Correlates of improvement in multidisciplinary treatment of chronic pain.

Although multidisciplinary pain programs have been demonstrated to be effective, the processes of improvement have yet to be clarified. Cognitive-behavioral models posit that improvement is due, in part, to changes in patient pain beliefs and coping strategies. To test the relationships between treatment outcome and changes in beliefs and coping strategies, 94 chronic pain patients (aged 21–64 yrs) completed measures of physical and psychological functioning, health care utilization, pain beliefs, and use of pain coping strategies at admission and 3 to 6 mo after inpatient pain treatment. Improved functioning and decreased health care use were associated with changes in both beliefs and cognitive coping strategies. However, changes in some coping strategies, such as exercise and use of rest, were not associated with improvement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Decision support in early development phases—A case study from machine engineering

In the case study presented in this paper we consider early development phases of a mechanical product. We want to evaluate different concepts and decide which one(s) to pursue. A problem in early phases is that usually no test runs are available. In our case study, based on a standard, there are ways to compute the lifetime distributions of the components of the different concepts. Some parameters needed for these computations are not known precisely. Unfortunately, the lifetime distributions of the components are highly sensitive to these parameters. Our approach is to equip these parameters with distributions. These distributions would be called prior distributions in Bayesian terminology, but no update is possible since no test runs are available. Our approach implies that the distribution of the system lifetime for each concept is random, i.e. we get random elements in the space of lifetime distributions. Using Monte-Carlo simulations, we demonstrate several ways to compare the random lifetime distributions of the concepts. Some of these comparisons use stochastic orderings. We also introduce a new stochastic ordering which is particularly suitable for reliability purposes. Our case study, consisting of three scenarios, allows us to demonstrate some conclusions that can be reached.     

Hypnosis and clinical pain.

Hypnosis has been demonstrated to reduce analogue pain, and studies on the mechanisms of laboratory pain reduction have provided useful applications to clinical populations. Studies showing central nervous system activity during hypnotic procedures offer preliminary information concerning possible physiological mechanisms of hypnotic analgesia. Randomized controlled studies with clinical populations indicate that hypnosis has a reliable and significant impact on acute procedural pain and chronic pain conditions, Methodological issues of this body of research are discussed, as are methods to better integrate hypnosis into comprehensive pain treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intraosseous pressure in Kienb?ck's disease

Intraosseous pressure was measured in the lunate of 10 patients undergoing surgery for Kienb?ck's disease. Using the styloid process of the radius and the capitate as reference points of bone pressure, I found a stasis rather than arterial insufficiency in the lunate. This pattern was observed regardless of the stage of the disease according to St?hl and regardless of the finding by technetium TC 99m-methylene diphosphonate scintigraphy. The significance of this finding is still unknown but questions the current concept that Kienb?ck's disease is caused by arterial insufficiency, because these results imply an interruption of the blood flow as a result of venous congestion.     

A review of numerically controlled methods for finish-sculptured-surface machining

This paper presents a mathematical review of methods and algorithms used to compute milling cutter placement for multi-axis finished-surface machining. In general, these methods and algorithms compute tool path points based on tangent-plane contact between the milling cutter and the surface while maintaining a fixed tool orientation. This tangent-plane method of tool positioning and orientation is examined by discussing its strengths and weaknesses. Errors resulting from the tangent-plane approach are typically determined using a posteriori cutter path checking and graphic visualization techniques. Although these checking techniques have proved useful in identifying the tool path errors before actual machining, the problem of generating an error-free tool path remains. In this paper, we discuss the analysis of tool path position and orientation data as they are generated. This a priori analysis method is used to show error locations along the lateral face of the tool. The conclusion is reached that additional research is needed in the area of simultaneous multi-axis tool path planning, if errors are to be eliminated and the efficiency of the milling machine is to be improved. The reader is referred to research efforts that extend beyond the traditional or computer-aided design (CAD, vendor supplied) tool path planning methods. Some of these efforts show great promise in eliminating gouging and improves machine tool efficiency.     

Enzymatic Firming of Processed Red Pepper by Means of Exogenous Pectinesterase

The objective of this investigation was to demonstrate that the firmness of a commercial vegetable product, diced and frozen red pepper (Capsicum annum var. Sendt), could be improved by the use of exogenous pectinesterase in an industrially relevant process. The diced pepper pieces 10 × 10 × 7 mm³ were infused under vacuum with a commercially available pectinesterase. The range of optimal process conditions was: 15-20°C, 45 min infusion time, a 10-25 mM CaCl₂ infusion brine, a w/w ratio of pepper fruit to infusion brine of 1.5:1, and an enzyme dosage of 30-60 pectinesterase units (PEU) per kg pepper fruit. The firmness as measured by back extrusion was improved by a factor of two to three. The effect of firming was robust and conserved after freezing and heating in a simulated household cooking process. The firming process seems easily adaptable to industrial conditions and may be applicable to other vegetable and fruit products.     

Localization of putative tumor suppressor loci by genome-wide allelotyping in human pancreatic endocrine tumors

Only two tumor suppressor gene loci, one on 3p25 and the MEN1 gene on 11q13, have thus far been implicated in the pathogenesis of sporadic human pancreatic endocrine tumors (PETs). A genome-wide allelotyping study of 28 human PETs was undertaken to identify other potential tumor suppressor gene loci. In addition to those on chromosomes 3p and 11q, frequent allelic deletions were identified on 3q (32%), 11p (36%), 16p (36%), and 22q (29%). Finer deletion mapping studies localized the smallest regions of common deletion to 3q27, 11p13, and 16p12.3-13.11. Potential candidate genes at these loci include WT1 (11p13), TSC2 (16p13), and NF2 (22q12), but no known tumor suppressor gene localizes to 3q27. The mean fractional allelic loss among these human PETs is 0.126, and no correlation was observed between allelic loss and clinical parameters, including age, sex, hormonal subtype, and disease stage. These findings highlight novel locations of tumor suppressor gene loci that contribute to the pathogenesis of human PETs, and several of these on 3p, 3q, and 22q are syntenic with loci on mouse chromosomes 9 and 16 that are implicated in a murine transgenic model of PETs.