Comparison of disability behavior after different sites and types of injury in a workers' compensation population

In this study, an extensive data set from a regional workers' compensation system was analyzed to determine whether particular sites or types of injury were associated with prolonged disability. This data shows a similar pattern of vocational disability for almost all sites and types of injury. A workers' compensation carrier collects data for financial purposes related to insurance, and such data therefore has several serious potential deficiencies when used for clinical research. However, published data on disablement after nonoccupational trauma shows similar patterns of vocational and nonvocational disability, and also shows dependence on severity of injury. In both settings, head injury is associated with greater occupational disability. Because treatment, policy, and medicolegal decisions are based on the impression of "typical disability" for particular sites and types of injury, there is a need for better documentation of post-traumatic disablement in compensation settings and in noncompensation settings. This should include better classification of the cause, type, and severity of the injury, and of the functional outcome in terms of both the resumption of occupational and nonoccupational roles, and of persistence in these roles.     

团分划问题的固定参数算法研究

图论中的团分划问题属于NP-完全问题,难以在多项式时间内解决。为此,对团分划问题的固定参数算法进行研究,提出一个针对K4-free图的新归约法则,结合深度限制搜索树技术对K4-free图中的团分划固定参数可解类算法做出改进。实验结果表明,与原算法相比,在稀疏图的情况下改进算法效率提高了30%。     

Development of a scoring system to assess disability in an Italian elderly population. Evaluation of a disability questionnaire

Patients with idiopathic and symptomatic restless legs syndrome (RLS) suffer from "dyskinesia while awake" or "daytime myoclonus" when at rest preceded by sensory symptoms. In order to characterise the RLS either as reflex movement or as voluntary movement we measured movement-related cortical potentials in 5 idiopathic and 8 uraemic RLS patients. Movements from both legs were polygraphically recorded concomitantly with cortical activity 2000 msec before to 500 msec after onset of EMG activity. These data were compared with a voluntary simulation of each patient's movement pattern and with 5 age-matched controls performing dorsiflexion of the right, left and both feet. Cortical activity preceding daytime myoclonus was absent in RLS patients whereas self-initiated leg movements in patients elicited onset times (1180-1380 msec) and amplitudes of Bereitschaftspotential (readiness potential) not significantly different from readiness potentials in control subjects (P > 0.05). Lack of movement-related potentials in myoclonus and/or dyskinesias during daytime in RLS patients is compatible with an involuntary mechanism of induction and points towards a subcortical or spinal origin of RLS.     

The renal factor in the post-traumatic "fluid overload" syndrome

Hypervolemia with hypertension often occurs 36-72 hours following massive blood and fluid replacement for hypovolemic shock. This syndrome of "fluid overload" has been attributed to the rapid intravascular flux of previously sequestered fluid in patients with impaired diuresis. This hypothesis was tested in 35 injured patients who received a mean of 9.3 L of blood and 17.4 L of salt during resucitation. The renal parameters measured soon after resuscitation included: 1) renal clearance of inulin (GFR), para-amino hippurate (ERPF), milliosmoles, sodium, and free water; 2) inulin space, renal vascular resistance (RVR), O2 consumption, renin, renal blood flow (RBF), and response to furosemide. Eighteen patients developed hypertension, hypervolemia, and respiratory insufficiency. When compared to the 17 normovolemic, non-hypertensive patients, the 18 hypervolemic patients had significantly increased RVR, with a significant decrease in RBF despite an increase in plasma volume and cardiac output. Furosemide produced less diuresis and natriuresis in the hypertensive patients. The balance between hypovolemia and "fluid overload" seemed percarious in the hypertensive patients. Peripheral renin and catecholamine levels were normal in both groups. Patients with post-traumatic "fluid overload" appear to have a combination of hypervolemia, respiratory insufficiency, hypertension, increased cardiac output, decreased extracellular fluid space, and decreased renal perfusion. These findings suggest that decreased interstitial fluid space compliance rather than "fluid overload" is the underlying factor leading to respiratory insufficiency. The therapeutic aspects of these findings are discussed.     

Axonal excitability and motor propagation velocity of peripheral nerves in patients with acute vascular lesions of the brain

From measurements of maximum and minimum motor nerve propagation velocity and neuronal excitability we conclude that there is a functional loss of motor units and distal nerve "dying back" in persons affected with unilateral acute cerebral vascular lesions. The study also suggests that transynaptic degeneration affects the lower motor neurone function on both sides.     

Molecular Alignment Induced by Ultrashort Laser Pulses and Its Impact on Molecular Motion

Spectroscopy aims at extracting information about matter through its interaction with light. However, when performed on gas and liquid phases as well as solid phases lacking long-range order, the extracted spectroscopic features are in fact averaged over the molecular isotropic angular distributions. The reason is that light–matter processes depend on the angle between the transitional molecular dipole and the polarization of the light interacting with it. This understanding gave birth to the constantly expanding field of “laser-induced molecular alignment”. In this paper, we attempt to guide the readers through our involvement (both experimental and theoretical) in this field in the last few years. We start with the basic phenomenon of molecular alignment induced by a single pulse, continue with selective alignment of close molecular species and unidirectional molecular rotation induced by two time-delayed pulses, and lead up to novel schemes for manipulating the spatial distributions of molecular samples through rotationally controlled scattering off inhomogeneous fields and surfaces.     

Method to compensate production related deviations for the assembly of space-frame-structures

The use of light space-frame-structures made of extruded aluminum profiles is a considerable contribution to weight reduction in cars. Individual customer demands as well as new concepts for drives result in splitting the number of pieces into several variants and therefore are increasingly leading to a small batch production of this kind of space-frame-structures. Due to the use of innovative processes and the small batch character of the production, bigger deviations usually occur during the manufacturing of individual profiles. These deviations represent a serious challenge for the precise and automated assembly. In this paper, a method to compensate production related deviations for the assembly of space-frame-structures will be presented. The general approach is the machining of the end segments. During the first step a target structure will be analyzed. Based on this analysis, all profiles are classified according to their degrees of freedom and the associated suitability for compensation. Deviations that occur become visible at an early stage by comparing them with actual measured profile data. Based on this, a strategy for compensating existing deviations can be defined. By implementing the correlations in a flexible environment, an optimization of individual profiles under different basic conditions is therefore possible, and leads to an improved accuracy of the space-frame-structure that needs to be assembled.