Iron requirements and iron balance during pregnancy. Is iron supplementation needed for pregnant women?

Among fertile, nonpregnant, Danish women, 33% have absent or reduced iron stores; 22% have serum ferritin values above 70 micrograms/l, i.e., iron reserves of more than 530 mg, corresponding to the net iron losses during a normal pregnancy. During pregnancy, the demands for absorbed iron increase from 0.8 to 7.5 mg/day. Controlled studies show that iron-treated pregnant women have higher serum ferritin levels, i.e., larger iron stores, and higher haemoglobin levels than placebo-treated women. A supplement of 66 mg ferrous iron daily from the beginning of the 2nd trimester prevents iron deficiency anaemia. In Denmark, general iron prophylaxis with 60-70 mg ferrous iron daily from 20 weeks of gestation is recommended by the health authorities.     

Application of microwaves and millimeter waves for thecharacterization of teeth for dental diagnosis and treatment

This paper presents applications of microwaves and millimeter waves for the characterization of teeth. This is done by measuring the complex permittivity over the frequency range from 0.04 to 40 GHz. These measurements have revealed that dental caries are significantly more lossy to microwaves and millimeter waves than the healthy tooth, and this difference can be used for dental diagnosis. The experimental results have been confirmed by using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. In addition, millimeter-wave heating of the lossy dental caries can be used as a sterilization treatment. It is concluded that millimeter waves can be used for dental medical diagnosis as well as dental medical treatment     

A case of macrocystic cervical neurinoma diagnosed by MRI with Gd-DTPA

The authors report a rare case of a large cystic cervical neurinoma. A 45-year-old female was admitted to our clinic because of motor weakness of the right upper extremity, numbness of the right fingers and right posterior cervical pain. Metrizamide CT myelography demonstrated the outline of a low density mass. MRI showed a mass revealing low signal intensity on T1-weighted image, high signal intensity on T2-weighted image and marginal enhancement on contrast image with Gd-DTPA. The mass which was diagnosed as cystic tumor, was located in the intradural extramedullary space between C4 to C5 segments. After C4 through C5 laminectomy, the tumor was found to originate from the C5 anterior motor root. The tumor consisted mostly of a cystic part with a very thin solid compartment beneath the capsule. Postoperative course of the patient was uneventful. Although spinal neurinoma is one of the most common spinal tumors, an almost completely degenerated large cystic spinal neurinoma is extremely rare. MRI with Gd-DTPA was useful for the diagnosis of the cystic neurinoma by clearly enhancing the margin of the tumor.     

Langzeitiges Kriechrißverhalten kennzeichnender Kraftwerksstähle

Long Term Creep Crack Behaviour of Typical Power Plant Steels The creep crack behaviour of the steels was investigated in a wide loading range up to a test duration of 40 000 h and down to a creep crack growth rate of 2 · 10^?5 mm/h with specimens of different shape and size. For steels of type l%Cr-l%Mo-0.6%Ni-0.3%V, 1%Cr-0.9%Mo-0.7%Ni-03.%V, 12%Cr-1%Mo-0.3%V-0.22%C and 12%Cr-l%Mo-0.3%V-0.20%C tested at 550°C, the creep crack growth rate could be described by the parameter C₂* with significantly smaller scatter bands than by the parameter C₁* or the stress intensity factor K_I. For steel 12%Cr-2%Ni-1%Mo tested at 450°C, parameter K_I leads to the smallest scatter band. The creep crack initiation can be described in a two-criteria diagram based on nominal stress and stress intensity factor. However the method is assumed to be over-conservative in case of increasing specimen size. As a result of several aperiodic creep fatigue crack tests, precracking under fatigue conditions gave a weak increase of the creep crack growth rate whereas by precracking under creep conditions the fatigue crack rate was strongly decreased.     

Excessive closure of the right eye: a new sign of infarction in the territory of the ipsilateral right middle cerebral artery

In right middle cerebral territory infarction a new sign, excessive closure of the right eye ipsilateral to the lesion and mild closure of the left eye on command, was noted. The excessive ipsilateral eye closure was not observed on spontaneous eye closure.     

An illustrative comparison of the event-size distributions for gamma-rays and alpha-particles in the whole mammalian cell nucleus

Postnatal depression is a significant problem affecting 10-15% of mothers in many countries and has been the subject of an increasing number of publications. Prenatal depression has been studied less. The aims of the present investigation were: 1) to obtain information on the prevalence of prenatal and postnatal depression in low income Brazilian women by using an instrument already employed in several countries, i.e., the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS); 2) to evaluate the risk factors involved in prenatal and postnatal depression in Brazil. The study groups included 33 pregnant women interviewed at home during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy, and once a month during the first six months after delivery. Questions on life events and the mother's relationship with the baby were posed during each visit. Depressed pregnant women received less support from their partners than non-depressed pregnant women (36.4 vs 72.2%, P < 0.05; Fisher exact test). Black women predominated among pre- and postnatally depressed subjects. Postnatal depression was associated with lower parity (0.4 +/- 0.5 vs 1.1 +/- 1.0, P < 0.05; Student t-test). Thus, the period of pregnancy may be susceptible to socio-environmental factors that induce depression, such as the lack of affective support from the partner. The prevalence rate of 12% observed for depression in the third month postpartum is comparable to that of studies from other countries.