Movement by helicopter of patients with decompression sickness

Rapid movement of a patient with decompression sickness sometimes poses problems when the site of the hyperbaric treatment facility is located a considerable distance away. Six cases of aviator decompression sickness were diagnosed in altitude chamber participants during an 18-month period. Five cases were uncomplicated decompression sickness and the sixth case was of central nervous system decompression sickness. All cases were transferred by low-level helicopter flight. No complications were noted when the helicopter stayed within 200 ft (61 m) AGL of the take-off point. Symptoms of decompression sickness did worsen however, when this altitude was exceeded. This study shows that movement of patients with decompression sickness by low-level helicopter flight is both safe and effective, especially when pressurized aircraft is neither available nor practical.     

Microcomputer compilation and solution of crosswords

A system is described which enables crosswords to be automatically compiled or solved, or which alternatively may assist in their manual compilation or solution. Illustrative examples are quoted and the performance of the system, which has been written for an Acorn BBC model B microcomputer with disc pack and printer, is discussed.     

Complement activation in vivo in cancer patients receiving C. parvum immunotherapy

Serum complement levels were assayed in 26 patients with disseminated cancer, who received immunotherapy with infusion of C. parvum. Complement activation, indicated by the consumption of C3 or C4 or both, was found in 46% of the patients. Serum samples showed direct correlation between decreased C3 and conversion of C3 proactivator, whereas such conversion did not occur when C4 alone was decreased. It is concluded that the bypass (properdin) pathway was activated in patients in whom C3 consumption was detected, while the classical (C1) pathway was activated in the patients with C4 consumption unaccompanied by C3 decrease. Direct correlation was observed between delayed cutaneous hypersensitivity reactions to recall antigens and the incidence of C. parvum-associated complement activation.     

Integrating context-free and context-dependent attentional mechanisms for gestural object reference

We present a vision system for human-machine interaction based on a small wearable camera mounted on glasses. The camera views the area in front of the user, especially the hands. To evaluate hand movements for pointing gestures and to recognise object references, an approach to integrating bottom-up generated feature maps and top-down propagated recognition results is introduced. Modules for context-free focus of attention work in parallel with the hand gesture recognition. In contrast to other approaches, the fusion of the two branches is on the sub-symbolic level. This method facilitates both the integration of different modalities and the generation of auditory feedback.Published online: 5 October 2004Robert Rae: Now at PerFact Innovation, Lampingstr. 8, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany     

Time of appearance and histology of tumors induced in the dorsal skin of C3Hf mice by ultraviolet radiation from a mercury arc lamp

The time course of skin tumor induction was determined in hair-clipped inbred agouti C3Hf mice irradiated three times per week with a medium-pressure quartz-mercury lamp; 4 different UV doses were used. Although the ears were also exposed to the radiation, in the 3 groups given the highest doses no ear tumors were observed by the time each animal had developed at least 1 tumor on its back. No tumors were found in the animals receiving the lowest UV dose. In the group receiving the highest dose, males developed tumors earlier than did females; this trend continued in the lower dose groups. Many tumors that developed in the back skin were well-differentiated squamous cell carcinomas. Others were less well-differentiated squamous cell carcinomas. Others were less well defined so that the cell of origin was difficult to determine. In the group receiving the highest UV dose, the squamous cell carcinomas were few, whereas at the lower doses they predominated.