The combined use of ultrasound and densitometry in the prediction of vertebral fracture

Measurement of ultrasonographic parameters provides information concerning not only bone density but also bone architecture. We investigated the usefulness of ultrasonographic parameters and bone mineral density for evaluating the probability of vertebral fracture. 397 postmenopausal women (59.1 +/- 6.0 years) with (n = 178) or without (n = 219) atraumatic vertebral fractures were studied. In all women, bone mineral density (BMD) of the lumbar spine was evaluated by dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and speed of sound (SOS); broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA) and Stiffness in the calcaneus were evaluated by an Achilles unit (Lunar Corporation). Ultrasonographic parameters and BMD were compared by examining the magnitude of the odds ratios, to determine which produces the highest estimate of the probability of odds of fracture, and by examining widths of the respective confidence intervals (CI) to show which estimate of odd ratio is the most precise. The relative risk of vertebral fracture, after adjusting for potential confounders, was 3.5 (CI 2.6-4.8) for BUA; 4.5 (CI 3.2-6.2) for SOS; 5.8 (CI 4.0-8.4) for Stiffness and 7.5 (CI 4.8-11.5) for BMD. Ultrasound (US) parameters were still significant independent predictors of vertebral fracture, even after adjusting for BMD. The relative risk of fracture for a simultaneous decrease by 1 SD of BMD and by 1 SD of each ultrasound parameter was 17.3 (CI 9.4-39.6) for BMD and SOS; 18.3 (CI 8.4-30.6) for BMD and BUA and 22.1 (CI 8.9-52.7) for BMD and Stiffness. Our data suggest that US and BMD provide complementary information which can be combined to improve estimates of vertebral fracture risk.     

Spinal reflex pattern to foot nociceptive stimulation in standing humans

We describe here the results of a screening program conducted to discover inhibitors of the type-I interleukin-1 receptor (IL-1RI) from samples of microbial origin. An innovative approach, based on automated, nonradioactive receptor binding assays has been employed. Specially prepared cell-free systems have allowed the use of high concentrations of microbial metabolites in the reaction mixtures with a low percentage of false positives. More than 30,000 microbial samples from different species of soil isolates have been tested and two interesting activities have been purified and characterized. One of these, isolated from Streptomyces sp. GE48009, was identified as niphimycin, an antifungal agent also known as scopafungin. Preliminary evidence suggests that this molecule and azalomycin F, a structural analogue, inhibit IL-IRI by virtue of their long-chain guanidinium moiety. The other activity, isolated from Aspergillus sp. GE49752, was identified as flavipin, a substituted o-phthalaldehyde.     

Auditory hallucinations suppressed by etizolam in a patient with schizophrenia

A patient presented with a 15 year history of schizophrenia with auditory hallucinations. Though unresponsive to prolonged trials of neuroleptics, the auditory hallucinations disappeared with etizolam.     

Robust control of permanent magnet motors: VSS techniques lead tosimple hardware implementations

It is shown how very simple velocity-tracking robust controllers for permanent magnet motors driving nonlinear loads can be designed based on variable structure systems techniques. Very fast dynamics, accurate and robust velocity-tracking are achieved with very simple hardware components without resorting to powerful digital signal processors and related interface hardware. A cascade control structure is used to ensure maximum flexibility. The controller for a DC motor is considered in great detail. Extension to AC synchronous PM motors is also presented. At the different control levels robustness is addressed with specific algorithms and the simplest solution is always selected. The controller architecture for both DC and AC synchronous motor are presented and discussed in the paper. Experimental results related to the control of a DC motor driving a nonlinear load are also shown. They demonstrate feasibility and excellent performances of the proposed approach     

The bone marrow in murine AIDS

In order to increase the understanding of blood cytopenias in HIV infection we have investigated the bone marrow in murine AIDS. C57BL/6 mice infected with the LP-BM5 retrovirus show a decrease in cellularity, numerous haemophagocytic histiocytes, a reduction of all erythroid precursor cells, an increase in eosinophil number and an increase in lymphocytes. Immunostaining with an anti-Pr60gag antibody shows that the majority of bone marrow cells express the viral protein. Thus, the bone marrow in MAIDS has many similarities with the bone marrow from patients with advanced AIDS and may prove useful as a model for therapy aimed at treating blood cytopenias.     

Investigation of the basic creep of concrete by acoustic emission

The physical origins of the basic creep of concrete are still poorly understood even though some researchers have proposed hypotheses concrening the physical mechanisms that govern this delayed behaviour of concrete. A very complete summing up of these hypotheses was produced, in the past, by, Neville; he shows that none of them, provides a satisfactory explanation of the bulk of basic creep. More recently, Rossi has proposed a new hypothesis, which has been the subject of several articles. This article concerns the use of the acoustic emission technique as a ‘tool’ to provide information on the pertinence of the physical hypothesis advanced by Rossi. The counting of the total number of acoustic events together with a frequency analysis of the acoustic emission signals indicate that there is a strong correlation between the basic creep of concrete and the creation of microcracks in the material.     

Wearable, redundant fabric-based sensor arrays for reconstruction of body segment posture

Posture and gesture analysis, together with the monitoring of body kinematics, is a field of increasing interest in bioengineering and several connected disciplines. In this paper, some typical features of distributed sensing systems are described, as well as a methodology to read signals from such systems. Theory, simulation, results, and some specific applications are shown. Strain gauges have been used as sensors and have been deposited directly onto textile fibers, demonstrating one way to realize a wearable sensor system.     

Modeling and designing processes in e-commerce applications

State-of-the-art Web applications include both navigational elements and business processes, but most Web application design methods treat business processes as just another kind of navigation. The authors' extensions to the object-oriented hypermedia design method (OOHDM) aim to remedy this situation. Rather than using navigation to emulate business processes, their new mechanisms allow developers to specify and implement processes explicitly by dealing with activity semantics and states. We describe proposed extensions to OOHDM and explore their use at an online retail store.     

Investigation of the nucleation and growth mechanisms of nanocrystalline diamond/amorphous carbon nanocomposite films

Nucleation and growth, but especially the development of the morphology of nanocrystalline diamond/amorphous carbon (NCD/a-C) nanocomposite films have been investigated by systematic variation of three important parameters, namely the deposition time, the growth rate, and the substrate pre-treatment used to enhance the nucleation density. The films have been characterized, among others, by scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. It is shown that, by successive addition of ultradispersive diamond powder to the suspension of nanocrystalline diamond powder in n-pentane used for the ultrasonic pre-treatment, the nucleation density can be enhanced by two orders of magnitude from 1 · 10⁸ cm^− 2 to > 1 · 10¹⁰ cm^− 2. This reduces the thickness required to achieve closed films from 1 µm to 100 nm. However, once coalescence of the individual nodules emerging from the nucleation sites has taken place the films loose “memory” of the nucleation step and start to develop the typical NCD morphology consisting of larger features with diameters of some hundreds of nm which are in turn composed of much smaller features. Irrespective of the feature size and of the parameters used, the films of this investigation possess AFM rms roughnesses of 9–13 nm, indicating that rms values are not sufficient to characterize NCD surfaces.     

Sequential intraluminal endoscopic and laparoscopic treatment for bile duct stones associated with gallstones

BACKGROUND: On the basis of a flowchart including prior or current jaundice or pancreatitis, abnormal liver function, ultrasound or IV cholangiography, bile duct (BD) stones were suspected in 71/593 patients referred for gallstones. METHODS: When endoscopic retrograde cholangiography detected BD stones, endoscopic sphincterotomy (ES) and endoscopic BD clearance were attempted, followed by laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC). BD stones were found in 44/71 patients. The sensitivity values of preoperative conditions were: 92% for IV cholangiography, 88% for abnormal liver function, 50% for ultrasound, and 37% for jaundice at admission. RESULTS: Endoscopic clearance succeeded in 37 patients and LC was completed in 33 patients. Conversion to open surgery (9%) was comparable with the rate in patients without BD stones. The median hospital stay for the sequential endoscopic and laparoscopic treatments was 13 days (range 4-54) or 22 days if open surgery was used. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, BD stones can be endoscopically cleared preoperatively in most patients without interfering with LC.