Unexplained physical symptoms: outcome, utilization of medical care and associated factors

BACKGROUND: Measurement of intracardiac hemodynamic parameters has been limited to brief periods in the acute care setting. We developed and evaluated an implantable hemodynamic monitor that is capable of measuring chronic right ventricular oxygen saturation and pulmonary artery pressure. METHODS AND RESULTS: The device consists of an electronic controller placed subcutaneously and two transvenous leads placed in the right ventricle (reflectance oximeter) and pulmonary artery (variable capacitance pressure sensor). Implantation was performed in 10 patients with severe left ventricular dysfunction. Average implant pulmonary artery pressures were systolic, 52 +/- 16 mm Hg; diastolic, 29 +/- 11 mm Hg; and mean, 40 +/- 12 mm Hg. The mean right ventricular oxygen saturation at implant was 51%. Provocative maneuvers, including postural changes, sublingual nitroglycerin, and bicycle exercise, demonstrated expected changes in measured oxygen saturation and pulmonary artery pressures over time. At follow-up of 0.5 to 15.5 months, there were no significant differences between pulmonary artery pressures or oxygen saturation values transmitted from the device and simultaneous measurement with balloon flotation catheters. Four of the pulmonary artery leads dislodged and three demonstrated sensor drift, whereas two of the oxygen saturation sensors failed. Four patients died and four received transplants. Pathological study did not demonstrate injury to the right ventricular outflow tract or pulmonic valve. CONCLUSIONS: Chronic measurement of hemodynamic parameters in the outpatient setting with implantable sensor technology appears to be feasible. The devices are well tolerated without significant untoward effects, and the sensors generally function well over time, providing reliable information. Clinical usefulness remains to be established.     

Poly(3-octylthiophene) as semiconductor for schottky barrier: Effects of doping and storage time

Schottky diodes of aluminium/poly(3-octylthiophene)(P30T)/indium-tin oxide with large active area are prepared by using the proposed new casting technique. Their rectifying behavior and junction characteristics are dependent on whether the P30T is doped and on the storage time, but independent of the thickness of the P30T layer. The present technique can also be applied in a fabrication of electronic devices with other soluble conjugated polymers.     

Extended application of the complex source-point theory

In this paper, the complex source-point theory used for a symmetric concave spherical resonator is extended to an asymmetric concave spherical resonator. Thus, the formulae for the field distribution of the asymmetric spherical resonator can be easily deduced from the formulae for the field distribution of the symmetric resonator, thereby the application range of the complex source-point theory is enlarged and a convenient method is provided for the field analysis of an arbitrary spherical resonator.     

Biochemical identification of transmembrane segments of the Ca(2+)-ATPase of sarcoplasmic reticulum

The transmembrane segments of sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+)-ATPase were determined by trypsinization of cytoplasmic side-out intact sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles. The membrane portion of tryptic digest comprising the transmembrane fragments, joined by the intravesicular segments, was separated by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis after labeling with fluorescein 5-maleimide in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate. In this way, seven fluorescent bands of tryptic fragments below 11 kDa were observed which were derived from 4 pairs of membrane spanning segments and one hydrophobic sequence at the C-terminal end. Two peptides of 10.8 and 10.6 kDa had the identical N-terminal sequence beginning at Glu826, representing the transmembrane segments M7 and M8 and their connecting loop. A band at 8.1 kDa contained one peptide beginning at Tyr36 (M1/loop/M2). A 7.7-kDa peptide starting at Leu253 (M3/loop/M4) and a 7.3-kDa peptide beginning at Ala752 (M5/loop/M6) were also observed. A band at 6.7 kDa contained two peptides, one beginning at Ser48 (M1/loop/M2) and another beginning at Tyr763 (M5/loop/M6). In addition, a 4-kDa peptide beginning at Met925 was observed. The size of this peptide did not allow for a complete pair of transmembrane segments, but this peptide could have been derived from trypsinolysis between the last pair of membrane spanning segments. These data therefore provide biochemical evidence for at least 8 transmembrane segments and perhaps two more at the C-terminal end of the enzyme.     

�ҹ���Ȼ���۸����״���ĸ﷽���̽

当今世界各国执行的商品天然气定价原则主要包括完全成本原则、平均利润原则、长期边际成本定价原则、比价合理原则和供求平衡原则等。文章分析了我国天然气价格的演变历史及现状，说明了现行价格形成的制度原因。研究了天然气商品从生产到运输再到销售各环节的价格确定方法，以此为基础给出了一个即考虑天然气商品价值又考虑竞争和政府管制因素的天然气商品的定价公式。文章最后指出，在真正的、完全竞争的天然气市场建立之前，商品天然气的价格主要应按完全成本原则进行确定。     

化肥厂合成气及重整氢真空变压吸附制取高纯度氢气

从设计、生产操作和经济效益3个方面阐述了以化肥厂合成气及重氢为原料，通过真空变压吸附（VPSA）装置制取高纯度氢的过程。工业应用结果表明，该制氢工艺是一项操作简便灵活，制氢费用较低的工艺路线。VPSA装置技术和设计上的特点能够保证大的操作弹性、高的产品氢纯度和较高的氢气回收率。在36％－51％的低限负荷下，通过适当调整吸附时间，可获得纯度99％的氢气产品，89％－92％的氢气回收率。     

Energy use in controlled temperature marine aquaculture

Temperature control offers benefits in land‐based marine aquaculture: stock growth rates may be enhanced by heating in winter; mortality rates in summer may be reduced by cooling. However, if the plant is not well designed, temperature control may create very large energy demands. This paper describes the application of temperature control in abalone aquaculture in New Zealand, with a focus on energy considerations in plant design. An abalone farm using a semi‐closed water conditioning system is used as a case study for which an energy model, based on a heat pump system, is developed. The model is used to determine the impact of plant design and tank conditions on the economics of the operation. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

莺-琼盆地生物气及生物—低成熟过渡带气特征与勘探前景

莺 琼盆地天然气资源丰富 ,天然气成因类型多 ,迄今为止 ,除在该区浅层和中深层发现以成熟—高成熟的热成因腐殖型气 (煤型气 )为主的天然气藏外 ,也发现了一些生物气及生物—低成熟过渡带气气藏 ,且均具较高的产量和一定的储量规模 ,其勘探前景广阔。