Neonatal medication surveillance by the pharmacist

Data on prenatal, labor and delivery, and postnatal medication exposure to neonates were collected. During an 11-week period, 100 neonates consecutively admitted to a hospital were studied. The pharmacist obtained a social and medication history from the mothers and reviewed maternal anesthesia records and the charts of the neonates. Fifteen definite and possible adverse medication reactions were detected in 13 neonates. The median number of different medications ingested prenatally was 4.7. The four most commonly ingested prenatal medications were vitamins (97%), iron preparations (90%), headache/pain/arthritis medications (68%) and antinausea/vomiting medications (40%). The most commonly used medications during labor and delivery were oxytocin (73%), meperidine (33%) and promazine (25%). The use of strong narcotics during this period produced neonatal respiratory depression in some cases. The four most commonly prescribed postnatal medications were vitamin K1 (100%), gentamicin (10%), ampicillin (8%) and Poly-Vi-Sol (6%). The maternal interview indicated that most mothers were unaware of the influence that many medications can play upon the fetus. It is recommended that the pharmacist conduct a maternal medication interview prior to labor and delivery.     

PET in breast cancer

In mid-summer 1997, just as the United States National Cancer Institute was acknowledging that the nuclear bomb tests at the Nevada Test Site may ultimately cause up to 75,000 cases of thyroid cancer in people who were living in the USA in the 1950s and 1960s, the Australian authorities were mooting the possibility that the Maralinga test sites in South Australia should become a tourist attraction. Some Aboriginal tribal leaders welcomed this proposed use when the 20 million Pounds 'clean-up' being paid for by the United Kingdom government as some compensation for using the area for its weapons tests in the 1950s and 1960s is completed. This paper surveys the attempts to clean up the site of UK nuclear weapons tests in the 1950s, not least by attempting to vitrify vast tracts of desert.     

Characteristics of a human cell line transformed by DNA from human adenovirus type 5

One hundred and fifty lungs from the cases below 15 years of age with various congenital heart diseases and 80 controls were used for histometrical and histological studies. Cases with congenital heart disease were divided into two groups of the increased and the decreased pulmonary blood flow. In the former group, the thickness of the pulmonary arterial media was the same as that of controls in the neonatal period, and through the wall thickness gradually decreased in a pattern seen in controls, the thickness was constantly larger than that of controls. In some cases, the media increased gradually within 6 months after birth. Pneumonia and massive pulmonary hemorrhage were seen in a higher incidence in autopsy cases. Pneumonia in younger infants was histologically characteristic and possibly more correlated to their death. In the latter group, most of the cases were with the thinner medias of the pulmonary arteries. Massive pulmonary hemorrhage was not common in the latter group.     

Is Huffman coding dead?

In recent publications about data compression, arithmetic codes are often suggested as the state of the art, rather than the more popular Huffman codes. While it is true that Huffman codes are not optimal in all situations, we show that the advantage of arithmetic codes in compression performance is often negligible. Referring also to other criteria, we conclude that for many applications, Huffman codes should still remain a competitive choice.     

一种适用于无线多媒体传感器网络的JPEG图像编码算法

在资源受限的无线多媒体传感器网络中进行图像编码和传输,需要综合考虑能量消耗、压缩率和图像质量三者之间平衡的图像编码方案.研究无线多媒体传感器网络中视频监控图像序列的压缩,提出一种基于变化检测和改进JPEG算法的低复杂度图像编码方案.通过变化检测算法定位监控图像中的运动目标即感兴趣区域,仅传输兴趣区域以显著减少数据传输量...     

Primary bidirectional superior cavopulmonary shunt in infants between 1 and 4 months of age

The performance of a primary bidirectional superior cavopulmonary shunt procedure in early infancy is attractive because it minimizes the number of operations needed before a Fontan procedure, avoids ventricular volume overload and its sequelae, and eliminates pulmonary artery distortion. However, concerns over elevated or labile pulmonary vascular resistance have limited its use in the first few months of life. Nine patients aged 1 to 4 months (5 patients, < 2 months) have undergone a primary bidirectional superior cavopulmonary shunt procedure between October 1992 and March 1994. Primary diagnoses were tricuspid atresia (n = 4), asplenia syndrome (n = 2), polysplenia syndrome (n = 1), double-outlet right ventricle (n = 1), and double-inlet left ventricle (n = 1). Associated lesions of immediate surgical importance were total anomalous pulmonary veins (n = 2), a restrictive atrial septum (n = 4), bilateral superior venae cavae (n = 5), and patent ductus arteriosus (n = 5). The surgical procedure consisted of unilateral (n = 4) or bilateral (n = 5) bidirectional superior cavopulmonary shunt and the repair of associated lesions. Of significance, in 4 of our first 5 patients a very limited additional source of pulmonary blood flow was provided because of a low arterial oxygen tension immediately after cardiopulmonary bypass. Pleural effusions developed in 2 of these 4 patients. In subsequent patients cardiopulmonary bypass was not used whenever possible or, if it was needed, use of an extra source of pulmonary blood flow was avoided.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)