Anxiety after a heart attack

An objective measurement of anxiety at defined intervals after the onset of acute cardiac symptoms was made in 203 men admitted to the Coronary Care Unit, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, and in 83 patients in a Teesside coronary survey. Of the Teesside patients, 50 were treated at home, 22 were admitted initially to a coronary care unit, and 11 were admitted directly to a general medical ward. In the Edinburgh patients the level of anxiety was high early in the illness, fell rapidly, and rose again towards the end of their stay in hospital. At 4 months it was that of a normal population. After transfer from the coronary care unit the group was not more anxious than other patients in the ward. Reaction to the illness was unrelated to its physical severity. Patients who reacted badly at the beginning were less likely to return to work. The pattern of anxiety in the Teesside patients resembled that of the Edinburgh group, and reaction to illness was largely independent of physical aspects. Treatment in hospital, either through a coronary care unit initially or in a medical ward, did not increase emotional distress. At 3 months patients treated initially in a coronary care unit were less anxious than the others. Throughout the period of study the Teesside patients were more anxious than the Edinburgh patients and outcome was not related to anxiety. Social and environmental differences may account for this.     

Die Streuung des Elastizitätsmoduls in Brettlängsrichtung

The modulus of elasticity (MOE) of 100 boards and 640 board sections, 45 cm long, was determined. For the board sections, a regression equation for the MOE, depending on density and knot size was calculated. In more than 80% of the boards the MOE-variability within one board was lower than the residue of the regression equation valid for all board sections.     

Goodness-of-fit tests in semiparametric transformation models

Consider a semiparametric transformation model of the form \(\varLambda _{\theta }(Y)\) \(= m(X) + \varepsilon \), where \(Y\) is a univariate dependent variable, \(X\) is a \(d\)-dimensional covariate, and \(\varepsilon \) is independent of \(X\) and has mean zero. We assume that \(\{ \varLambda _{\theta } : \theta \in \varTheta \}\) is a parametric family of strictly increasing functions, while \(m\) is an unknown regression function. The goal of the paper is to develop tests for the null hypothesis that \(m(\cdot )\) belongs to a certain parametric family of regression functions. We propose a Kolmogorov–Smirnov and a Cramér–von Mises type test statistic, which measure the distance between the distribution of \(\varepsilon \) estimated under the null hypothesis and the distribution of \(\varepsilon \) without making use of this null hypothesis. The estimated distributions are based on a profile likelihood estimator of \(\theta \) and a local polynomial estimator of \(m(\cdot )\). The limiting distributions of these two test statistics are established under the null hypothesis and under a local alternative. We use a bootstrap procedure to approximate the critical values of the test statistics under the null hypothesis. Finally, a simulation study is carried out to illustrate the performance of our testing procedures, and we apply our tests to data on the scattering of sunlight in the atmosphere.     

Magnetic investigation of martensite ⇌ austenite transformations in Fe-Ni-Co alloys

The martensite ⇌ austenite transformations were investigated in Fe-Ni-Co alloys containing about 65 wt pct Fe and up to 15 wt pct Co. A change in morphology of martensite from plate-like to lath-type occurred with increasing cobalt content; this change in morphology correlates with the disappearance of the Invar anomaly in the austenite. The martensite-to-austenite reverse transformation differed depending on martensite morphology. Reversion of plate-like martensite was found to occur by simple disintegration of the martensite platelets. Reverse austenite formed from lath-type martensite was not retained when quenched from much aboveA _s, with microcracks forming during theM→γ→M transformation.     

Determination of purine compounds and purine bases in food

The total purine content and the content of RNA, DNA, nucleotides, nucleosides and free purine bases has been determined in commercial raw food. After hydrolysing food samples with acid, the total purine content is enzymatically determined as uric acid. For the determination of the nucleic acid content, a method is chosen that allows for the analysis of the composition of nucleic acids. The amount of purine bound in nucleic acids and of purine bound in nucleotides, nucleosides and free bases is very different. The content of nucleic acids is especially high in the innards of veal, pork and beef. In these samples the quantity of purine bound in nucleotides, nucleosides and bases is very small. In trout and herring, however, more purine is bound in RNA and DNA. The same is true of roe, pork and beef muscle. Peas and beans have the lowest total purine content of all the samples examined.     

Soft magnetic structural alloys for elevated-temperature applications

Metallurgical efforts to develop a soft magnetic material suitable for application in the rotor of a generator or motor in advanced aerospace electric systems are reviewed. Commercial materials which have been considered include AISI 4340 steel, H-11 steel, Nivco alloy, and 15- and 18-percent Ni maraging steels. Developments described have led to several new materials with combination of good mechanical and magnetic properties at elevated temperature. Such materials include an improved maraging steel a precipitation hardenable cobalt-base alloy, a carbide strengthened Co-W alloy, dispersion-strengthened soft magnetic alloys, and unidirectionally solidified Co-Nb-Fe eutectic alloys.     

Superconducting tungsten films for use as phase transition thermometers for calorimetric detectors

To improve the sensitivity of calorimetric particle detectors we want to produce low-T_c superconducting thin films to be used as phase transition thermometers. We have succeeded in depositing epitaxial -tungsten films on sapphire which have critical temperatures T_c near 15 mK. To our knowledge this is the first time that the T_c of bulk tungsten has been observed in thin films. Such a film has been produced on a 4 g sapphire crystal and operated as a calorimeter, giving an energy resolution of 75 eV (FWHM) for 1.5 keV X-rays.     

Bioprocessing of pyrite concentrate from coal tailings for the production of the coagulant ferric sulphate

The aim of this work was to produce a high concentration ferric sulphate solution from coal pyrite tailings that could be used as coagulant for water and wastewater treatment. At laboratory scale it was performed the oxidation of pyrite in an aqueous medium in a packed bed leaching column in an oxidizing environment with the presence of acidophilic bacteria (Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans) as well as nutrients for bacterial growth. It was indicated that an aqueous solution rich in ferric sulphate can be produced which was found suitable for application in water treatment plants.     

Magnetic properties of Co−Nb and Co−Nb−Fe unidirectionally solidified eutectic composites

Eutectic composites of Co?Nb and Co?Nb?Fe were produced by unidirectional solidification. The structure consisted of aligned lamellae of NbCo₃ in a stabilized fcc cobalt-rich matrix. NbCo₃ lowered saturation induction, following a simple volume law of mixtures. Niobium in solid solution lowered both the saturation induction and the Curie temperature, whereas iron in solid solution raised the saturation induction while lowering the Curie temperature. A minimum in coercive force (H _app parallel to growth direction) occurred near 8 at. pct Fe, attributable to a minimum in |K ₁| for this composition.