Radon daughter deposition velocities estimated from field measurements

The surface deposition rate (plateout) of unattached radon daughters was estimated from simple surface activity measurements in a number of occupied buildings, and found to be about one third of the lowest value measured in diffusion tube experiments. This low value was confirmed by surface deposition and activity measurements made in a commercial building with high radon levels, which also showed that the deposition rate was higher on walls than on floors or tables. Predictions of the ratio between airborne and surface-deposited radon daughter activity using the estimated surface deposition rate were close to the ratios observed in occupied homes. Refinements to existing models are required to explain the variability of deposition rate with surface orientation.     

商业车辆变速器的因素——性能,换档平顺性,噪时状况

Ｅｃｏｓｐｌｉｔ３系列的样机现代化表示的重要特征是不改变原来整个设计原理而能大大改进变速器的转矩能力、档平顺性和噪音状况。斜齿行星齿轮装置可使变速 降低１０分贝、在车辆变速败露首次采用了“锥形止推垫圈”技术,可使该行呈齿轮传动中的斜齿轮的轴向力自身消除。     

Presentation of the patients in the course of clinical lectures

The structure of articulationes zygapophysiales joints cartilage of vertebral column lumbar region was studied in three age groups of 20-29, 30-39 and 40-49 years. The articular cartilage studied was similar in its structural organization and the character of age changes with those in large synovial joints, however it was distinctly peculiar in the development of involutive changes. Both cells and matrix components of articulationes zygapophysiales joints cartilage display changes already in 20-29 years group. There are significant differences in the degree of destructive and dystrophic changes manifestations in articular facets within one joint. These changes were found to prevail in articular cartilage of superior articular process of the vertebral body inferior to the joint.     

The ability of non-invasive physiological tests to detect arterial occlusions in the lower extremity. An ROC study with particular regard to recruitment of patients for clinical trials

In the prerandomization phase of a clinical trial it is essential to be able to exclude, in a non-invasive way, patients who cannot be randomized into the trial. The ability of routine non-invasive physiological examinations to detect arterial occlusion in the lower extremities was investigated in 182 patients with hypercholesterolaemia. Ankle blood pressure measurement, pulse oscillometry, digital pulse plethysmography and treadmill and cycle exercise tests were performed as part of the prerandomization phase of the Probucol Quantitative Regression Swedish Trial (PQRST). The PQRST was designed to compare the antiatherosclerotic effect of two different lipid-lowering regimens. Before randomization the patients also underwent aorto-femoral arteriography, which was used as 'gold standard'. The results were analysed with ROC methodology. Ankle blood pressure measurement (ABP) and inclination time (IT), measured with digital pulse plethysmography, without significant mutual difference, were the variables, best able to detect occlusions. For ABP, the AZ-values were 0.85, 0.82 and 0.94 in detection of right-sided, left-sided and bilateral occlusion, respectively. The corresponding figures for IT were AZ = 0.86, 0.91 and 0.93. If a bilateral occlusion was predicted in a patient with an ABP value of < = or 0.98, a specificity of 0.90 and a sensitivity of 0.87 were obtained, using arteriography as reference method. For IT, with a critical value of 320 ms, sensitivity and specificity were 0.83 and 0.90, respectively.     

Apomorphine-induced yawning in the rat: influence of fasting and time of day

Yawning behavior is an experimental tool to study physiological responses, to elucidate the mechanisms of action of some drugs and hormones, and it is also a paradigm for some diseases and for dopamine (DA) agonists' clinical use. In this study, the effects of 24- and 48-h fasting as well as the influence of the light-dark cycle on apomorphine (APO)-induced yawning were evaluated. Initially, control and 48-h-fasted adult male rats were tested for yawning induced by APO (50, 100, 150 micrograms/kg, SC). The most effective dose tested was 100 micrograms/kg. Fasting significantly lowered yawning in all doses tested. Comparison between 24- and 48-h-fasted rats for APO (100 micrograms/kg)-induced yawning showed no significant difference between groups. Ad lib-fed groups were tested for APO (100 micrograms/kg)-induced yawning in both the light and in the dark phases of the cycle. Total number of yawnings increased significantly in the dark period. The present data show that fasting reduces and dark period increases APO-induced yawning in rats, suggesting that these conditions modulate the expression of this behavior.