Electrical pacing of the paralyzed human larynx

This study represents the first attempt to electrically pace the paralyzed human larynx. The goal was to determine if electrical stimulation of the posterior cricoarytenoid muscle could produce functional abduction of the vocal fold in pace with inspiration. An external apparatus was used to sense inspiration and reanimate the unilaterally paralyzed larynx of a thyroplasty patient. Stimuli were delivered through a needle electrode to locate and pace the abductor muscle. The magnitude of electrically induced abduction was comparable to spontaneous movement on the normal side. The abduction was appropriately timed with inspiration: this finding demonstrated that this simple pacing system could effectively modulate stimulation with patient respiration.     

Pneumothorax. A complication of fine needle aspiration of breast tumors

Of 1,666 patients who underwent fine needle aspiration for breast lumps, 4 developed pneumothorax as a complication. The incidence of this complication in our patients is 1:417. The clinical manifestations were immediate chest pain, shoulder pain and, occasionally, dyspnea that developed later. Observation is sufficient treatment in most patients, and rarely is drainage of the pneumothorax required.     

Procedure employed in SSTF USSR for calculating the earth's rotational parameters

Translated from Izmeritel'naya Tekhnika, No. 4, pp. 38–39, April, 1989.     

Effects of sex and MK-801 on auditory-processing deficits associated with developmental microgyric lesions in rats

Neonatally induced microgyric lesions produce defects in rapid auditory processing in adult male rats. Given that females across species are less susceptible to the deleterious effects of neural injury and that treatment with neuroprotective agents at the time of injury can reduce neural damage, the authors tested the effects of sex and neuroprotectant exposure on the behavioral consequences of microgyric lesions in rats. Results showed that sham but not microgyric males were able to perform the task at the fastest rate of stimulus presentation. Microgyric females, in contrast, discriminated at all stimulus conditions and did not differ from female shams. Microgyric males treated with MK-801 had reduced cortical damage and performed the discrimination at the fastest condition. Results suggest that females are less susceptible to the behavioral effects of neocortical microgyria and that MK-801 may ameliorate the behavioral consequences of these lesions in male rats.     

Effects of fibinolysis on neurite growth from dorsal root ganglia cultured in two- and three-dimensional fibrin gels

The mechanism of neurite penetration of three-dimensional fibrin matrices was investigated by culturing embryonic chick dorsal root ganglia (DRGs) within fibrin gels, upon fibrin gels, and upon laminin. The length of neurites within three-dimensional matrices of fibrin was decreased in a concentration-dependent manner by agents that inhibited plasmin, e.g. aprotinin, or that inhibited plasminogen activation, e.g., epsilon-aminocaproic acid (EACA), or plasminogen antiserum. In contrast, such agents increased the length of neurites growing out from DRGs cultured upon two-dimensional substrates of fibrin and had no effect on the length of neurites growing out from DRGs cultured upon laminin. Visualization of neurites within three-dimensional fibrin matrices demonstrated that the distance between fibrin strands was much smaller than the diameter of neurites. All these data were consistent with the hypothesis that fibrinolysis localized to the region of the neurite tip is an important mechanism for neurite penetration of a physical barrier of fibrin strands arranged in a three-dimensional matrix.     

Microstructural evolution in rapidly solidified Al-Fe alloys: An alternative explanation

The solidification sequences in aluminum containing 8 and 16 wt pct iron are described in terms of the formation of metastable and stable primary intermetallic phases. These alloys were studied in the chill-cast and splat-quenched conditions, and marked differences in microstructure due to the different cooling rates were observed. Contrary to previous work, it is proposed that the 50-nm intercellular particles observed in the “zone A” regions of the splat-quenched alloys are primary in nature; this may account, in part, for their remarkable thermal stability.     

Tolerance space and molecular similarity

Molecular similarity methods were used in selecting K nearest neighbors and in estimating mutagenicity of 95 aromatic amines and boiling points of a large set of over 2,900 compounds. Similarity is analyzed in terms of the concept of tolerance space. Specifically, the role of non-transitivity of the tolerance relation in estimating properties using similarity methods is examined.