Gastric tubes in children with caustic esophageal injury: a 32-year review

By means of ischemic coagulation of the hepatic artery and portal vein in a microwave coagulation experiment of in vivo swine [correction of bovine] liver, we confirmed approximate doubling of the coagulation diameter compared to the usual coagulation. Based on this fact, for treatment of patients with metastatic liver tumor, we developed an ischemic percutaneous microwave tumor coagulation method using IVR method and applied it in one case, and performed laparotomy microwave tumor coagulation in three cases. We performed the ischemic percutaneous microwave tumor coagulation method on one of the cases. Coagulation was performed for one minute at a dose of 100 W for treatment of metastatic liver tumor of 2 cm in diameter via laparotomy. The postoperative CT showed an extensive coagulation larger than 3 cm. A 2 cm liver tumor was coagulated under balloon ischemia of the hepatic vein and hepatic artery for 13 minutes at a dose of 60 W. The maximum coagulation diameter was 5 cm. Extensive coagulation was possible with percutaneous microwave tumor coagulation through ischemia.     

A proposed technique for intraoperative measurement of cervical spine stiffness

Research reported here addresses the issue of the reliability of retrospective reports of children's perceptions of maternal acceptance-rejection as measured by the Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire. A sample of 49 middle-class Caucasian 7- to 11-yr.-old children were asked to respond to the questionnaire reflecting on their mothers' current accepting-rejecting behaviors. Seven years later the same children--now adolescents--responded to the same questionnaire with the instruction to reflect back on their mothers' behavior when the youth were about 7 to 11 years of age. None of these youth recalled having been tested seven years earlier. A simple zero-order correlation between scores in childhood and adolescence was 62, indicating that adolescents' retrospective recollections were in moderate agreement with their reports during childhood. Thus, it seems clear that, at least with respect to perceptions of maternal acceptance-rejection as measured by the Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire, researchers can have reasonable confidence that adolescents' current recollections about their experiences of maternal acceptance-rejection are likely to be in moderate agreement with what they would have reported had they been tested during childhood.     

Kommentar I

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Validation of a novel dielectric constant simulation model and the determination of its physical parameters

Precise determination of the dielectric constant of microelectronic packaging materials is critical for the performance optimization of high frequency devices. Accurate empirical data, however, is difficult to obtain and often not available for these complex composite materials. In order to provide a basis for predictive model verification, dielectric analysis of a series of model microelectronic packaging materials was conducted. Physical characteristics of the composite constituents, including the morphology of the dispersed phase as well as the dielectric constant of the dispersed and host phases, were used to define the indeterminate variables. The results of these analyses provide a systematic verification of a newly developed physical model for predicting the effective dielectric constant of complex composite systems. The model considers an interphase zone surrounding each dispersed particle having unique physical and electrical characteristics. A physical interpretation is presented to explain the indeterminate variables incorporated in this model.     

Anandamide synthesis is induced by arachidonate mobilizing agonists in cells of the immune system

The hypothesis that the capability of agents to mobilize arachidonic acid (AA) could predict increased anandamide (ANA) synthesis in a macrophage cell line has been examined. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), platelet-activating factor (PAF) and cannabinoids such as Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and anandamide were all found to be agonists for the release of AA and led to increased ANA synthesis in RAW264.7 mouse macrophage cells. Nitric oxide, in contrast, stimulated AA release without raising ANA levels. ANA stimulation of its own synthesis indicates the existence of a positive feedback mechanism. The possible involvement of the CB2 receptor in THC-mediated AA release and ANA synthesis is addressed using the antagonist SR144528. ANA synthesis is also increased by the combination of calcium ionophore and indomethacin, suggesting that ANA is metabolized by a cyclooxygenase in this system. The data imply that ANA could play a role in the response of the immune system to cannabinoids and bacterial endotoxins and that AA mobilization is a predictor for increased ANA synthesis.     

Speech sound acquisition, coarticulation, and rate effects in a neural network model of speech production.

This article describes a neural network model of speech motor skill acquisition and speech production that explains a wide range of data on variability, motor equivalence, coarticulation, and rate effects. Model parameters are learned during a babbling phase. To explain how infants learn language-specific variability limits, speech sound targets take the form of convex regions, rather than points, in orosensory coordinates. Reducing target size for better accuracy during slower speech leads to differential effects for vowels and consonants, as seen in experiments previously used as evidence for separate control processes for the 2 sound types. Anticipatory coarticulation arises when targets are reduced in size on the basis of context; this generalizes the well-known look-ahead model of coarticulation. Computer simulations verify the model's properties. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)