ACE inhibitors unmask incoordinate diastolic wall motion in restrictive left ventricular disease

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of ACE-inhibition on left ventricular filling and wall motion in patients with a clinical diagnosis of heart failure. DESIGN: Prospective examination of left ventricular systolic and diastolic function using M mode echocardiography and pulsed and continuous wave Doppler before and three weeks after starting an ACE inhibitor. SETTING: A tertiary referral centre for cardiac disease equipped with non-invasive facilities. SUBJECTS: 30 outpatients with a clinical diagnosis of heart failure in whom treatment with an ACE inhibitor was started; age 61 (SD 11) years; 27 male; 3 female; 21 healthy controls of similar age. RESULTS: Left ventricular cavity was dilated both at end systole and end diastole, and fractional shortening reduced. Although mean isovolumetric relaxation time (IVRT) and transmitral E (early) to A (late) filling velocity (E/A) ratio were not different from normal, a value of 1.0 on the normal frequency plot of the E/A ratio divided the patients bimodally into two groups: 20 patients (group A) with E/A ratio > 1.0 and 10 patients (group B) < 1.0. In group A patients, IVRT was short as was transmitral E wave deceleration time compared to normal (P < 0.001), fulfilling the criteria of restrictive left ventricular physiology. Left ventricular wall motion during IVRT was coordinate and left ventricular end diastolic pressure was raised on the apex-cardiogram (P < 0.001). In group B, E wave deceleration time was longer, relaxation incoordinate, and apexcardiogram normal. With an ACE inhibitor: in group A, left ventricular dimensions fell at end diastole (P < 0.05) and end systole (P < 0.01) but fractional shortening did not change; long axis total excursion (P < 0.01) and peak rate of shortening (P < 0.05) both increased; IVRT increased (P < 0.001) with the appearance of markedly incoordinate wall motion, minor axis lengthening, and long axis shortening (P < 0.001 for both); A wave amplitude also consistently increased (P < 0.001); finally, transmitral E wave velocity fell and A wave velocity increased. ACE inhibition did not alter any of the left ventricular minor and long axis or transmitral Doppler variables in patients in group B. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with a clinical diagnosis of heart failure differ in their presentation and response to ACE inhibition according to baseline haemodynamics. In restrictive left ventricular physiology, ACE inhibition reduces cavity size and prolongs IVRT, compatible with a fall in left atrial pressure. At the same time, ventricular relaxation becomes very delayed and incoordinate, greatly reducing early diastolic left ventricular filling velocity. Thus ACE inhibition unmasks major diastolic abnormalities in patients with restrictive left ventricular disease.     

An accurate reference-generating circuit for successive approximation current mode A/D converters

As pressures increase on VLSI designers to use a lower supply voltage of 3.3 V rather than the present 5 V, current mode signal-processing techniques will surely become increasingly important and attractive. This paper presents the design of a reference-generating (RG) circuit which employs a current mode divide-by-two circuit. Current dividers are usually implemented by using resistor networks or weighted transistors. the division accuracy of such solutions is limited by resistor or transistor mismatch. In this study the proposed divide-by-two circuit does not rely on well-matched components and high-gain op amps to achieve high accuracy. This paper also addresses the relationship among the operation and accuracy of the division process, the transistor mismatch and the resolution of a converter which employs the RG circuit. the proposed RG circuit can be implemented not only for medium-speed successive approximation current mode A/D converters but also for A/D converter arrays achieving a high conversion rate.     

Influence of hydrodynamic parameters on particle attrition during fluidization at high temperature

In a fluidized bed, attrition both increases the number of particles and reduces particle size, which may affect reactor performance, fluidizing properties, operating stability and operating costs. Most fluidized applications are conducted at high temperature, but in the past most attrition correlations were performed at room temperature, so the attrition rate at high temperature could not be predicted. In contrast, this study investigates the attrition rate of fluidized materials at high temperature. Silica sand was used as the bed material; the operating parameters included temperature, particle size, static bed height and gas velocity to assess the attrition rate. Then an appropriate correlation was developed by regression analysis to predict attrition rate at high temperature. Experimental results indicated that the attrition rate increases with increasing temperature. In addition, the particle attrition increased as average particle size decreased because the probability of collision increases with surface area. The attrition rate increased with increasing gas velocity because of increased kinetic stress of particle movement. The actual density and viscosity of air at specific fluidization temperature were modified and an Ar number was introduced to fit our experimental data. The experimental correction agrees with the experimental results, which can predict particle attrition rate at high temperatures.     

ANALYSIS OF BATCH CRYSTALLIZATION PROCESSES

The analysis of batch crystallization processes normally requires the consideration of the time-dependent, batch conservation equations (e.g., population, mass, and energy balances), together with appropriate nucleation and growth kinetic equations. The solution of these integro-differential equations is relatively difficult, even by numerical techniques. This review outlines the advances that have been made in the experimental techniques and data analyses which can be used to study the crystallization kinetics and the crystal size distribution (CSD) in batch suspension crystallizers. Several simple and useful methods are discussed which include characterization of CSD maximum, cumulative CSD approach, SSBCR crystallizer, thermal response technique, maximum allowable growth rate, and desupersaturation curve technique.