Biliary obstruction due to duodenojejunal intussusception in Peutz-Jeghers syndrome

We reported an operative case of bilateral coronary artery fistulae to pulmonary artery associated with a giant saccular aneurysm, the largest of which measured 30 x 30 mm. The patient was a 75 year old female who had anginal pain due to coronary steal phenomenon. A continuous murmur was detected. After establishing total cardiopulmonary bypass, two distal orifices of the fistula connected to the main pulmonary artery were closed with 5-0 polypropylene plegeted sutures. Aneurysmorrhaphy was then performed for giant saccular aneurysm. Postoperative course was uneventful.     

Validation of the Lifestress Inventory for people with a mild intellectual disability

The Subjective Stress Scale (SSS; Bramston & Bostock, 1994) was developed to measure stress in people with a mild intellectual disability. In previous research, the SSS was found to measure two broad dimensions of stress (a) a General Worry factor and (b) a factor that tapped concerns about Negative Interpersonal Relations (Bramston & Fogarty, 1995). The present study sought to continue this line of research by introducing a slightly modified form of the SSS, to be known as the Lifestress Inventory (LI) and examining the psychometric properties of the scale when administered to a new sample of 221 people with mild intellectual disabilities. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that three underlying factors corresponding to General Worry, Negative Interpersonal Relations, and Coping were sufficient to account for the correlations among the items in the LI. Rasch analysis indicated some improvements to the scoring format for the LI and also showed that the most easily experienced stressors were associated with the Negative Interpersonal Relations dimension. The refinements introduced by the LI and the further demonstration that some of the broad stress dimensions identified in the general population can also be found in people with an intellectual disability represent important milestones for researchers interested in exploring reactions to stress among this population.     

The Effect of Reagents on Ultrafine Iron Ore Vacuum Filtration

Continuous vacuum filters normally carry out the final removal of water from iron ore products. The objective of this investigation is to check the possibility of enhancing the industrial performance of a horizontal belt filter by adding one flocculant and two surfactants to the filtration feed slurry. The mineral sample came from the Iron Quadrangle (State of Minas Gerais, Brazil). X-ray diffraction showed a predominance of hematite and small amounts of quartz and goethite. The filtration tests were performed at laboratory scale using a modified Büchner funnel apparatus, which was connected to a scale/computer system. The results indicated: a) the best filtration condition was achieved near the zero charge condition; b) cake moisture, cake porosity, cake formation time and the specific cake resistance were pronouncedly influenced by the flocculant addition; and c) surfactants tested were not able to significantly reduce the cake moisture.