Correlates of fatigue in older women with heart failure

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relative contribution of psychologic factors and physical symptoms to the variance in fatigue in older women with heart failure. METHODS: Eighty women who had been hospitalized in the previous 12 months for heart failure were interviewed. Fifty-seven women completed second interviews 18 months after the first interview. RESULTS: Fatigue was the most frequently occurring physical symptom at both measurement times, and it significantly increased with time. Other physical symptoms contributed uniquely to the variance in fatigue at both measurement times, but psychologic factors did not. At time 1, sleep difficulties, chest pain, and weakness each explained unique variance in fatigue. At time 2, dyspnea was the only variable that explained unique variance in fatigue (9%). Dyspnea also explained a significant portion of the variance (7%) in time 2 fatigue, when time 1 fatigue was controlled. CONCLUSIONS: Fatigue in older women with heart failure is related more to other physical symptoms than psychologic factors.     

New nonsteroidal androgen receptor modulators based on 4-(trifluoromethyl)-2(1H)-pyrrolidino[3,2-g] quinolinone

Typhoid fever is often associated with abnormal liver biochemical tests, but severe hepatic involvement with a clinical feature of acute hepatitis is a rare complication. There have been more than 150 cases of salmonella hepatitis reported from both developed and developing countries. The documented incidence varies widely from less than 1% to 26% patients with enteric fever. The possible associated factors for development of salmonella hepatitis are virulence of the organisms, delayed treatment and poor general health of the patients. The pathogenesis of severe hepatic involvement in salmonella infection may be multifactorial and includes endotoxin, local inflammatory and/or host immune reactions. Clinical jaundice in salmonella hepatitis usually occurs within the first 2 weeks of the febrile illness. Hepatomegaly and moderate elevation of transaminase levels are common findings. Extreme hepatic dysfunction with hepatic encephalopathy is a rare coexisting complication in salmonella hepatitis. A positive culture for salmonella from blood or stool is essential to differentiate salmonella hepatitis from other causes of acute hepatitis. Hepatic pathology is characterized by the presence of typhoid nodules with marked hyperplasia of reticuloendothelial cells. The prognosis is usually good as salmonella hepatitis responds well to a specific antibiotic therapy and juandice resolves with clinical improvement. The clinical course can be severe with a mortality rate as high as 20%, particularly with delayed treatment or in patients with other complications of salmonella infection. As enteric fever is a common infection, the recognition of salmonella hepatitis is of clinical importance.     

Reaction products of ammonium nitrate phosphate fertilizers of varying water-soluble phosphorus content in different Indian soils

Studies were undertaken on the isolation and identification of reaction products of ammonium nitrate phosphate (ANP) fertilizers containing 30, 50 and 70 per cent water-soluble phosphorus (WSP) of total phosphorus in representative soils of the vertisol, oxisol, alfisol, entisol, mollisol and aridisol groups of India. ANP fertilizers were applied in solid form to soil, and reaction products formed at and around the site of ANP fertilizer placement were identified after six weeks incubation in moist soils by X-ray diffraction technique. DCPD (dicalcium phosphate dihydrate- CaHPO₄ · 2H₂O) was the major reaction product of ANP fertilizers containing 30 and 50 per cent WSP in vertisol, entisol, aridisol, mollisol, oxisol and alfisol, and of ANP containing 70 per cent WSP in vertisol, entisol, alfisol, aridisol and mollisol. DCP (dicalcium phosphate-CaHPO₄) was detected with ANP of 30 and 50 per cent WSP in the vertisol, alfisol, entisol, mollisol and aridisol groups of soils. In addition to DCPD, FePO₄ · 2H₂O (metastrengite) and AlPO₄ · 2H₂ O-monoclinic (metavariscite) were formed in alfisol and oxisol soils with ANP of 30 and 50 per cent WSP. FePO₄ · 2H₂O and AlPO₄ · 2H₂O (metavariscite) were identified in alfisol and oxisol soils while AlPO₄ · 2H₂O-orthorhombic (variscite) was formed in alfisol soils with ANP of 70 per cent WSP.     

Light scattering from anisotropic, randomly rough, perfectly conducting surfaces

An approach is introduced for performing rigorous numerical simulations of electromagnetic wave scattering from randomly rough, perfectly conducting surfaces. It is based on a surface integral technique, and consists of determining the unknown electric surface current densities from which the electromagnetic field everywhere can be determined. The method is used to study the scattering of a p-polarized beam from an anisotropic Gaussian, randomly rough, perfectly conducting surface. It is demonstrated that the surface anisotropy gives rise to interesting and pronounced signatures in the angular intensity distribution of the scattered light. The origins of these features are discussed.     

Effect of Safety and Environmental Variables on Task Durations in Steel Erection

In spite of the efforts by government agencies, labor organizations, and researchers in the field of health and safety, injuries and fatalities continue to affect the construction industry. In 2002 the construction industry had the undesirable distinction of having two of the most dangerous occupations in the United States, with fatalities among structural steel workers at 58.2 per 100,000 workers (fourth highest rate) and among construction laborers at 27.7 per 100,000 workers (ninth highest rate). Costs associated with construction accidents, such as increased insurance premiums and medical expenses, and loss of productivity are also concerns in the industry. It has not been demonstrated how unsafe working conditions affect worker performance, and the impact of unsafe work practices on worker performance has not been quantified. This paper describes a methodology that included direct observation of steel erection activities and statistical analysis of task duration data. The data collected at steel erection sites included safety conditions such as the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), elevation of the work area, environmental conditions such as temperature and humidity, and worker performance in the form of task durations. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) analysis of 186 of steel erection task durations collected over a six-month period showed that the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), the time of day during which the operation was being performed, the elevation at which the work was being performed, and the presence of decking below the work area had statistically significant effects on the durations of steel erection tasks.     

Highly birefringent index-guiding photonic crystal fibers

Photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) offer new possibilities of realizing highly birefringent fibers due to a higher intrinsic index contrast compared to conventional fibers. In this letter, we analyze theoretically the levels of birefringence that can be expected using relatively simple PCF designs. While extremely high degrees of birefringence may be obtained for the fibers, we demonstrate that careful design with respect to multimode behavior must be performed. We further discuss the cutoff properties of birefringent PCFs and present experimental results in agreement with theoretical predictions on both single- and multimode behavior and on levels of birefringence