Numerical solution of Fredholm integral equations with a logarithmic singularity

Generalized quadrature is used for the numerical solution of two Fredholm integral equations which occur in electrostatics and aerodynamics.     

Factors affecting outcome in hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy in term infants

Forty-nine term infants were prospectively shown to have hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). All infants survived the neonatal period, and all but two infants (seen at 12 months) were followed up to at least 27 months of age. Factors that significantly correlated with outcome included the Sarnat encephalopathy stage and the occurrence of intractable seizures not controlled by phenobarbital sodium alone. There was no association between the one- or five-minute Apgar score, the need for early ventilation, the EEG, the occurrence of seizures, and the subsequent outcome. There was no significant difference in outcome for those infants who received dexamethasone sodium phosphate (n = 29) v those who did not receive the drug (n = 20). A review of 97 term infants with HIE from a regional perinatal program during a one-year period (1979), including 35 of the 49 infants in the present study, did show a significant increase in morbidity and mortality for transported infants.     

A Technique for Optimal Sequential Maintenance Scheduling

This paper presents the mathematical development of, and a simple solution technique for, an optimal sequential maintenance scheduling problem. The model is shown to satisfy the Kuhn-Tucker conditions, the necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of an optimal solution. Real-world systems consisting of mixtures of constant and increasing failure rate devices are considered in the model. Sequential preventive maintenance schedules are developed for groups of identical items with increasing failure rates. Provision is made for the corrective maintenance of these groups if failures occur in between the preventive maintenance schedules. Also, constant failure rate devices are accorded corrective maintenance when failures occur. Optimality is achieved by minimizing the total annual maintenance cost, subject to constraints on the system availability, number of maintenance personnel and intervals of preventive maintenance. The model is applied to a coal mine power system example.     

Observations on the pia-arachnoid of the anterior median fissure and the posterior median sulcus of the fetal spinal cord of the albino mouse

A pericentric inversion of an X chromosome [46,X,inv(X)(p11q28] with no detectable deletions was ascertained by amniocentesis for prenatal diagnosis in a 42-year-old woman. No defintive counsel could be offered as such an inversion had not been previously reported. At 1 year, the infant appears normal. These data and the review of other recently published karyotypes suggest an absence of a somatic position effect in the human X chromosome and possible biases of ascertainment or possible alternative karyotypic interpretations of some previously reported inv(X) cases.     

Bias voltage dependence properties of cadmium oxide films deposited by d.c. reactive magnetron sputtering

Cadmium oxide films were grown on glass substrates using d.c. reactive magnetron sputtering technique by sputtering from a metallic cadmium target in an oxygen partial pressure of 1×10^–3 mbar under various substrate bias voltages. The substrate bias voltage significantly influences the crystallographic structure of the deposited films. The influence of substrate bias voltage on the electrical and optical properties of the films was systematically studied. The films formed at a substrate temperature of 473 K and bias voltage of –80 V showed an electrical resistivity of 1×10^–3 cm, optical transmittance of 86%, optical band gap of 2.47 eV and a figure of merit of 7×10^{–3 –1}.     

Connectivity, clusters, and transport: use of percolation concepts and atomistic simulation to track intracellular ion migration

The cytoskeleton is an intracellular highway system, teaming with signalling ions that zip from site to site along filaments. These tiny particles alternately embrace and slip free of protein receptors with wide-ranging affinities, as they propagate in a blur of motion along cytoskeletal corridors at transport rates far exceeding ordinary diffusive motion. Recent experimental breakthroughs have enabled optical tracking of these single ion-binding events in the physiological and diseased states. However, traditional continuum modelling methods have proven ineffective for modelling migration of biometals such as copper and zinc, whose cytosolic concentrations are putatively vanishingly small, or very tightly controlled. Rather, the key modelling problem that must be solved for biometals is determination of the optimal placement of biosensors that bind and detect the metal ions within the heterogeneous environment of the cell. We discuss herein how percolation concepts, in combination with atomistic simulation and sensor delivery models, have been used to gain insights on this problem, and a roadmap for future breakthroughs.