Right ventricular mass estimation by angioechocardiography

A combined angiocardiographic-echocardiographic method for estimating right ventricular wall mass is described. Biplane cineangiocardiograms are analyzed for ventricular volume in end-diastole, and wall thickness is determined from echocardiograms obtained with a high frequency transducer and strip chart recorder, The intracavitary and the external surface volumes of the ventricle are derived, and the difference multiplied by 1.050, the specific gravity of myocardium. Excellent correlation was observed between right ventricular wall mass and body surface area in normal children (r = 0.93). The mean right ventricular mass was 44.5 g/M2 as compared to 78.1 g/M2 for the left ventricle, corresponding mass/EDV values were 0.48 g/cm3 and 1.26 g/cm3, respectively. In isolated right ventricular pressure overload, the increase in right ventricular mass is chiefly due to the increase in wall thickness; in volume overload, it is due mostly to the increase in chamber volume,     

CDUL: Class directed unsupervised learning

A novel neural network called Class Directed Unsupervised Learning (CDUL) is introduced. The architecture, based on a Kohonen self-organising network, uses additional input nodes to feed class knowledge to the network during training, in order to optimise the final positioning of Kohonen nodes in feature space. The structure and training of CDUL networks is detailed, showing that (a) networks cannot suffer from the problem of single Kohonen nodes being trained by vectors of more than one class, (b) the number of Kohonen nodes necessary to represent the classes is found during training, and (c) the number of training set passes CDUL requires is low in comparison to similar networks. CDUL is subsequently applied to the classification of chemical excipients from Near Infrared (NIR) reflectance spectra, and its performance compared with three other unsupervised paradigms. The results thereby obtained demonstrate a superior performance which remains relatively constant through a wide range of network parameters.     

Quantitation of Nizatidine in Capsules Using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography

A stability-indicating high-performance liquid chromatography method for the quantitation of nizatidine in capsules has been developed. The method is accurate and precise with a percent relative standard deviation of 0.34 based on 6 readings. A number of inactive ingredients present in the capsules did not interfere in the assay procedure. The recovery from the synthetic mixtures was quantitative. The extraction procedure from the capsules is very simple. The drug appears to be very sensitive to bases (such as sodium hydroxide) since 100% of the drug decomposed on boiling for 35 minutes. The drug was very stable when boiled with sulfuric acid.     

Outgassing of ZrF4-Based Glasses

The nature and quantities of the chemical species evaporating from the surface of fluorozirconate glasses heated to above T_g were investigated. ZrF4 vaporized from a ZBLAN glass whereas ZrF₃. ZrF₂ and ZrF vaporized from a ZBL glass. Other gases found include HF, HCl, O₂, CO₂, and atomic fluorine.     

Vorstellungen über Entstehung,Wachstum und Abscheidung von Desoxidationsprodukten in Stahlschmelzen

Erörterungen zur homogenen Keimbildung und zur Berechnung der kritischen Übersättigung bei der Desoxidation von Eisenschmelzen mit Mangan. Behandlung des Wachstums der Desoxidationsprodukte durch Diffusion und Kollision. Aussagen über die zeitliche Verteilung der Desoxidationsprodukte unter Berücksichtigung von Stokes- und Gradient-Kollision. Angaben über die Bedeutung der Grenzflächenspannung zwischen Schmelze und Einschluß für die Abscheidung der Desoxidationsprodukte.     

Preparation and anisotropic mechanical behavior of highly‐oriented electrospun poly(butylene terephthalate) fibers

This work describes the effect of the speed of drum‐type rotating collector in an electrospinning process on the orientation of electrospun poly(butylene terephthalate) fiber mats, and its effect on the tensile properties. The degree of orientation increased with the increase in the drum speed (surface velocity) up to a critical level, and thereafter, wavy fibers were observed. The average diameter reduced and its distribution became narrower with increase in the velocity. The mechanical properties in a parallel direction improved about three times with increase in the surface velocity. The anisotropic mechanical behavior could be predicted with a simple classical equation. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 101: 2017–2021, 2006