An index for paresis and defective healing--an easily applied method for objectively determining therapeutic results in facial paresis (author's transl)

Residuals of facial paralysis consist of a great variety of cosmetic and functional anomalies which differ in quality and/or quantity. An internationally standardized evaluation of such defects is mandatory for the assessment of the results of different therapeutic procedures. In the present study, a system has been developed to record the results of facial paralysis following therapy. Such a system does not require specialized training, instrumentation or require significant time for completion. A clearly-defined "Yes-No" evaluation criteria is established which creates a high interscorer reliability. The usefulness of this scoring system was tested by three examiners on 42 patients following facial nerve surgery, with an obtained interscorer reliability of 93%.     

Technology Trends in the Extractive Metallurgy of Zirconium,Titanium, Tantalum and Niobium

The reactive and refractory metals zirconium, titanium, tantalum and niobium have been in commercial production and industrial application over the last 30 years and more. With growing experience, there has been progressive improvement in process and equipment designs in the industrial practice. There has also been a continuous drive to develop entirely new processes, and to diversify the applications of these metals. The paper reviews the present status and the emerging trends, and places the Indian work in the global perspective.     

Stability of discrete-time bilinear systems with constant inputs

In this paper discrete-time bilinear systems are considered. Necessary and sufficient conditions are developed which ensure that for any constant input in an unbounded control domain, the trajectories of the system tend to the origin as time increases.     

扭摆式微硅隧道加速度传感器

本文介绍了扭摆式隧道加速度传感器的结构、工作原理、简化的力学模型,设计了版图、工艺流程及关键工艺,并制备出样品,最后给出测试电路和结果。     

Probabilistic prediction of high cycle fatigue reliability of high strength steel butt‐welded joints

The aim of this paper is to develop a probabilistic approach of high cycle fatigue (HCF) behaviour prediction of welded joints taking into account the surface modifications induced by welding and the post‐welding shot peening treatment. In this work, the HCF Crossland criterion has been used and adopted to the case of welded and shot peened welded parts, by taking into account the surface modifications which are classified as follows: (i) the compressive residual stresses, (ii) the surface work‐hardening, (iii) the geometrical irregularities and (iv) the superficial defects. The random effects due to the dispersions of: (i) the HCF Crossland criterion material characteristics (ii) the applied loading and (iii) the surface modifications parameters are introduced in the proposed model. The HCF reliability has been computed by using the ‘strength load’ method with Monte Carlo simulation. The reliability computation results lead to obtain interesting and useful iso‐probabilistic Crossland diagrams (PCD) for different welding and shot peening surface conditions. To validate the proposed method, the approach has been applied to a butt‐welded joint made of S550MC high strength steel (HSS). Four types of specimens are investigated: (i) base metal (BM), (ii) machined and grooved (MG) condition, (iii) As welded (AW) condition and (iv) as welded and shot peened (AWSP) condition. The comparison between the computed reliabilities and the experimental investigations reveals good agreement leading to validate the proposed approach. The effects of the different welded and post‐weld shot peened specimen's surface properties are analysed and discussed using the design of experiments (DoE) techniques.     

Influence of uniaxial tensile strain on the performance of partially depleted SOI CMOS ring oscillators

The influence of uniaxial tensile strain on the performance of advanced partially depleted silicon-on-insulator CMOS ring oscillators is reported. Strain is applied either perpendicular or parallel to the direction of current flow by bending of thinned, fully processed wafers with a gate oxide thickness of less than 1.5 nm. Interestingly, the standby power dissipation of the ring oscillators increases for both parallel and perpendicular strains due to changes in the gate tunneling currents with strain. The on-state power dissipation decreases with parallel strain and increases with perpendicular strain consistent with the expected changes in the inversion layer piezoresistance. The speed of the ring oscillators improves with perpendicular strain and degrades with parallel strain, which can also be understood in terms of the piezoresistance changes.     

Congenital abnormalities in Brazilian children associated with misoprostol misuse in first trimester of pregnancy

BACKGROUND: Misoprostol is commonly used to induce abortion in Brazil, and in other countries in South and Central America where abortions are illegal. However, misoprostol is not very effective in inducing abortions, and exposure to the drug in utero can cause abnormalities in the fetus. We aimed to define the common phenotypical effects of exposure to the drug. METHODS: We studied 42 infants from S?o Paulo, Brazil, who were exposed to misoprostol during the first 3 months of gestation, and then born with congenital abnormalities. We interviewed each of the infants' mothers to find out about misoprostol exposure and dosage. Each infant was physically examined by a geneticist or a neuropaediatrician. FINDINGS: 17 of the infants had equinovarus with cranial-nerve defects. Ten children had equinovarus as part of more extensive arthrogryposis. The most distinctive phenotypes were arthrogryposis confined to the legs (five cases) and terminal transverse-limb defects (nine cases) with or without Mobius sequence. The most common dose of misoprostol taken was 800 microg (range 200-16000 microg). INTERPRETATION: Deformities attributed to vascular disruption were found in these children. We suggest that the uterine contractions induced by misoprostol cause vascular disruption in the fetus, including brain-stem ischaemia. Information on the effects of taking misoprostol during pregnancy should be made more widely available, to dissuade women from misusing the drug.