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John Dickinson commenced the discourse, as "He wished to know what was meant by the 'testimony of two witnesses;' whether they were to be witnesses to the same overt act, or to different overt acts."[11] Dickinson expressed a strong preference that the two witness the same overt act, and the Convention generally concurred. Treason is the only criminal offense defined in the Constitution, and as such, allegations of the crime are sparsely levied. 71 Chapin, "Colonial and Revolutionary Origins of the American Law of Treason", 10. 72 The following statutes included two-witness standards: An Act to punish Treasons and disaffected Persons, and for the Security of the Government (1777) in Delaware. New Jersey in 1668 and the New Plymouth Colony in 1671 mandated two or three witnesses in any case concerning taking away a man's life.[61] In 1676, New Jersey extended the reach of the witness requisite to all matters, mandating "at least" two witnesses.[62] The Massachusetts Bay Colony utilized the requirement for treason charges in 1678 in a fashion heavily reflecting the British tradition, though without specifying treasonous acts as did 25 Edw. [Extracted from the article]

Aims: To describe the immune response of preterm infants to combined diphtheria/tetanus/5 component acellulor pertussis-Haemophilus influenzae type b inactivated polio vaccine (DT5aP-Hib-IPV) and meningococcal serogroup C conjugate vaccine (MCC) under accelerated schedule. To compare results with term infants immunised with DT5aP-Hib-IPV and with historical data from preterm infants immunised with a DT3 component aP-Hib vaccine. Methods: Prospective observational study in preterm infants born at <32 weeks gestation with comparison to contemporary cohort of term infants. DT5aP-Hib-IPV and MCC vaccines were given at 2, 3, and 4 months. Results: Fifty preterm infants (mean gestational age 28.5 weeks) completed the study. After three doses of vaccines Hib polysaccharide IgG geometric mean concentration (GMC) was 1.21 μg/ml with 80% &ges;0.15 μg/ml; MCC serum bactericidal assay geometric mean titre (GMT) was 1245 with 100% &ges;8. All infants achieved protective titres to diphtheria, tetanus, and the three poliovirus types with &ges;80% achieving protective rises in IgG ago inst the five pertussis antigens. Conclusion: Preterm infants immunised with DT5aP-Hib-IPV and MCC vaccines show IgG responses to Hib and MCC greater than seen historically in both term and preterm infants with a DT3aP-Hib vaccine, and for pertussis antigens and poliovirus type 1 responses similar to that seen in term infants immunised with DTSaP-Hib-IPV. Responses to poliovirus types 2 and 3 are reduced, but all infants achieved protective titres. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Increased evidence has shown that, despite the maximum care afforded to patients admitted with acute coronary syndromes (ACS), a residual risk of mortality remains, in which obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) appears to be a largely undiagnosed factor, particularly in the intensive cardiac care unit (ICCU). The purpose of this study is to determine whether the systematic screening for sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is feasible and may be recommended. The aims of our study are to determine: (1) The estimated prevalence of OSA in patients admitted to the ICCU for ACS determined by a validated, user-friendly portable screening device; (2) The feasibility of the screening in this context; (3) To assess any negative impact of OSA on the severity of ACS. Patients and methods This is an observational study of 101 patients admitted to the ICCU for ACS showing no clinical evidence of heart failure (HF). In the 24–72 hours following admission, they underwent an overnight sleep study using a 3-channel portable screening device with automatic analysis. Results Sixty-two out of the 101 patients proved positive to the screening test, and its feasibility was acceptable. OSA patients tended to have greater peak levels of hs-cTnT (3685 ± 3576 ng/L versus 2830 ± 3333 ng/L, P = 0.08) than the non-OSA group. Compared with the non-OSA group, OSA patients presented more severe ACS, with a greater average GRACE score at admission of 112.2 ± 26.3 (versus 98.4 ± 19.2, P < 0.001). In the OSA group, we found a statistically significant inverse correlation between the apnoea-hypopnea index (AHI) and the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in the linear regression analysis ( r = −0.26; P = 0.037). Conclusions A systematic screening of patients in the ICCU is acceptable. OSA is frequently found in the acute phase of ischaemic heart disease and its presence is associated with more severe ACS and a poorer left ventricle systolic function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single-photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) is a tool which can be used to image perfusion in the brain. Clinicians can use such images to help diagnose dementias such as Alzheimer's disease. Due to the intrinsic stochasticity in the photon imaging system, some form of statistical comparison of an individual image with a 'normal' patient database gives a clinician additional confidence in interpreting the image. Due to the variations between SPECT camera systems, ideally a normal patient database is required for each individual system. However, cost or ethical considerations often prohibit the collection of such a database for each new camera system. Some method of adapting existing normal patient databases to new camera systems would be beneficial. This paper introduces a method which may be regarded as a 'first-pass' attempt based on 2-norm regularization and a codebook of discrete spatially stationary convolutional kernels. Some preliminary illustrative results are presented, together with discussion on limitations and possible improvements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]