Framestore system for map displays

The map displays project was undertaken to investigate techniques for the storage and display of geographical maps and related information and to develop the hardware and software required for a complete working system. Initially most of the project was concerned with the design of graphics hardware to be interfaced to a DEC LSI-11/03 micro-computer which was the main supply of computing power for the project. The development of one of the pieces of specialized hardware, the framestore display, is described.     

Induced piezoelectricity in isotropic biomaterial

Isotropic material can be made to exhibit piezoelectric effects by the application of a constant electric field. For insulators, the piezoelectric strain constant is proportional to the applied electric field and for semiconductors, an additional out-of-phase component of piezoelectricity is proportional to the electric current density in the sample. The two induced coefficients are proportional to the strain-dependent dielectric constant (depsilon/dS + epsilon) and resistivity (drho/dS - rho), respectively. The latter is more important at frequencies such that rhoepsilonomega less than 1, often the case in biopolymers. Signals from induced piezoelectricity in nature may be larger than those from true piezoelectricity.     

A histochemical investigation of catecholamines in spinal cord injury

The catecholamine hypothesis of progressive spinal cord necrosis following mechanical trauma was investigated with the histofluorometric method. Forty-four adult mongrel dog were examined as control, L1 crush-injured, and crush-injured with prior T1 total transection groups. In crush injured dogs, catecholamines were present in a 1 cm length of white matter at the crush site, with the greatest accumulation in the deep lateral and ventral funiculi. Gray matter fluorescence was not enhanced. Prior transection did not abolish the intense accumulation of catecholamines at the site of the cord injury. We propose that the catecholamines accumulating at the cord injured site are not central in origin, but represent an uptake mechanism into white matter as a reflection of cord microperfusion.     

Hospital-associated bacterial meningitis

Eighteen of 349 cases (5.2 per cent) of bacterial meningitis seen between 1949 and 1973 were hospital-associated (developed after admission to the hospital). The patients were adults, usually males, and developed symptoms and signs of meningitis from 2 to 23 days (mean, 10.1 days) after hospital admission. The diagnosis of bacterial meningitis was made from less than 1 day to 15 days (mean, 4.8 days) after the onset of symptoms. Fourteen of the 18 patients had received antibiotics during the week prior to developing meningitis. Nine (50 per cent) had a chronic, noninfection, underlying illness. Diagnostic or surgical procedures involving the neuraxis or adjacent structures preceded the development of meningitis in 10 of the 18 patients (56 per cent). Only 6 of the 18 patients survived their infection. Prompt recognition, diagnosis, and therapy of hospital-associated meningitis in high-risk patients may reduce the significant mortality.     

A diagnostic formula for alcoholism

Clinical pathologies with unusually high morbidities in alcoholic populations were analyzed to determine their capacity to diagnose alcoholism. On the basis of five systemic variables it was possible to diagnose correctly nearly 75% of alcoholic and matched control subjects.     

A multifactorial study of patients with asthma. Part 2: air pollution, animal dander and asthma symptoms

As part of a multifactorial computer-assisted study of patients with asthma, the relationship between air pollution, animal dander and asthma symptoms was evaluated. No association was found between four major air pollutants (carbon monoxide, ozone, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide) and asthma symptoms. Patients who owned cats and dogs reported more severe asthma symptoms (p less than .01) than patients who did not own cats and dogs. The evaluations completed to date indicate that daily exposure to cats and dogs accounts for more of the asthma symptoms differences between patients than daily exposure to air pollutants.     

Initial experience of clinical pharmacology and clinical pharmacy interactions in a clinical pharmacokinetics consultation service

International statistics indicate that there is a close correlation between the consumption of saturated fats (dairy fats and meat fats) and the mortality from coronary heart disease (CHD), and this conception has been confirmed by many epidemiological studies. Such studies alone, however, cannot prove the existence of a cause-and-effect relationship between these two variables; dietary intervention trials are needed. The Finnish Mental Hospital Study was such a trial, conducted in two hospitals near Helsinki in 1959--1971. Practically total replacement of dairy fats by vegetable oils in the diets of these hospitals was followed by a substantial reduction in the mortality of men from CHD. Total mortality also appeared to be reduced. As to the causes of death other than CHD, none was significantly influenced by dietary change. This was also true for malignant neoplasms. To alleviate the burden of CHD on public health, many investigators have recommended important changes in the quantity and quality of dietary fats.