Ambulatory subcutaneous internal sphincterectomy]

The internal anal sphincterotomy operation represents the best therapy for the treatment of those anal lesions, above all anal fissures, which cause hypertrophy and spasms of the internal anal sphincter. The Authors report their experience of 253 operations of internal subcutaneous sphincterotomy carried out between 1989 and 1995 under local anaesthesia in the outpatient clinic. The excellent results achieved prove that the procedure can easily be carried out under local anaesthesia in an outpatient clinic and, therefore, it is preferable to the surgical technique of isolation of the internal sphincter, not only for its practicality but also for the improved results.     

Instron texture profile of buffalo milk cheddar cheese as influenced by composition and ripening changes

Buffalo milk Cheddar cheese samples of different ages were analysed for compositional attributes (CA), ripening indices (RI) and Instron Textural Profile (ITP). All samples were compositionally alike, except for pH and salt-in-moisture (SM) contents. RI showed significant variations. CA and RI showed highly significant correlations within themselves and with each other, except for moisture with pH, SM with moisture, MNFS, Fat and FDM and Fat with MNFS. The ITPs of cheeses showed significant variations and had highly significant intercorrelations indicating their interdependence. CA (except moisture and MNFS) and RI showed a highly significant correlationship with ITPs. Moisture content showed a highly significant correlationship with all ITPs, except cohesiveness and springiness, where it was significant. MNFS content showed significant correlations only with hardness and brittleness. Stepwise regression analysis revealed that MI was the most predominant factor influencing cheese texture, followed by pH, SM, FDM and TVFA. Knowing Ca and RI, the textural properties of cheeses can be forecast through mathematical equations. Similarly the age of cheese can also be predicted if RI and/or textural properties are known.     

Data management and analysis for high-throughput DNA sequencingprojects

The rapid advances in molecular biology have begun to shift many of the bottlenecks in genome research from the laboratory to the data analysis facility. The pace at which this has occurred creates a situation in which software development always has to catch up with the flow of data. Since such large-scale processes were not anticipated, the analysis infrastructure has not been fully established. Furthermore, most systems that have been built were designed by the biologists who collected the data. More recently, computer scientists, mathematicians, and engineers have taken an interest in this problem. This has had a positive effect, since it has created a tight synergy between the informatics and the biology. Several principles affected the design of the system developed at TIGR. Each of the sample preparation, sequencing, and analysis steps had to be managed, scheduled, and tracked. This information had to be made readily available to those who needed it for carrying out their tasks. Different skill levels of the users had to be taken into account. The degree of human intervention at each step had to be evaluated and built into the design. A mixed processing environment of Macintosh and Unix platforms had to be integrated. Most importantly, the system had to save time, reduce error, and ensure uniformity of the analysis and quality of the results. In the authors' experience, the tools they have built work well because of their early decisions as to which systems to use for development. The authors settled on a robust relational database management system (Sybase) and a portable development environment (C, C++)     

Prolonged hypoxaemia after nebulised salbutamol

Pulse oximetry is increasingly used to assess hypoxaemia in respiratory illnesses. Six children presenting with acute asthma and prolonged falls in oxygen saturation values after treatment with salbutamol are described who were subsequently shown to have pneumonic consolidation on chest radiography.     

The use of probability theory in fracture mechanics—A case study

A probabilistic approach to fracture mechanics in the form of a typical case study is described wherein the integrity of a high-pressure water pipeline is assessed. An analysis methodology is discussed incorporating the probability density functions of defect sizes, the statistics of defect occurrences and the statistical distribution of material properties. This method enables the analyst to supply a very simple assessment of safety, based on the probability of failure (a single number) which may be compared to accepted industrial standards (e.g. 10⁻⁶ for nuclear applications). It is argued that this method often offers the only way to scientifically and economically assess the integrity of fracture prone structures.     

Periodic precipitation in multicomponent systems

Journal of Materials Science Letters -     

New sleeve filters for cleaning fluids in the production of movie film

Translated from Khimicheskoe i Neftyanoe Mashinostroenie, No. 10, p. 2, October, 1992.