A New Technique for Monitoring Heart Signals?Part II: Orthogonal Lead Extraction

In Part I, instrumentation design is given for recording ECG signals from a home bathtub setup. In Part II, it is asserted that these bathtub signals are the projections of the heart dipole vector. This assertion is tested and the corresponding coefficients of the projection matrix are computed by monitoring the bathtub ECG signals for a subject as well as his orthogonal X, Y, Z leads on a PDP-9 computer. The least-squares estimation technique is used to determine the projection matrix. To compensate for the magnitude and phase distortion of the bathtub ECG signals, suitable digital as well as analog compensators are designed. A comparison of orthogonal leads extracted from bathtub leads and similar leads obtained from the HP1520A vectorcardiograph is given for five different subjects. It is shown that the average standard deviation obtained for these five subjects is 12.6 percent.     

Influence of foundation mass on the nonlinear damped response of orthotropic shallow spherical shells

The effect of the mass of the foundations on the large-amplitude response of clamped and simply-supported orthotropic shallow spherical shells continuously supported by Winkler and Pasternak elastic foundations, subjected to uniform step pressure and sinusoidal pulse loadings has been investigated, with and without damping. Nonlinear governing partial differential equations of motion are derived and solved in space and time-domains using Chebyshev polynomials and an implicit Houbolt time-marching scheme, respectively. Results show a significant influence of the foundation inertia on the amplitude and time-period of the response of orthotropic shallow spherical shells.     

Measurement of on-chip waveforms and pulse propagation in digital GaAs integrated circuits by picosecond electro-optic sampling

We demonstrate precise measurement of sub-100 ps rise time on-chip electrical waveforms and of pulse propagation in digital GaAs integrated circuits with the use of picosecond electro-optic sampling. These experiments yield the first non-invasive measurement of single-gate propagation delays via direct and precise observation of on-chip waveforms at the input and output of individual logic gates internal to an integrated circuit.     

Reno-colo-cutaneous fistula. A case report

Reno-colo-cutaneous fistula due to genito-urinary tuberculosis is extremely rare. We describe one such case which was successfully managed by single stage surgery (nephroureterectomy, fistulectomy and primary repair of colon) and anti-tubercular treatment.     

Pharmacokinetics of gentamicin following single-dose parenteral administration to goats

The disposition kinetics of parenterally administered gentamicin (5 mg kg-1) has been studied in Gaddi goats. The serum concentration-time profile was described by bi-exponential and mono-exponential equations following intravenous (i.v.), intramuscular (i.m.) and subcutaneous (s.c.) administration with elimination half-life values of 0.96 +/- 0.09, 2.37 +/- 0.47 and 3.56 +/- 0.39 h, respectively. The apparent volume of distribution following i.v. administration (Vdarea: 0.26 +/- 0.041 kg-1) reflected limited extracellular distribution of the drug. The bioavailability was higher following i.m. administration (96.3%) compared to s.c. (76.9%). In view of the significantly longer biological half-life and larger area under the curve values, the s.c. route may be preferred. It is concluded that a suitable and practical dosage recommendation for gentamicin in goats would be 3.35 mg kg-1 body weight given s.c. at 12 h intervals.     

Automatic solder joint inspection

The task of automating the visual inspection of pin-in-hole solder joints is addressed. Two approaches are explored: statistical pattern recognition and expert systems. An objective dimensionality-reduction method is used to enhance the performance of traditional statistical pattern recognition approaches by decorrelating feature data, generating feature weights, and reducing run-time computations. The expert system uses features in a manner more analogous to the visual clues that a human inspector would rely on for classification. Rules using these cues are developed, and a voting scheme is implemented to accumulate classification evidence incrementally. Both methods compared favorably with human inspector performance     

Influence of furosemide on the ureteric damage in a rat model of obstructive uropathy

The pineal gland of rats of various ages (1-21 days old) was examined by immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy. Numerous widely distributed cells identified as macrophages/microglia were immunoreactive with the monoclonal antibodies OX-42, OX-18, OX-6, and ED1, indicating that they expressed complement type 3 (CR3) receptors, major histocompatibility complex class I and II antigens, and antigens of monocyte/macrophage lineage as detected by the antibodies, respectively. Following an intraperitoneal injection of rhodamine isothiocyanate (RhIC) in all age groups, the cells emitted a bright fluorescence. They were also labeled by horseradish peroxidase (HRP), as demonstrated in both light and electron microscopy. An HRP reaction was observed in vesicles and lysosomes at the ultrastructural level. A remarkable feature was the uptake of these tracers by pinealocytes. In light microscopy, the pinealocytes showed a punctate reaction product 3-24 hours after HRP injection. By electron microscopy, the reaction product was observed in vesicles, lysosomes, and some rod-like structures in the cytoplasm. On the basis of their immunophenotypic features, it is suggested that the macrophages/microglia in the pineal gland are active phagocytes which are also probably involved in the immunoregulatory function in the gland. The avid uptake of RhIC and HRP from the circulation by these cells suggests that serum-derived substances that may gain access to the parenchyma of the gland are being constantly monitored. The labeling of pinealocytes with HRP suggests that the functional activities of these cells are being modulated by serum-derived substances.     

Cancellation of low-frequency stimulation-induced long-term depression by docosahexaenoic acid in the rat hippocampus

The effects of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) on low-frequency stimulation (LFS)-induced long-term depression (LTD) were investigated in the CA 1 subfield of rat hippocampal slices. LTD was routinely produced by LFS of 900 pulses at 1 Hz. The field excitatory postsynaptic potential (fEPSP) 40 min after LFS was 59 +/- 4% (n = 18) of baseline response. However, in experiments from 18 neurons pretreated with DHA (50 microM), fEPSP returned to baseline levels within 20 min after LFS in eight cells and was slightly potentiated in three cells. Only in seven cells was LTD induced. The effect of DHA on LTD was concentration dependent. The slopes of fEPSP 40 min after LFS were 67 +/- 4% (n = 6), 72 +/- 7% (n = 7) and 80 +/- 5% (n = 18) of baseline response, with pretreatment of 1, 10 and 50 microM DHA, respectively. The blockade of LTD induction suggests that DHA may play a role in learning and memory.