Visual and laser Doppler perfusion scanning assessments of Kathon CG patch test reactions

Metastases are the most common malignant tumors of the skeleton. Several imaging modalities can be engaged for the diagnosis of skeletal metastases. They may be combined, depending on the individual clinical setting. Plain films are used for evaluation of symptomatic regions of the skeleton. Sensitivity is low, but benign skeletal disorders causing clinical symptoms can usually be identified in plain films. Bone scintigraphy is employed for a survey of the entire skeleton with high sensitivity for the presence of metastases, but only poor specificity. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are advanced diagnostic methods, essential particularly in the diagnosis of metastatic spinal disease. Using CT, additional percutaneous bone biopsies can be performed easily and safely. Of all imaging modalities, MRI has the highest sensitivity for skeletal metastases. Other advantages are the possibility of multidirectional slice positioning and excellent soft tissue contrast.     

Oxidation of aqueous sulfide solutions by dioxygen Part I: Autoxidation reaction

The autoxidation of aqueous sulfide solutions by dioxygen is studied at pH 9 and 14 and at initial sulfide concentrations between 1 and 100 mM. Disulfide as a primarary intermediate is proposed to enhance the sulfide oxidation by autocatalytically forming polysulfies. The postulate is supported by the observed acceleration of the process at increasing pH favoring the presence of disulfide rather than that of sulfur. The final reaction products thiosulfate and sulfate are proposed to result from the hydrolysis of the highly instable intermediate polythiosulfite in parallel parallel reaction pathways, assuming probabilities for breaking the sulfur chain at the α (sulfate) and β (thiosulfate) positions to be responsible for the selectivity. A reaction scheme is proposed, considering all experimental observations.     

Breast infarction after internal mammary artery harvest in a patient with calciphylaxis

The use of the internal mammary artery during coronary artery bypass grafting is commonplace. Complications associated with the harvest of the internal mammary artery have predominantly been wound related. These range from skin dehiscence to complete avascular necrosis of the sternum. This report documents complete ischemic necrosis of a breast in a patient with end-stage renal disease and a history of calciphylaxis, after the harvest of an internal mammary artery.     

Line narrowing and self frequency scanning of laser diode arrayscoupled to a photorefractive oscillator

Line narrowing and self frequency scanning of a laser diode array coupled to a photorefractive passive-phase conjugate mirror has been demonstrated. Single-longitudinal mode operation is obtained and the coupling mechanism is discussed     

Neuer Zerspanertyp für die Spanplattenindustrie

A new flaker type is described. It is very well suitable for the production of high quality flakes, gained from random length roundwood as well as from slabs and edgings. Due to the integrated gap-calibration, often no subsequent air classification is necessary. Other advantages are low cost for labour, knives and maintenance.     

Molecular beam epitaxy of alternating-strain ZnSe-based multilayer heterostructures for blue-green lasers

High-quality ZnSe-based heterostructures are grown by uninterrupted molecular beam epitaxy using the concept of strain compensation and alternating-strain multilayers. To verify the advantages of this technique, optically pumped ZnSSe/ZnCdSe laser structures containing short-period superlattices or multiple quantum wells have been grown and studied. A room-temperature injection laser diode with a BeZnSe/ZnSe superlattice waveguide is described. Fiz. Tekh. Poluprovodn. 32, 1272–1276 (October 1998)     

Assisted circulation to the right ventricle through pulmonary counterpulsation using a biological method

The association between asthma exacerbations and use of antiasthmatics has been studied with a drug dispensing database. Exacerbations were identified through use of oral corticosteroids and the risk was determined for each medication. use of fenoterol and oral xanthines increases the frequency of exacerbations, but a channelling phenomenon is not excluded. This method could be used in the study of treatment combinations or new treatments, facilitating the monitoring of asthmatic populations. A second study collects ambulatory drug use data (POM and OTC drugs) of elderly patients. These data are analysed for the distribution of several variables, such as concomitant use of several medications of the same therapeutic class. As an example, about 15 per cent of NSAIDs users also use aspirin, exposing themselves to increased risk for gastrointestinal effects. These studies illustrate the use of drug dispensing databases in monitoring populations at risk and assessing treatment quality.     

Attributed linear intermediate representations for retargetable code generators

This paper illustrates the usefulness of an attributed prefix linear intermediate representation for compiler code generation. In separating the machine-independent and machine-dependent aspects of a compiler, we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of an attributed linear intermediate representation with respect to tree-structured intermediate representations. Some of these issues are relevant to fundamental questions of compiler structure with particular emphasis on retargetability. We discuss our implementation experience using this linear intermediate representation with a table-driven code generation scheme for a variety of target architectures.