Progressive neuronal degeneration of childhood (Alpers syndrome) with hepatic cirrhosis

A new technique for right heart catheterization using a Mullins' sheath is described. This device allows a Swan-Ganz catheter to reach pulmonary artery position easily and permits simultaneous pressure recordings in right heart chambers, thus avoiding a double venous puncture and two catheters. This new technique, its indications, and our experience in 29 patients are described. It is most useful in patients with severe pulmonary hypertension and in those conditions in which accurate right heart pressure measurements are needed.     

A video DSP with a macroblock-level-pipeline and a SIMD typevector-pipeline architecture for MPEG2 CODEC

A video DSP with macroblock-level-pipeline and a SIMD type vector-pipeline architecture (VDSP2) has been developed, using 0.5 μm triple-layer-metal CMOS technology. This 17.00 mm×15.00 mm chip consists of 2.5 M transistors, and operates at 100 MHz. The real-time encoder and decoder specified in the MPEG2 main profile at the main level can be realized with two VDSP2's and a motion estimation (ME) unit, and one VDSP2 respectively, at an 80 MHz clock rate, with a total power dissipation of 4.2 W at 3.3 V     

The relationship between preparation convergence and retention of extracoronal retainers

PURPOSE: Although traditional ideal convergence (the sum of taper of the opposite sides) for crown preparation has been arbitrarily set at 4 degrees to 10 degrees, some believe absolute parallelism yields the highest retention. This study examined the relationship between the degree of convergence of a machined metal die and the retention of its casting. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The method used was that of cementing cast metal crowns onto full crown preparations on brass dies with varying convergence angles, and then recording the force required to remove the crowns from the dies in a vertical direction using a Tate-Emery Testing Machine and Load Indicator. RESULTS: It was found that retention (i.e., the force needed to remove the cemented castings from the die in their common long axis) increases from 0 degree convergence to peak between 6 degrees to 12 degrees convergence. It also seems that a critical film thickness does exist for optimum retention, and that film thicknesses smaller than the critical thickness may be responsible for the phenomenon that we have observed and directly related to the convergence angle itself. CONCLUSIONS: There seems to be experimental data supporting the use of traditionally taught convergence. Our study found that convergence angles between 6 degrees and 12 degrees seem to be optimum for tooth crown preparation when one plans to use zinc phosphate cement. Convergence angles of less than 6 degrees may not be desirable even if they can be clinically achieved. The results of our study indicate that a relationship exists between the convergence angle and the critical cement thickness that is necessary to realize the maximum strength properties of zinc phosphate cement.     

ATM-based transport architecture for multiservices wirelesspersonal communication networks

This paper presents an ATM-based transport architecture for next-generation multiservices personal communication networks (PCN). Such “multimedia capable” integrated services wireless networks are motivated by an anticipated demand for wireless extensions to future broadband networks. An ATM compatible wireless network concept capable of supporting a mix of broadband ISDN services including constant bit-rate (CBR), variable bit-rate (VBR), and packet data transport is explored from an architectural viewpoint. The proposed system uses a hierarchical ATM switching network for interconnection of PCN microcells, each of which is serviced by high-speed, shared-access radio links based on ATM-compatible cell, relay principles. Design issues related to the physical (modulation), media access control (MAC), and data-link layers of the ATM-based radio link are discussed, and preliminary technical approaches are identified in each case. An example multiservice dynamic reservation (MDR) TDMA media access protocol is then considered in further detail, and simulation results are presented for an example voice/data scenario with a proportion of time-critical (i.e., multimedia) packet data. Time-of-expiry (TOE) based queue service disciplines are also investigated as a mechanism for improving the quality-of-service (QoS) in this scenario     

Cognitive treatments for eating disorders.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is applicable to all eating disorders but has been most intensively studied in the treatment of bulimia nervosa (BN). CBT is designed to alter abnormal attitudes about body shape and weight, replace dysfunctional dieting with normal eating habits, and develop coping skills for resisting binge eating and purging. CBT is effective in reducing all core features of BN and shows good maintenance of therapeutic improvement. Although superior to therapy with antidepressant drugs, CBT has not been shown to be consistently superior to alternative psychological treatments. Different hypotheses about CBT's mechanisms of action are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Energy dissipation via radiative recombination and vibronic relaxation in σ-delocalized silicon backbone network polymers

The nature of ultrafast energy dissipation in poly(n-hexylsilyne), a prototypical σ-delocalized alkysilicon network polymer, is explored. This disordered silicon backbone material exhibits strong near-UV to visible band-edge absorption and a high quantum yield of visible emission. The time evolution of the emission band is studied over four decades of time using time-resolved luminescence as a probe. The data indicate that while there is an ‘intrinsic’ Stokes shift after photoexcitation due to kinetic energy relaxation (<10ps), thermalization within a dense band of vibronic states via intramolecular phonon-assisted hopping on a nanosecond timescale is the dominant mechanism for excited-state decay. The data can be understood in terms of theoretical predictions for energy relaxation in disordered materials.