Rate-dependent premature beats in man

Ventricular premature beats (VPBs) appeared in a patient after pacemaker insertion for complete heart block secondary to acute myocardial infarction. Contrary to expectations, the frequency of VPBs was directly related to the basic pacemaker rate. The VPBs are either reentrant beats or represent VPBs arising from pacemaker cells with "slow-response" characteristics, which have been shown to become more automatic with increasing rates of electrical stimulation. This case documents the phenomenon of rate dependency of VPBs in man and discusses its practical importance.     

Shop-floor scheduling at shipbuilding yards using the multiple intelligent agent system

The intelligent agent system has become a typical approach to research distributed artificial intelligence and distributed problem solving. However, despite its various technical advantages, the distribution and expansion of the intelligent agent system approach has been limited because existing methodologies rely on specialized applications and therefore require intensive investment to develop new systems. In an attempt to conquer these difficulties, a standardized methodology to construct intelligent agent systems is proposed. This approach deviates from current agent system approaches of repeatedly constructing new and customized expert systems. Specifically, it provides an economical method for developing intelligent agent systems by investigating the possibility of standardizing message communication protocols in linguistics speech-act theory and by supplementing traditional algorithmic systems with intelligent segments using, among others, expert system tools. To verify effectiveness, the shop-floor scheduling system of a large-scale shipbuilding yard has been redesigned, developed, and tested using this approach. This shop-floor scheduling system requires the scheduling of when and where to process block construction under various constraints. It is a difficult four-dimensional time and space allocation problem involving traditional NP-complete search spaces. The tested intelligent agent system proposes an innovative method for reducing the search space into three levels: the algorithm level, the agent intelligence level, and the level of cooperation among agents. It also provides methods for solving deadlock occurrence and non-uniformity problems resulting from parallel processing. Test results demonstrate applicability and economy, among other technical advantages.     

Continuous-time optimal robust servo-controller design with internal model principle

The linear quadratic design of an optimal robust servo–controller for a continuous–time control system is described. It introduces a servo–control performance measure which accommodates the internal model principle. The measure selectively discounts penalties on control effort of desirable frequencies and provides complete flexibility in the selection of weighting matrices. The proposed servo–controller uses plant state feedback, signal state feedforward and a servo–compensator for ensuring robust asymptotic command tracking and disturbance rejection. An informal alternate proof of the internal model principle in the state variable domain is presented using an operator-transformation technique. Where necessary, observers are used to complement the servo-controller. The proposed optimal robust servo–controller yields the expected superior performance in terms of response and error minimization. An illustrative example is given.     

静态时序分析及其在IC设计中的应用

讨论了静态时序分析算法及其在IC设计中的应用。首先，文章讨论了静态时序分析中的伪路径问题以及路径敏化算法，分析了影响逻辑门和互连线延时的因素。最后通过一个完整的IC设计流程介绍了静态时序分析的应用。     

AgOx型超分辨近场结构的非线性光学特性研究

采用共焦Z扫描系统，以λ=532nm．脉冲宽度0．7ns．重复频率15．79kHz的脉冲半导体激光器作为入射光源，研究了AgOx超分辨近场结构(SuperRENS)薄膜样品的非线性光学性质．实验获得了其三阶非线性折射率系数随入射光功率的变化曲线．并与Au，Ag薄膜作了比较．讨论了光致非线性变化过程。结果表明，在聚焦激光作用下．AgOx超分辨近场结构薄膜样品存在一相变点．即解析出纳米Ag颗粒，满足了产生局域表面等离子体的激发和增强效应的条件。     

Different molecular events result in low protein levels of mannan-binding lectin in populations from southeast Africa and South America

Previous studies have shown that three point mutations in exon 1 and a particular promoter haplotype of the mannan-binding lectin (MBL) gene lead to a dramatic decrease in the serum concentration of MBL. In this study, MBL genotypes and serum concentrations were determined in unrelated individuals in a population from Mozambique (n = 154) and in two native Indian tribes from Argentina (i.e., the Chiriguanos (n = 43) and the Mapuches (n = 25)). In both populations, the MBL concentrations were low compared with those found in Eskimo, Asian, and European populations. In Africans, the low serum concentrations were due to a high allele frequency (0.24) of the codon 57 (C) variant, which resulted in a high frequency of individuals with MBL deficiency (0.06), and were also due to the effect of a relatively high frequency (0.13) of low-producing promoter haplotypes. The low concentrations in the South American populations were primarily due to an extremely high allele frequency of the codon 54 (B) variant in both the Chiriguanos (0.42) and the Mapuches (0.46), resulting in high frequencies of individuals with MBL deficiency (0.14 and 0.16, respectively). In the search for additional genetic variants, we found five new promoter mutations that might help to elucidate the evolution of the MBL gene. Taken together, the results of this study show that different molecular mechanisms are the basis for low MBL levels on the two continents.     

Improvement of some pharmaceutical properties of drugs by cyclodextrin complexation. 4. Chlorpromazine hydrochloride

This study is a retrospective review of admissions, discharge records and blood culture results of neonates admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, from the first of January 1991 to the 31st of December 1992. During this two year period there were 443 positive blood cultures. Ninety percent of the blood cultures were from babies born in Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, thus making the incidence of neonatal bacteraemia 22.2 per 1000 live births. The overall mortality rate was 37.2%. Gram negative bacteria accounted for 70.9% and Gram positive bacteria for 29.1% of all neonatal bacteraemia. The most common isolates were Enterobacter species 29.6%; Streptococcus faecalis 14.4%; Staphylococcus aureus 10.8%; Acinetobacter species 9.5%; Klebsiella species 9% and Escherichia coli 8.8%. It is concluded that the incidence of neonatal bacterial sepsis is high in our hospital and is associated with a very high mortality rate. There is thus an urgent need to institute appropriate preventive and therapeutic measures.     

Ex vivo generation of functional dendritic cells from mobilized CD34+ hematopoietic stem cells

Gene engineering to enhance tumour immunogenicity and elicit curative responses against established tumours and tumour recurrences has become an attractive prospect. Gene engineering enables new genes to be selectively inserted into the genome of a tumour cell, or the construction of new fusion plasmids coding tumour antigens and immunomodulatory molecules. The rationale behind current research is to enhance the immune recognition of tumour antigens through their association with the molecules on which immune recognition depends. The immunotherapy data obtained in many experimental tumour systems provide a realistic assessment of the potential and limits of this technological approach. Experimental vaccination of rodents has been shown to induce a significant immune memory, even against poorly immunogenic tumours, that can prevent tumour growth and cure initial metastases, but is poorly effective against established tumours. Its use in tumour prevention is a fresh dawning perspective.