Vocal fatigue among teachers

Recordings were made at the beginning and end of workdays of teachers who experience vocal fatigue (n = 22) and those who do not experience fatigue (n = 17). Those who experienced fatigue were recorded on days in which they did and did not fatigue. Both groups evaluated their vocal characteristics, each time they made a recording. Subsequently, a listener panel evaluated the same characteristics from the recordings. Both groups estimated the amount and characteristics of their talking time, completed a psychological evaluation and provided medical histories. The authors interpret the data obtained as indicating that the vocal characteristics of teachers who fatigue and those who do not fatigue are similar on days the former group does not fatigue and that the two groups are similar in the amount and loudness of their talking time, at work and at home. However, teachers who fatigue tend to spend more time in activities that appear to be vocally demanding and are more likely to perceive situations as being anxiety producing. Teachers who fatigue tend to be in good health, but have had more hearing problems and allergies than their colleagues and more of their family members have had voice problems.     

Circuit sensitivity to interconnect variation

Deep submicron technology makes interconnect one of the main factors determining the circuit performance. Previous work shows that interconnect parameters exhibit a significant amount of spatial variation. In this work, we develop approaches to study the influence of the interconnect variation on circuit performance and to evaluate the circuit sensitivity to interconnect parameters. First, an accurate interconnect modeling technique is presented, and an interconnect model library is developed. Then, we explore an approach using parameterized interconnect models to study circuit sensitivity via a ring oscillator circuit. Finally, we present an alternative approach using statistical experimental design techniques to study the sensitivity of a large and complicated circuit to interconnect variations     

Dynamic digital holographic wavelength filtering

This paper describes the theory and results of a new generic technology for use in optical telecommunications and wavelength division multiplexing (WDM): dynamic digital holographic wavelength filtering. The enabling component is a polarization-insensitive ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) spatial light modulator (SLM) in conjunction with a highly wavelength-dispersive fixed diffractive element. The technology has been used to perform demultiplexing of single or multiple WDM signals, dynamic erbium doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) gain equalization and channel management, and used to tune an erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) functioning as a high power, very narrow linewidth WDM source     

Paratesticular rhabdomyosarcoma in adult patients: 16-year experience at Institut Gustave-Roussy

BACKGROUND: Children with paratesticular rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) have both a good prognosis and a high survival rate. The clinical behaviour and outcome of the disease in adults is not well described. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We reviewed retrospectively our experience with paratesticular RMS in patients older than 16 years during a 16-year period (1975-1991). RESULTS: Thirteen adult patients with paratesticular RMS are reported. Median age was 21 years (range 16 to 31). Presentation characteristics were scrotal mass in 11 cases, lumbar pain and weight loss in 5 cases, hypercalcemia in 3 cases and thrombocytopenia in 3 cases. There were 5 patients with stage IV, 2 with stage IIB and 6 with stage IA (IRS classification). The 5 stage IV patients are reported in detail, with initial bone marrow infiltration encountered in 4 of them. Objective response to chemotherapy was achieved in all 6 patients with measurable disease (2 CR + 4 PR). Two of 7 patients who received adjuvant chemotherapy relapsed at 7 and 11 months. After a median follow-up of 90 months, 8 patients (5 stage IV, 3 stage IA) died from disease progression. CONCLUSION: Metastatic disease with bone marrow involvement at presentation and aggressive behaviour seem to be more relevant in adult paratesticular RMS patients compared with children.     

Silver dissolution on copper-based alloys

Electrical resistivity measurements and scanning electron microscopy was used to study the dissolution of silver on Cu-Ag and Cu-Al-Ag alloys. The results seem to indicate that the dissolution temperature is affected by the addition of aluminium.     

MEASUREMENT OF THE SPECIFIC SURFACE AREA OF POWDERS BY THIN LAYER WICKING

The specific surface areas (A) of different clay mineral powders were measured by both the BET method and by thin layer wicking. The values of A for the BET and the wicking experiments coincided within a few percent. Thus, the simple and inexpensive thin layer wicking approach may well suffice to obtain reliable specific surface area values for most powders. From the wicking data it is also possible to obtain a rough estimate of the average particle size.     

The geometry effects for stress intensity factor of sandwich specimen for measuring interfacial fracture toughness

The interfacial stress intensity factors for three types of sandwich specimens: the single edge crack tensile specimen, the three point bend specimen and the four point shear specimen were obtained by the finite element analysis and compared with the asymptotic solutions. The results show that the geometric effect for mode II specimen is larger than mode I specimen. The limit curves for geometry factor equal to 1.05 were obtained to indicate the usable range of validity of the asymptotic solution.     

Giant cell myocarditis. Report of a case

The authors report a case of giant cell myocarditis leading to rapidly progressive cardiac failure despite immuno-suppressor treatment in a 20 year old woman. The cardiac failure was successfully managed by implantation of a left ventricular assist device and then cardiac transplantation. The problems encountered underline the importance of accurate diagnosis by endomyocardial biopsy before undertaking treatment and the difficulties in the choice of appropriate method of assistance in this indication. Giant cell myocarditis is a rare cause of cardiac failure and should be considered in the differential diagnosis in view of its clinical features and risk of progression. The literature and the therapeutic implications are discussed.