associated with the exchange of the northern gulf. Therefore, the high near-bottom salinities during July, coupled with a current toward the mouth of the gulf, are attributed to an anomalous condition created by the El Niño event. This condition is consistent with a subsidence of Gulf of California waters, flowing toward the mouth. Fluxes of salt and heat estimated from geostrophic currents are compared to seasonal estimates. The July heat flux is about three times greater than the seasonal value, and there appears to be an overall phase shift with respect to the seasonal cycle.

Right Partial Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Connection Found During Lobectomy for Coexisting Lung Cancer and Tuberculosis: Report of a Case

Herein, we report a rare case of a 59-year-old man in whom a partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection was found during an operation for coexisting lung cancer and tuberculosis. It was observed that the anomalous vein drained only from the right upper lobe into the right superior vena cava. The middle and lower pulmonary veins connected normally, and there was no atrial septal defect or any other anomalous condition. An upper lobectomy for coexisting lung cancer and tuberculosis with ligation of the partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection was successfully performed.

Functional MRI of conventional and anomalous metaphors in Mandarin Chinese

This study looks at whether conventional and anomalous metaphors are processed in different locations in the brain while being read when compared with a literal condition in Mandarin Chinese. We find that conventional metaphors differ from the literal condition with a slight amount of increased activation in the right inferior temporal gyrus. In addition, when the anomalous metaphor condition is compared with the literal condition, increased activation occurs bilaterally in the frontal and temporal gyri. Lastly, the comparison between the anomalous and conventional metaphor conditions shows bilateral activation in the middle frontal gyrus and the precentral gyrus, and right-hemisphere activation in the superior frontal gyrus. Left hemisphere activation is found in the inferior frontal gyrus and fusiform gyrus. The left hemisphere activation in the frontal and temporal gyri point to the recruitment of traditional language-based areas for anomalous metaphor sentences, while the right-hemisphere activation found suggests that remote associations are being formed. In short, our study supports the idea that metaphors are not a homogenous type of figurative language and that distinguishing between different types of metaphors will advance theories of language comprehension.

Clutter and rainfall discrimination by means of doppler-polarimetric measurements and vertical reflectivity profile analysis

Abstract. The estimation of rainfall rate and other parameters from radar scattering volume is heavily affected by the presence of intense sea and ground clutter and echoes which appears in anomalous propagation condition. To deal with these non meteorological echoes we present a new clutter removal algorithm which combines the results of previous works. The algorithm fully exploits both the Doppler and polarimetric capabilities of the radar used and the analysis of vertical reflectivity profile in order to achieve the better identification of the meteorological and non-meteorological targets. The algorithm has been applied to the C-band radar of Monte Settepani (Savona, Italy), which runs in a high-topography environment. Preliminary results are presented.

Erupted maxillary conical mesiodens in deciduous dentition in a Bengali girl - A case report

Mesiodens is a midline supernumerary tooth commonly seen in the maxillary arch. It is the most significant dental anomaly affecting permanent dentition mainly and primary dentition rarely. It may occur as an isolated dental anomalous condition or may be associated with a syndrome. Many theories have been promulgated to explain its etiology. But an exact etiology is still obscure. Incidence of mesiodens in children varies from 0.15 to 3.8%. Boys are affected more (2:1) than girls. Morphologically, mesiodens may be of three types: the most commonly seen is conical, while tuberculate and supplementary types.

Anomalous coalescence phenomena under stationary regime condition through Thompson's method

In this work, anomalous coalescence phenomena of type A+ A→ A(0) are considered in the case of stationary regime, namely the case of an external homogeneous source ( h) of single particles A, in the limit of zero external field rate. The main purpose here is to pick up new critical exponents in the stationary regime for the phenomenon of anomalous coalescence of bubbles found in one-dimension by Josserand and Rica (JR) (Phys. Rev. Lett. 78 (1997) 1215). The critical exponents of statical concentration ( δ), relaxation time ( Δ′) and the exponent for concentration decay ( ξ) are evaluated in the limit h→0 (zero field rate). We show that such critical exponents depend on the parameter γ (Physica A 334 (2004) 335), which characterizes the anomalous diffusion condition. In order to explain the anomalous coalescence of JR's work as already made before by the present author (Physica A 334 (2004) 335), the parameter γ must display an explicit dependence on the dimensionality [γ=γ(d)=4/d for d⩽2] . We use such a result [ γ( d)] in order to pick up new critical exponents for the special case of anomalous coalescence found by JR (we find δ=5, Δ′= 4 5 and ξ= 1 4 in 1-d). We also verify that the known scaling relations among such critical indexes (Phys. Rev. A 32(2) (1985) 1129) are obeyed, so that in the special case of γ=2 (brownian diffusion condition given to mean field regime), we naturally recover those results previously obtained by Rácz (Phys. Rev. A 32(2) (1985) 1129). We go further to give a better explanation for such new results, taking into account another exponent α (Physica A 334 (2004) 335) to explain the behavior of diffusion constant, which depends on concentration ( D= D 0〈 n〉 α ), that is to say, we obtain analytically new critical indexes which controll the diffusion behavior ( D) for long-time regime, in the presence of an external homogeneous source.

Teratogenic effects of bis-diamine on the developing myocardium.

Bis-diamine induces conotruncal anomalies and disproportional ventricular development in rat embryos when administered to the mother. To evaluate the mechanisms of disproportional ventricular development in the anomalous heart, we analyzed the morphology of the embryonic heart and investigated cardiomyocytic DNA synthesis and apoptosis. A single dose of 200 mg of bis-diamine was administered to pregnant rats Wistar on day 9.5 of pregnancy. The embryos were removed on each embryonic day from 10.5 to 18.5. Expression of cardiotrophin-1 and hepatocyte growth factor was investigated on the sections, and cardiotrophin-1, hepatocyte growth factor and myocyte enhancer factor 2 mRNA expression was examined by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. Myocardial DNA synthesis was investigated using 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine and the labeling index was calculated for each heart. Apoptosis was also analyzed using TUNEL reaction and electrophoresis of DNA fragmentation. The embryos treated with bis-diamine had conotruncal anomalies associated with thin left ventricular wall in the later stage. The labeling index on embryonic day 15.5 and 16.5 was significantly lower than those in the controls. Hepatocyte growth factor and cardiotrophin-1 mRNA expression was upregulated on embryonic day 12.5 and 15.5 in bis-diamine-treated hearts. Fewer apoptotic cells were detected in the hearts of bis-diamine-treated embryos than in control hearts from embryonic day 14.5 to 16.5. The ventricular disproportion in the bis-diamine-treated heart may be caused by the early myocardial differentiation delay and poor proliferation and reduced apoptosis associated with anomalous circulatory condition in the later stage.

The Effect of Plausibility on Eye Movements in Reading.

Readers' eye movements were monitored as they read sentences describing events in which an individual performed an action with an implement. The noun phrase arguments of the verbs in the sentences were such that when thematic assignment occurred at the critical target word, the sentence was plausible (likely theme), implausible (unlikely theme), or anomalous (an inappropriate theme). Whereas the target word in the anomalous condition provided evidence of immediate disruption, the effect of the target word in the implausible condition was considerably delayed. The results thus indicate that when a word is anomalous, it has an immediate effect on eye movements, but that the effect of implausibility is not as immediate.

Local and Nonlocal Impacts of Soil Moisture Initialization on AGCM Seasonal Forecasts: A Model Sensitivity Study

Using a version of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology Research Centre (BMRC) atmospheric general circulation model, this study investigates the model’s sensitivity to different soil moisture initial conditions in its dynamically extended seasonal forecasts of June‐August 1998 climate anomalies, with focus on the south and northeast China regions where severe floods occurred. The authors’ primary aim is to understand the model’s responses to different soil moisture initial conditions in terms of the physical and dynamical processes involved. Due to a lack of observed global soil moisture data, the efficacy of using soil moisture anomalies derived from the NCEP‐NCAR reanalysis is assessed. Results show that by imposing soil moisture percentile anomalies derived from the reanalysis data into the BMRC model initial condition, the regional features of the model’s simulation of seasonal precipitation and temperature anomalies are modulated. Further analyses reveal that the impacts of soil moisture conditions on the model’s surface temperature forecasts are mainly from localized interactions between land surface and the overlying atmosphere. In contrast, the model’s sensitivity in its forecasts of rainfall anomalies is mainly due to the nonlocal impacts of the soil moisture conditions. Over the monsoondominated east Asian region, the contribution from local water recycling, through surface evaporation, to the model simulation of precipitation is limited. Rather, it is the horizontal moisture transport by the regional atmospheric circulation that is the dominant factor in controlling the model rainfall. The influence of different soil moisture conditions on the model forecasts of rainfall anomalies is the result of the response of regional circulation to the anomalous soil moisture condition imposed. Results from the BMRC model sensitivity study support similar findings from other model studies that have appeared in recent years and emphasize the importance of improving the land surface data assimilation and soil hydrological processes in dynamically extended GCM seasonal forecasts.

Fenestration of the internal carotid artery associated with arterial dissections

An increasing number of cases with fenestration that is frequently associated with aneurysms have been reported, largely in the vertebral and basilar arteries and less commonly in the middle and anterior cerebral arteries by angiography as well as by autopsy. However, the anomaly of the internal carotid artery associated with bilateral arterial dissections is exceedingly rare. This represents the first reported case of fenestration of the internal carotid artery associated with arterial dissections. The embryological basis and clinical significance of this anomalous condition are discussed and treatment for arterial dissection is presented.

A low-cost diagnostic tool for stepping motors

This paper presents a low-cost diagnostic tool to point out if an anomalous no-motion condition occurs when stepping motors are used in machine-tool industrial applications. The method is based on current sensing. By evaluating the second derivative of the current in the switched on windings, it is possible to determine if motion takes place. The proposed method has been implemented using a 16-b microcontroller. Since this diagnostic tool is based mainly on the internal resources of the microcontroller and takes about 10 /spl mu/s every 26 /spl mu/s, it could be integrated into the digital motor drive. Experimental results show that under heavy-load working conditions about 90% of the anomalous waveforms are detected, while spurious alarms are negligible (0.001% measured with respect to over half a million analyzed waveforms).

The Ronne polynya of 1997/98: observations of air-ice-ocean interaction

AbstractThe Ronne polynya formed in the Weddell Sea, Antarctica, during the period November 1997−February 1998 to an extent not seen previously in the 25 years of all-weather satellite observations. The vessel HMS Endurance traversed the polynya region and took sea-ice, physical oceanographic and meteorological measurements during January and early February 1998. These observations, together with satellite imagery and weather records, were analyzed to determine the causes of the anomalous condition observed and to provide comparisons for numerical modeling experiments. The polynya area, analyzed from satellite imagery, showed a linear, nearly constant, increase with time from mid-November 1997 through February 1998. It had a maximum open-water area of 3 × 105 km2 and extended 500 km north of the Ronne Ice Shelf (at 76° S) to 70° S. The ice and snow structure of floes at the northern edge of the polynya showed the ice there had formed in the previous mid- to late winter (October 1997 or earlier) and had been advected there either from the eastern Weddell Sea or from the front of the Ronne Ice Shelf. Analyses of the wind fields showed anomalous spring-summer wind fields in the polynya year, with a strong southerly to southwesterly component compared to the mean easterly winds typical of summer conditions. These southerly wind conditions, in both magnitude and direction, therefore account for the drift of ice northward. The predominant summer easterly winds usually fill the southern Weddell Sea with ice from the east, and the high-albedo surfaces reflect the solar radiation, preventing warming of the surface ocean waters and consequent sea-ice melt. Instead, high incident solar radiation from November 1997 to February 1998 was absorbed by the open water, rather than being reflected, thereby both melting ice and preventing ice formation, and thereby sustaining the polynya. We conclude that open-water-albedo feedback is necessary to allow the observed polynya formation, since similar drift conditions prevail in winter (arising from southerly winds also) and usually result in extensive new ice formation in front of the Ronne Ice Shelf. The strong southerly winds therefore have quite opposing seasonal effects, leading to high ice production in winter as usually found, and extensive open water if they occur in spring and summer, as seen in this atypical event in 1997/98. In this case, the atypical southerly winds may be associated with an El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO)-induced atmospheric circulation pattern.

Syntax and semantics?

Understanding sentences involves both semantic and syntactic processing. It is a matter of debate to what extent syntax is different from, or dependent on, semantics. One way to investigate this issue is by using event-related potentials (ERPs). Experiments have shown that semantic–pragmatic anomalies in sentences (such as the unexpected word ‘bake’ in ‘the cats won’t bake the food’) yield an N400 component in the ERP of the subject (a negative potential occurring around 400 ms after onset of the critical word), relative to an expected sentence (‘the cats won’t eat the food’). Syntactic violations, on the other hand (such as ‘the cats won’t eating…’), elicit a different waveform: a P600 (a positive potential with an onset of about 600 ms) (see Ref. 1xEvent-related brain potentials and human language. Osterhout, L., McLaughlin, J., and Bersick, M. Trends Cognit. Sci. 1997; 1: 202–209Abstract | Full Text PDF | Scopus (68)See all ReferencesRef. 1 for a review). These different ERP responses suggest that semantic processing has a different neural substrate from syntactic processing. An interesting further question is to see what happens in double anomalies (such as ‘the cats won’t baking…’. If the ERP profile for a double anomaly is the linear sum of the ERP components for a semantic anomaly and a syntactic violation, then it is likely that the N400 and P600 are generated by independent neural sources. This in turn would suggest that these components reflect independent cognitive processes. Previous studies using double anomalies have yielded conflicting results, but in a recent study by Osterhout and Nicol, the authors report an (approximately) linear summation of the N400 and P600 in the doubly anomalous condition in their experiment2xOn the distinctiveness, independence and time course of the brain responses to syntactic and semantic anomalies. Osterhout, L. and Nicol, J. Lang. Cognit. Process. 1999; 14: 283–317Crossref | Scopus (149)See all References. This carefully controlled study provides more substantial support for the claim that semantic processing is distinct and independent from syntactic processing, at least with respect to the processing of the specific semantic and syntactic anomalies investigated by the authors. Just how far-reaching their conclusions are will have to wait for the results of further experiments in this area.

Marriage as bondage: The anomaly of the citizen wife

The meaning of marriage for women was a hotly disputed issue in Australia during the first half of the twentieth century and beyond. Conscious of their status as citizens, interwar feminists became preoccupied with the anomalous condition of wives in a modern democracy. The provision of personal service in exchange for keep, the condition of wives was defined as an anachronism, a political relic, a form of feudal bondage. Feminists campaigned for the economic independence of married women, demanding legislation that would give wives legal ownership of household savings as well as a legal entitlement to a share in their husbands' wages.