Differential diagnostic question: traumatic unconsciousness or amnestic episode?

Traumatic twilight state on the one and amnestic episode (transient global amnesia) on the other side are as a rule easy to differentiate from the patient's age, his behavior during the acute state of disease and the kind of its improving. Contrary to other authors' opinion, differentiation is not just possible by diagnosing an injury or its absence. In minor skull traumata preceding the traumatic twilight states injuries are often not manifest and otherwise amnestic episodes occasionnally occur after minor traumata. In a 64 years old woman an obviously typical amnestic episode appeared in direct connection with a probable fall on the back of the head. A 28 years old man underwent a five-hour amnestic episode whereas the EEG showed normal curves. The episode occurred 15 minutes after striking hard upon the ground with the back of the head during a ground roll without following unconsciousness. In both cases traumatic twilight states were not involved. In account of the interval of 15 minutes the trauma of the second case seems not be be the direct cause for the manifestation of amnestic episode. It also shows that the aspect of the disease in the rare occurrence in younger or middle-aged persons is on principle not different from that in old ones. Since a special medical examination during the acute state is only possible as exception the patient's amnestically seizable behaviour obtains greatest importance in differential diagnosis. For the rare coincidence the trauma is given no pathogenetic relevance in amnestic episodes.     

Beschreibung von Ver- und Entfestigungsvorgängen am Beispiel austenitformgehärteter Stähle mit Hilfe von Fließkurven

Fließkurven beschreiben das Formänderungsvermögen von Werkstoffen. Gleichzeitig liefern sie Informationen über die Wechselwirkung zwischen der Ver- und Entfestigung, wobei diese beiden Eigenschaften temperaturabhängig sind. Fließkurven wurden an Stählen aufgenommen, die sich im wesentlichen in ihrem Kohlenstoffgehalt unterscheiden. Die Bestimmung der Formänderungsfähigkeit erfolgte bei Temperaturen, die denen entsprechen, bei denen eine Austenitformhärtung vorgenommen wird. Die mathematische Beschreibung der Fließkurven läßt erkennen, daß zunächst mit steigender Umformtemperatur die Verfestigungsrate abnimmt. Der Kohlenstoffgehalt erhöht dagegen die Verfestigungsrate. Die dynamische Erholung wird mit wachsender Umformtemperatur beschleunigt, ebenso mit steigendem Kohlenstoffgehalt.     

Nicotine dependence versus smoking prevalence: comparisons among countries and categories of smokers

OBJECTIVES: To collect available international data on nicotine dependence as defined by the Fagerstrom Test of Nicotine Dependence, and to compare levels of dependence among countries and categories of smokers. DATA SOURCES: Published and unpublished studies known to the authors and a search of EMBASE from 1985-1995. STUDY SELECTION: Studies included were those based on a nationally representative sample of a country's population, or a sample of smokers seeking cessation assistance. DATA SYNTHESIS: Smokers who seek help in stopping smoking are much more dependent than the average smoker. Men consistently score higher on dependence than women. Ex-smokers appear to have lower dependence than current smokers. A country with low smoking prevalence, the United States, seems to have smokers with higher dependence scores than countries where smoking is more prevalent (such as Austria and Poland). CONCLUSIONS: Successful tobacco control may result in a higher dependence among the remaining smokers (due to selective quitting by low-dependent smokers). The remaining highly dependent smokers may need more intensive treatment.


     

Inhibition of cytochrome P-450 3A (CYP3A) in human intestinal and liver microsomes: comparison of Ki values and impact of CYP3A5 expression

Seckel syndrome has been described as the prototype of the primordial bird-headed type of dwarfism. Since Seckel originally defined the disorder, less than 60 cases have been reported. In addition to the characteristic craniofacial dysmorphism and skeletal defects, abnormalities have been described in the cardiovascular, hematopoietic, endocrine, and central nervous systems. This pleiotropy has implied genetic heterogeneity and prompted reviews of previously reported cases of Seckel syndrome. As a result, the characteristic diagnostic features of Seckel syndrome have been highly debated. Although deletions in chromosome 2q have been described, to date, no genetic defect has been defined. We report three cases of Seckel-like syndrome in siblings from nonconsanguinous Caucasian parents. In addition to the typical Seckel phenotypic features, all three cases were characterized by severe hydrocephalus. We review the literature and propose that there is a spectrum of Seckel conditions that share some common key features, but also demonstrate a wide range of phenotypic features.     

System-guided view integration for object-oriented databases

Some of the shortcomings of current view integration methodologies, namely, a low emphasis on full-scale automated systems, a lack of algorithmic specifications of the integration activities, inattention to the design of databases with new properties such as databases for computer-aided design, and insufficient experience with data models with a rich set of type and abstraction mechanisms, are attacked simultaneously. The focus is on design databases for software engineering applications. The approach relies on a semantic model based on structural object-orientation with various features tailored to these applications. The expressiveness of the model is used to take the first steps toward algorithmic solutions, and it is demonstrated how corresponding tools could be embedded methodically within the view integration process and technically within a database design environment. The central ideal is to compute so-called assumption predicates that express suggested similarities between structures in two schemas to be integrated, and then have a human integrator confirm or reject them. The basic method is exemplified for the CERM data model that includes molecular aggregation, generalization, and versioning     

Local Hall Effect and Ballistic Transport in Multi-terminal InAs-Based Lateral Spin-Valve Tunnelling Devices

A multi-terminal InAs-based lateral spin-valve tunnelling device is presented, which enables individual electrical characterization of all spin-valve components in two-terminal configuration. Both the spin-valve and the non-local geometry are available for studying spin-dependent transport. Furthermore, we propose a measurement geometry in which the spin-dependent contact resistance of the sensor electrode can be measured in three-terminal configuration. Longitudinal magnetoresistance in spin-valve geometry reveal hysteresis loops of 1 mΩ deflection as known from Hall magnetometry. In non-local geometry a polarity-dependent current–voltage characteristic at 2 K is observed. This can be understood in terms of a superposition of a diffusive resistive component with a polarity-dependent ballistic component.