Pleurodesis with iodized talc for malignant effusions using pigtail catheters

OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy of using an iodized talc slurry as a sclerosing agent instilled into the pleural space via a 12-French pigtail catheter for controlling malignant pleural effusions. DESIGN: A prospective study in which patients were followed until their death. SETTING: A university-affiliated tertiary-care teaching hospital. PATIENTS: Medical oncology patients admitted with symptomatic malignant pleural effusions were considered for iodized talc pleurodesis. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The control of pleural effusion. Treatment failure was defined as any reaccumulation of fluid in the pleural space. RESULTS: Fifteen patients were treated for a total of 17 instillations. The median follow-up on all patients until death was 6 months (range 1-20). The most frequent adverse effect in the study group was pleuritic chest pain (60%). The probability of control of effusion, as determined by the method of Kaplan-Meier, was 81% (SEM 9.7%). The cost of preparing 5 g of iodized talc was $4.32 (US). CONCLUSIONS: Iodized talc slurry instilled through a small-bore pigtail catheter is a safe, economical, and effective treatment for malignant pleural effusion.     

Migrating sockets-end system support for networking with quality ofservice guarantees

We present an end system architecture designed to support networking with quality of service (QoS) guarantees. The protocol processing component of the architecture, called migrating sockets, has been designed with minimal hidden scheduling which enables accurate determination of the rate requirement of a user application. The end system provides QoS guarantees using: 1) an adaptive rate-controlled scheduler; 2) rate-based flow control on the send side for access to reserved-rate network connections; and 3) a constant overhead active demultiplexing mechanism on the receive side which can be transparently enabled in wide-area TCP/IP internetworking (although it is not restricted to TCP/IP). To achieve efficiency, migrating sockets lets user applications manage network endpoints with minimal system intervention, provides user level protocols read-only access to routing information, and integrates kernel level support previously built for efficient data movement. Migrating sockets is backward compatible with Unix semantics and Berkeley sockets. It has been used to implement Internet protocols such as TCP, UDP, and IP (including IP multicast), and run existing applications such as vic. Migrating sockets has been implemented in Solaris 2.5.1. We discuss our implementation experience, and present performance results of our system running on Sun Sparc and Ultra workstations, as well as Pentium-II desktops     

NC simulation with dynamic errors due to high-speed motion

Traditional NC simulation has not always considered dynamic contouring errors in machining when simulating a tool path. For instance, if the feed rate is high, the effect of dynamic machining errors will be apparent on the work piece, but traditional NC simulation does not account for the dynamic errors at all. Due to the increasing demand of reducing product cycle time, high-speed machining of dies and moulds are becoming more and more popular. Under high-speed motion, over-cut or gouging can easily occur even when traditional NC simulation proves that the NC path is correct. Therefore, it is of significance to be able to predict dynamic machining errors in NC simulation before the part is machined, especially under high-speed motion. This paper presents the simulation of NC machining with dynamic contouring errors under high-speed motion. By adding dynamic error models to a simulation, the errors can be clearly displayed on a Z-map model. Hence, it becomes possible to predict under what conditions dynamic errors may occur. Comparing the Z-map model after simulation with the CAD model also makes it possible to find where the dynamic errors occur. This will also allow us to obtain useful information to determine where and when to change the feed rate in order to meet the accuracy requirement.     

The controversy regarding diagnostic criteria for early myoclonic encephalopathy

To re-evaluate the diagnostic criteria for early myoclonic encephalopathy (EME), the following study was done. During the past 2 years, five patients with erratic, fragmentary myoclonus of neonatal onset, in association with other types of seizures, were analyzed with regard to etiologies, electroclinical features and their evolution, using a series of examinations including electroencephalographies (EEGs) and metabolic investigations. Of these five patients, three were diagnosed to have non-ketotic hyperglycinemia (NKH); one was pyridoxine-dependent; the other was cryptogenic. Only two cases (one NKH and one cryptogenic) had initial typical suppression-burst (S-B) EEG pattern, which subsequently evolved into multiple paroxysmal abnormalities with random asynchronous attenuation (MP-AA) pattern. The other two cases with NKH had MP-AA EEG pattern throughout both awake and sleep recordings in two consecutive EEG studies. All three cases with NKH survived with increasing microcephaly, muscle tonicity; all developed infantile spasm with hypsarrhythmia on EEGs. The patient with pyridoxine-dependency had an initial MP-AA EEG pattern, which converted into S-B pattern after the first use of pyridoxine, eventually becoming normal after a supplement with the second-dose of pyridoxine. In conclusion, either S-B or MP-AA pattern may reflect the severity of the underlying pathologies or the disease stages. These results suggest that, from both etiological and electroclinical viewpoints, EME may represent a broader spectrum than previously recognized. The still ongoing controversy regarding whether the S-B pattern should be recognized as the sole EEG criteria for the diagnosis of EME needs further experience to clarify.     

Transition temperature control of liquid crystalline poly(heptene sulphone)s

Liquid crystalline poly(heptene sulphone)s containing cholesteryl undecylenic ester and cholestanyl undecylenic ester were synthesized. The polymers displayed cholesteric mesophases during thermal transition. The clearing temperatures were from 114 to 172 °C depending on the molar ratio of mesogenic esters in the polymers. Received: 27 March 1997/Revised: 24 June 1997/Accepted: 27 June 1997     

多探头扫描探针显微镜系统

虽然扫描探针显微镜具有高分辨率等优异性能，但不足之处也显而易见。较低的扫描和采样速度使工作效率不高。多探针或多探头的概念就是为提高扫描探针显微镜的工作效率而提出的。为了摸索多探头扫描探针显微镜的特点和解决半导体工业晶片检测的实际需求，我们设计了四探头SPM。本文主要介绍我们研制的四探头扫描探针显微镜系统，并探讨多探头SPM的设计方法。     

Perinatal candidiasis and transient maternal candidemia: report of one case

It has been postulated that acute appendicitis is the first serious disease to emerge with the adoption of fibre-depleted diets. The incidence of acute appendicitis is rising in Africa and this has been attributed to socio-economic advancement and the adoption of low residue diets. The aim of this study was to determine whether income levels and the level of dietary fibre intake play any role in the rising incidence of acute appendicitis in Ghana. Between June and November 1997 patients aged 13 years and above with acute appendicitis were studied. Their monthly net income levels or those of their parents if they were minors were ascertained and a dietary fibre questionnaire completed on each patient in order to assess his or her dietary fibre intake. The clinical details of each patient were recorded on a proforma. One hundred and seventy-three patients, 128 males and 45 females, mean age 29.2 (range 13-75) years were studied. 14 percent presented within 6 h, 46.8 percent within 24 h and 41.6 percent after 2 or more days. 53.2 percent had acute appendicitis and 42.8 percent presented with complicated appendicitis. The appendix was normal in 4.0 percent. Two patients died (1.2 percent). 61.3 percent of patients were low income earners and 38.7 percent were high income earners. The overall dietary fibre intake was 39.4 g per day with no significant difference in fibre consumption between low income earners (39.0 g/day) and high income earners (43.5 g/day). We conclude that dietary fibre may not be the important factor in acute appendicitis and other luminal and/or morphological factors may be predisposing factors.