Magnetic fields and childhood cancers

We present an examination of available dose-response data on EMF and childhood cancer in the epidemiologic literature. We conclude that evidence of dose-response exists for childhood leukemia and that causality remains a scientifically defensible explanation for the epidemiologic results produced thus far on this disease in relation to EMF exposure     

Intensity of treatment and severity of illness in the intensive care unit (ICU)

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between Therapeutic Intervention Scoring System (TISS), length of ICU stay and severity of illness. DESIGN: Prospective study lasting 1 year. SETTING: Two 4-bed surgical-medical ICU. PATIENTS: All consecutively ICU admitted patients. METHODS: Every day TISS of each patient during the last 24 h was computed. Age, sex, type of admission, SAPS II and APACHE II, length of ICU stay and hospital outcome were recorded. Out of 446 admissions, 14 were excluded since the ICU stay was < 16 h. Severity of illness was considered in 405 of the remaining 432; total TISS of readmitted patients resulted from all ICU admissions during the same hospital stay. RESULTS: Median TISS on day 1 was 24 (range 3-58, CI 95% 0.57) and median TISS +/- CI 95% during the first 10 ICU days ranged from 20 to 26. Spearman's correlation coefficient between TISS total and length of stay in ICU was 0.962. Total TISS increased with risk of hospital death predicted by both SAPS II and APACHE II. Total TISS of non surviving patients was significantly (p < 0.001) higher than that of the surviving up to probability of death of 20%. CONCLUSIONS: Intensity of treatment is essentially steady and total TISS is well related to length of ICU stay. Total TISS increases with increasing risk of hospital death predicted by SAPS II and APACHE II, but it is high especially in non surviving patients with low probability of hospital mortality at the admission.     

Optical fiber-based dispersion compensation using higher ordermodes near cutoff

Higher order spatial modes in optical fibers exhibit large, negative chromatic dispersion when operated near their cutoff wavelength. By using a spatial mode-converter to selectively excite a higher order mode in specially designed multimode fiber, this dispersion can be used to compensate the positive dispersion in conventional single-mode fiber spans. In this paper, issues related to compensating fiber and mode-converter design are explored. Experimental measurements in specially designed two-mode fibers operated in LP₁₁ mode show negative dispersion as large as -70 ps/nm·km at 1555 nm. Pulse propagation and system experiments employing spatial mode-converters to excite LP₁₁ mode in a two-mode fiber demonstrate the feasibility of this technique for dispersion compensation in lightwave systems     

Evidence for self-organized criticality in a time series of electric power system blackouts

We analyze a 15-year time series of North American electric power transmission system blackouts for evidence of self-organized criticality (SOC). The probability distribution functions of various measures of blackout size have a power tail and rescaled range analysis of the time series shows moderate long-time correlations. Moreover, the same analysis applied to a time series from a sandpile model known to be self-organized critical gives results of the same form. Thus, the blackout data seem consistent with SOC. A qualitative explanation of the complex dynamics observed in electric power system blackouts is suggested.     

Psychotherapy and the recovery of memories of childhood sexual abuse: U.S. and British practitioners' opinions, practices, and experiences.

Psychotherapists were surveyed regarding clients' memories of childhood sexual abuse (CSA). The 3 samples were highly similar on the vast majority of measures. Respondents listed a wide variety of behavioral symptoms as potential indicators of CSA, and 71% indicated that they had used various techniques (e.g., hypnosis, interpretation of dreams) to help clients recover suspected memories of CSA . Across samples, 25% of the respondents reported a constellation of beliefs and practices suggestive of a focus on memory recovery, and these psychologists reported relatively high rates of memory recovery in their clients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intra-operative radiation therapy in pediatric neuroblastoma

External beam irradiation (EBRT) has been shown to improve response rates and event-free survival in children with neuroblastoma and regional lymph node metastases. Irradiation during surgical exposure (intra-operative radiotherapy, IORT) with displacement of adjacent radiosensitive organs out of the treatment field allows for more precise delineation of the target volume and significantly reduces the amount of normal tissue exposed to irradiation. We have incorporated IORT into the treatment regimen of 24 children with neuroblastoma between the years of 1983-1991. IORT was directed to any residual tumor or the tumor bed; the median dose of radiation was 1,000 cGY, equivalent to 3,000 cGY of conventional EBRT. There were 11 males and 13 females. Two patients had stage II, 12 patients had stage III, and 10 patients had stage IV disease. Ten children received IORT for suspected recurrent or persistent neuroblastoma. Twelve patients were disease-free survivors following IORT with a median follow-up of 54 months. For those patients with stage III disease, seven children were disease-free survivors, while only three of 10 patients with stage IV disease survived (median follow-up 30 months). Disease-free Survival (DFS) correlated with the achievement of local tumor control in children with both stage III and IV neuroblastoma. There was limited morbidity and no episodes of obstructive uropathy were encountered. We conclude that IORT appears to be well tolerated and may have therapeutic benefit for a select group of patients with neuroblastoma. IORT merits future exploration by prospective study.     

Advances in Microstructural Understanding of Wrought Aluminum Alloys

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A - Wrought aluminum alloys are an attractive option in the quest for lightweight, recyclable, structural materials. Modern wrought aluminum alloys depend...