Long-term evaluation of the ventricular defibrillation energy requirement

INTRODUCTION: Defibrillation energy requirements in patients with nonthoracotomy defibrillators may increase within several months after implantation. However, the stability of the defibrillation energy requirement beyond 1 year has not been reported. The purpose of this study was to characterize the defibrillation energy requirement during 2 years of clinical follow-up. METHODS AND RESULTS: Thirty-one consecutive patients with a biphasic nonthoracotomy defibrillation system underwent defibrillation energy requirement testing using a step-down technique (20, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 J) during defibrillator implantation, and then 24 hours, 2 months, 1 year, and 2 years after implantation. The mean defibrillation energy requirement during these evaluations was 10.9+/-5.5 J, 12.3+/-7.3 J, 11.7+/-5.6 J, 10.2+/-4.0 J, and 11.7+/-7.4 J, respectively (P = 0.4). The defibrillation energy requirement was noted to have increased by 10 J or more after 2 years of follow-up in five patients. In one of these patients, the defibrillation energy requirement was no longer associated with an adequate safety margin, necessitating revision of the defibrillation system. There were no identifiable clinical characteristics that distinguished patients who did and did not develop a 10-J or more increase in the defibrillation energy requirement. CONCLUSION: The mean defibrillation energy requirement does not change significantly after 2 years of biphasic nonthoracotomy defibrillator system implantation. However, approximately 15% of patients develop a 10-J or greater elevation in the defibrillation energy requirement, and 3% may require a defibrillation system revision. Therefore, a yearly evaluation of the defibrillation energy requirement may be appropriate.     

Planned condom use among women undergoing tubal sterilization

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Women who are undergoing tubal sterilization are at risk for various sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) if they do not use a barrier method of contraception. There is a paucity of data concerning dual use of condoms among sterilized women. GOAL: Planned use of condoms for protection against STDs was examined among 2,782 women undergoing surgical sterilization from 1991 to 1996. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. RESULTS: Planned condom use increased significantly over the 6-year study period. Of women who were using condoms before sterilization (n = 646), nearly half indicated no plans to do so after becoming sterilized. Thus, 11% of the total sample experienced an increased risk for exposure to human immunodeficiency virus or other STDs. Condom abandonment was significantly higher among Hispanic and married women. Multiple regression analysis was used to examine the association between condom use and various characteristics. Factors associated with future condom use were younger age, black ethnicity, being unmarried, previous STD, not having a steady partner, higher number of previous sexual partners, having used condoms for disease prevention in the past, and lack of partner involvement in the decision to undergo sterilization. CONCLUSIONS: Use of condoms among sterilized women appears to be on the rise, women at higher risk for disease are more likely than others to be using condoms, and only a small group of women experience an increased risk for exposure to disease as a result of selecting this permanent method of contraception.     

Rapid, sensitive procedure to determine buspirone levels in rat brains using gas chromatography with nitrogen-phosphorus detection

Reported here is a rapid, sensitive and relatively inexpensive procedure using gas chromatography with nitrogen-phosphorus detection (GC-NPD) to quantify buspirone levels in brains of rats. The analyte was directly extracted from brain homogenate with toluene after basification and then subjected to GC-NPD analysis using a capillary column. The calibration curves were linear over the range of 10 to 320 ng per 2 ml of brain homogenate, with typical r2 values >0.99. The assay was highly reproducible and gave peaks with excellent chromatographic properties.     

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis: study of the correlation between density of glucocorticoid receptors in synovial cells and clinical response to steroidal treatment

BACKGROUND: The target cellular response to glucocorticoids is proportional to the concentrations or affinity of specific receptors to these substances. AIM: To look for a correlation between glucocorticoid receptor concentrations in synovial wall cells and the clinical response to steroidal treatment in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twenty eight patients with rheumatoid arthritis were studied. Each subject was subjected to a synovial biopsy, in which a dry radioautographic technique for diffusible compounds was used. Patients were treated afterwards with three 500 mg intravenous pulses of methilprednisolone. RESULTS: A mean of 44.8% of synovial cells (range 30.1-62.8%) had binding sites for 3H dexamethasone. All patients had a significant clinical improvement after methylprednisolone. Multiple regression analysis did not show a correlation between clinical response and glucocorticoid receptor concentration. CONCLUSIONS: The lack of association between glucocorticoid receptor concentrations and clinical response could be due to the large steroid dose used, that saturated all available receptors.     

Physiologo-biochemical characteristics if Gluconobacter oxydans and prospects for its use in biotechnology and biosensor systems (review)

Gluconobacter oxydans possesses a unique organization of metabolic systems, which are characterized by reduction of major dissimilation pathways, surface localization of main oxidative enzymes responsible for partial oxidation of carbon substrates, high performance of electron-transport chains, and accumulation of partially oxidized metabolites in the medium. These features allow us to use the cells of these microorganisms in biotechnology for production of several food products and medicines. The use of G. oxydans in biosensors for estimation of concentrations of sugars, aldoses and polyalcohols is promising. Physiological and biochemical features of these microorganisms enabling their use in biotechnology and receptor elements of biosensors are reviewed.     

虚拟数据中心的数据映射与数据路由策略研究

数据中心基础数据积累通常使用三种手段:1)ETL技术;2)数据联邦技术;3)中间件技术.但三种技术侧重各有不同,不能同时满足数据集成的持久性与可用性.结合技术优势提出数据虚拟整合,为解决数据虚拟异构数据模型间的数据转换问题,通过对数据虚拟的分析,提出了一种基于元数据驱动的数据虚拟系统体系结构.构建了用于描述和存储映射策略的支撑元模型,并建立了相应数据路由策略.提出了对等主键思想,降低了处理阻抗.     

基于受控时间Petri网的车辆检测过程模型

针对汽车检测线运行效率评估及确保给定数量车辆检测时间最短的问题,通过分析检测过程中的驱动事件和状态演变,给出了车辆调度的约束条件,在此基础上把模型中的时间约束与受控Petri网相结合,提出了受控时间Petri网（Controlled Time Petri Nets）模型,采用该模型对检测线调度过程中的节拍控制与车辆调度进行可视化的建模与分析。实践表明对于多批次车辆检测任务采用该过程模型可明显缩短检测时间。     

基于EPICENTRE的海洋钻探数据库构建方法研究

随着海洋在经济发展中的地位日益突出,海洋地质调查越来越重要,如何合理地管理使用海洋地质调查数据成为研究热点.文中以海洋钻探为例,采用面向对象的技术方法,提出了基于EPICENTRE数据模型的海洋钻探数据库构建方法,实现了海洋钻探业务与EPICENTRE数据模型的关联.该方法得到的海洋钻探数据库是面向业务的,与传统的关系数据库相比具有良好的可扩展性,稳定性以及关联性等优点.文中重点对业务模型与逻辑模型的关联技术进行了介绍.     

石化行业自动化控制仪表常见故障分析及其处理

介绍化工生产过程中仪表故障及其处理措施。