The pathoanatomical,diagnosis of progressive forms of pulmonary tuberculosis in relation to the new clinical classification

This communication is a letter of information that gives for postmortem diagnosis a brief account of tuberculous inflammation and major types of pulmonary tuberculosis during their progression to death and an approximate outline of pathoanatomical diagnosis. Terminal tuberculosis is shown to be now complicated by miliary and caseous pneumonias. Caseous pneumonia may appear as an independent nosological entity and as a complication of acute progression, more frequently, of fibrocavernous tuberculosis. Caseous pneumonia as a tuberculosis type is an irreversible process that calls for emergency surgical treatment. It has been found that there are primarily impairments in lung connective tissue function, acute mesenchymopathy with high blood barrier permeability in caseous pneumonia. Terminal bronchiolar lesion is a later stage in the pathogenesis of caseous pneumonia.     

Birch production and utilization for energy

Natural birch stands represent a significant biomass resource since birches are one of the most common deciduous genera in cool temperate regions, even in places ranging up to the forest line. Many characteristics of birch make it highly suited for short rotation forestry. However, growing birch in very short rotations (less than 10 years) in northern climates is not worthwhile on the basis of biomass production and economics. Rotations of 15 to 20 years may give good results everywhere. The intensive culture of birch plantations has largely remained untested, but it is very likely that the yield levels can be increased significantly by using cloned material as well as improved silvicultural treatments, fertilization and pest control. Birch feedstock, compared to material of many other tree species, is of even quality. Moisture content is low and basic density high. Branches and bark are also suitable for energy use. Birch plays an important part in the energy budget of entire nations, particularly of Finland and Sweden     

A fast parallel algorithm for dot linking in Glass patterns

The human visual system is very good at perceiving structure in complex patterns. ‘Glass patterns’, constructed from displaced copies of random dot patterns, are examples of this in which the only cues are pairs of matching dots. Stevens has proposed a model that accounts well for human performance at this task. A modified version of this model is proposed here which has a fast implementation on parallel ‘pyramid’ hardware. The existence of such implementations is highly desirable because human perception takes place very rapidly. The hardware assumed is a stack of cellular arrays each of which covers the image with a different size grid. This architecture allows fast communication between distant parts of the image as long as the amount of information that needs to be sent over long distances is limited. The modified model was found to behave quite similarly to Stevens' model.     

Conflicting goals of skid training

Efforts to make novice drivers drive more safely on slippery roads by means of special courses have mainly failed. In order to understand why the courses have failed, the views of instructors and students on the goals of skid training courses were compared. The importance given to anticipating vs manoeuvring skills was analysed. After completing a skid training course, students in four Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden) assessed manoeuvring skills to be equally important to anticipating skills in the courses. However, instructors assessed anticipating skills to be more important than manoeuvring skills. The differences between the assessments of instructors and students were the same in all four countries. Manoeuvring exercises are widely used in the courses although the main purpose of these courses is to develop anticipating skills. The exercises may give students the impression that manoeuvring skills are more important than anticipating skills. Manoeuvring exercises also increase their self-confidence and may lead to underestimation of the risks involved, resulting in e.g. driving at higher speed.     

Ductus arteriosus rupture as a balloon catheter atrioseptostomy complication

A newborn with transposition of the great arteries presented with rupture of the ductus arteriosus after balloon catheter atrioseptostomy. The necropsy study demonstrated persistent ductus patency, and a 0.5-cm-long horizontal fissure could be observed. On microscopy, there was laceration of the intimal layer, with wall dissection and focal hemorrhage extending to the adventitia. Ductus rupture was attributed to the wall weakness, as a consequence of prostaglandin E1 administration.     

On the existence of stationary optimal policies for partially observed MDPs under the long-run average cost criterion

This paper studies the problem of the existence of stationary optimal policies for finite state controlled Markov chains, with compact action space and imperfect observations, under the long-run average cost criterion. It presents sufficient conditions for existence of solutions to the associated dynamic programming equation, that strengthen past results. There is a detailed discussion comparing the different assumptions commonly found in the literature.     

High levels of ochratoxin A in licorice and derived products

The ochratoxin A (OTA) content of 30 samples of licorice root and derived products (licorice-confectionery, licorice block, and licorice extract) was analyzed by a standard HPLC-fluorescence technique and confirmed by methyl-ester formation. All analyzed samples of licorice and derived products were found to contain ochratoxin A, and some of them showed extremely high concentrations up to 252.8 ng/g of OTA. Highest levels of ochratoxin A were found in dry licorice root, averaging 63.6 ng/g, while mean contents in fresh licorice root were 9.2 ng/g. Licorice-confectionery (sweets) contained 3.8 ng/g of OTA. Ochratoxin A was also abundant in two licorice derivatives, liquid licorice extract (16.0 ng/g) and solid licorice block (39.5 ng/g). The ochratoxin levels found in licorice and derived products are higher than those reported in the literature for other food commodities. The experiments of OTA transfer into the tea beverages showed that almost 5% of the OTA present in dry licorice root is transferred to the corresponding decoction tea, whereas only 1% of OTA remains in infusion tea. The significance of the levels of ochratoxin A in licorice and its derivatives is discussed in the context of existing data on ochratoxin contamination in foods.