Completeness of reporting of diagnosed HIV-infected hospital inpatients

To assess the completeness of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) reporting among hospital inpatients whose records listed diagnostic codes for HIV infection but who did not meet the 1987 AIDS case definition, we conducted a statewide hospital study of admissions between January 1, 1986 and December 31, 1990. Of the 396 HIV-infected hospital inpatients identified, 313 (79%) had been reported to the State HIV Registry. HIV reporting was less complete for patients who were older and/or were blood product recipients. Of the 313 reported patients, 189 (60%) had been reported prior to their first hospital admission. Temporal improvements were noted in the completeness of HIV reporting among the hospital patients (1986: 65%; 1987: 81%; 1988: 64%; 1989: 82%; 1990: 86%; Chi square for linear trend 9.6, p < 0.01) and prior to their first hospital admission (1986: 31%; 1987: 34%; 1988: 49%; 1989: 64%; 1990: 72%; Chi square for linear trend 26.6; p < 0.01). Women were more likely than men to be reported prior rather than during or after their first hospital admission (71% vs. 55%; p < 0.01). Of the 155 patients with CD4+ T-lymphocyte test results, 41 had CD4+ counts < 200 mm3 and met the 1993 but not the 1987 AIDS case definition. In South Carolina most (79%) diagnosed, hospitalized, HIV-infected patients had been reported to the State HIV REgistry, with improvements in reporting occurring over time. Findings suggest that the 1993 AIDS case definition will improve our ability to monitor severe morbidity related to HIV.     

Fraud storm surges toward HMOs

The veterinary surgeon G. C. HAUBNER (1806-1882) was teacher for veterinary science at the Royal prussian academia for agriculture in Eldena near Greifswald (1836-1852) and at the royal school of veterinary science in Dresden (1853-1879). He stimulated animal nutrition in different ways. First of all he disclosed the theoretical gaps in the field of animal nutrition during the first half of the 19th century, furthermore he transferred the knowledge in agriculture chemistry and animal physiology to feeding praxis and altogether he favoured the transition from the empirical to the scientific based animal nutrition, last not least by starting exactly planned and practiced feeding experiments (s. Table 2). Most remarkable are his very early work on digestion physiology in ruminants (1837), his proof (1854), that fiber is digestible in ruminants or horses as well as his investigations on nutrition related diseases in cattle (smelting-house-smoke- and deficiency-diseases).     

Computability of Countable Subshifts in One Dimension

We investigate the computability of countable subshifts in one dimension, and their members. Subshifts of Cantor?CBendixson rank two contain only eventually periodic elements. Any rank two subshift in 2^? is decidable. Subshifts of rank three may contain members of arbitrary Turing degree. In contrast, effectively closed ( $\Pi^{0}_{1}$ ) subshifts of rank three contain only computable elements, but $\Pi^{0}_{1}$ subshifts of rank four may contain members of arbitrary $\Delta^{0}_{2}$ degree. There is no subshift of rank ??+1.     

Preparation of grids for simulations of groundwater flow in fractured porous media

This work presents an extension of grid generation techniques for finite-volume discretizations of density-driven flow in fractured porous media, in which fractures are considered as low-dimensional manifolds and are resolved by sides of grid elements. The proposed technique introduces additional degrees of freedom for the unknowns assigned to the fractures and thus allows to reconstruct jumps of the solution over a fracture. Through the concept of degenerated elements, the proposed technique can be used for arbitrary junctions of fractures but is sufficiently simple regarding the implementation and allows for the application of conventional numerical solvers. Numerical experiments presented at the end of the paper demonstrate the applicability of this technique in two and three dimensions for complicated fracture networks.     

NMR studies of a D2 single crystal in the ordered phase

We report the first experimental study of the NMR lineshape anisotropy in the orientationally ordered cubic phase of a D₂ single crystal. The para-D₂ concentration covered the range 0.72<X<0.82. The observed line shapes were obtained by means of Fourier transform techniques from the solid echoes recorded with a pulsed NMR spectrometer operating at 5.9 MHz. Theoretical line shapes and their second moments forp-D₂ (with angular momentumJ=1 and spinI=1) and foro-D₂ (withJ=0, I=2) were calculated as a function of the applied field direction from the theory by A. B. Harris. Good agreement was obtained for all directions, provided that, just as for solid H₂, a Gaussian function for the distribution of molecular axial alignment was assumed with an rms spreading angle of 6 deg forX=0.77. No change in the anisotropy of the second moment in the disordered phase was detected between the initial (hcp) crystal and after repeated thermal cyclings through the martensitic transition. This result implies no change in the orientation of the plane for the sliding nets during repeated passages through the transition. Furthermore, we report measurements of the longitudinal relaxation time for bothp-D₂ ando-H₂ versusT over the temperature range 0.5<T<3.5 K. The complex behavior reported previously for both H₂ and D₂ was confirmed. Measurements of the relaxation times as a function of the applied field direction in the ordered phase at 1.2 K showed no anisotropy within experimental error, and this result is discussed in the light of predictions by Hardy and Berlinsky. Finally, the polarization of theJ=0 molecules is studied as a function of the concentrationX of theJ=1 molecules and their state of orientational order over a wide range ofX andT in the ordered and disordered states. The results are compared with predictions of A. B. Harris and with previous data on polycrystalline samples.     

Thermal transport properties and size effects in very dilute superfluid mixtures of3He in4He

The effective thermal conductivity _eff has been measured for 1.6 K for mixtures with 10^–6–2. Both _eff and the derived impurity mass diffusion coefficient D_iso show an unexpected dependence on the height h of the fluid layer. A scaled representation of D_iso leads to a purely phenomenological model involving an effective length scale, proportional to X^–1 and temperature independent. The relations so obtained are consistent with the observations as well as with the observed transition curve Q_C(X) to non-linear behavior.     

Establishment of a reference library for evaluating computer ECG measurement programs

As a result of an international cooperative project entitled "Common Standards for Quantitative Electrocardiography" (CSE), an ECG reference data base has been established with the aim of standardizing computer-derived ECG measurements. The objective of the project is to reduce the wide variation in wave measurements currently obtained by ECG analysis programs. A library of 250 ECGs with selective ECG abnormalities was established and a comprehensive reviewing scheme was devised for the visual determination of the onsets and offsets of P, QRS, and T. This task was performed by a board of cardiologists on highly amplified, selected complexes from the library. A subset was examined in order to study beat-to-beat and intraobserver variability. By using a modified Delphi approach, individual outlying point estimates were eliminated in four successive rounds. In this way final referee estimates were obtained which proved to be highly reproducible and precise. A reference library has thereby been developed which allows testing of the performance of ECG measurement programs and is a useful instrument in establishing recommendations for more precise measurement rules and definitions.     

Transport properties of helium near the liquid-vapor critical point. IV. The shear viscosity of3He and4He

Shear viscosity measurements with a precision of 0.05% are reported for³He and⁴He along near-critical isochores 0.85 c <1.12, where _c is the critical density. The temperature range was –10^–4<<1, where =(T – T _c)/T _c is the reduced temperature. The experiments were carried out with a torsional oscillator operating at 158 Hz, driven at resonance in a phase-locked loop. The absolute value of the viscosity was obtained by calibration at the superfluid transition of⁴He, based on published values and from direct calculations using the free decay time constant of the oscillations. The data are analyzed in terms of a model using the recent mode-coupling (MC) expressions by Olchowy and Sengers, and where account is taken of the earth's gravity effects. The theory could be fitted very well to the experiment with a single free parameter, the cutoff wave numberq _D, which was found to be 3.0×10⁶ and 7.0×10⁶ cm^–1 for³He and⁴He, respectively. We have used for the critical exponent the MC predicted value of z=0.054, which permits a fit superior to that using z=0.064 predicted by dynamic renormalization group (DRG) theories. Detailed comparisons are made between the model calculations and data for various isochores and isotherms and good agreement is obtained. The effects of gravity are described in some detail. The predicted frequency effect in viscosity measurements is calculated for³He and is shown to be obscured by gravity effects. Using the Olchowy-Sengers formulas, we have also fitted the MC theory to the critical thermal conductivity data of³He, again withq _D as the only free parameter. This fit gaveq _D=6 × 10⁷ cm^–1, which in the ideal situation should have been the same asq _D from viscosity. We also discuss a representation of the³He viscosity data along the critical isochore by a power law and first correction-to-scaling erm. Using the viscosity and the critical conductivity data for³He, we have calculated the dynamic amplitude ratio and obtained =1.05±0.10, in agreement with predictions from MC and DRG theories. Also, agrees with data of classical fluids. Finally, a comparison is made of recent shear viscosity data for CO₂ by Bruschi and Torzo with those on He. The CO₂ data are also analyzed in terms of the MC theory, and the discrepancies are discussed. In the Appendices, we present the results of new compressibility measurements on³He along the critical isochore, as used in the MC analysis. We also present a brief analysis of the fluid hydrodynamics in the torsional oscillator leading to relations for the viscosity as a function of the measured quantities. Finally, we give a short outline of the vertical density profile calculations from the earth's gravity field for the calculations of the viscosity nearT _c.