Sufficient conditions for global homeomorphism of piecewise linear functions

Sufficient conditions for the existence of unique solutions of piecewise linear functions are derived. They require that a certain set of cofactors of each region around a corner point should have the same sign.     

The surgical management of catheter injuries of the brachial artery

In 84 patients the wrist pulses were lost after diagnostic left heart catheterization via the brachial artery. Sixty-six of these patients underwent surgical exploration of the brachial artery for restoration of pulsatile arterial flow to the hand. This aim was achieved in 64 instances. In all cases, the artery was found to be occluded by fresh thrombus. In 36 patients, balloon thrombectomy and accurate arterial closure were successful. In the remainder, in addition to thrombectomy, indentification of an area of damage to the arterial wall required additional surgical measures, usually in the form of resection and anastomosis. The surgical approach to this problem and the importance of the recognition and treatment of arterial wall damage by the catheter are stressed in this paper.     

Guided growth of large-scale, horizontally aligned arrays of single-walled carbon nanotubes and their use in thin-film transistors

A convenient process for generating large-scale, horizontally aligned arrays of pristine, single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) is described. The approach uses guided growth, by chemical vapor deposition (CVD), of SWNTs on miscut single-crystal quartz substrates. Studies of the growth reveal important relationships between the density and alignment of the tubes, the CVD conditions, and the morphology of the quartz. Electrodes and dielectrics patterned on top of these arrays yield thin-film transistors that use the SWNTs as effective thin-film semiconductors. The ability to build high-performance devices of this type suggests significant promise for large-scale aligned arrays of SWNTs in electronics, sensors, and other applications.     

Electrolytic reduction of p-nitroaniline to p-phenylenediamine

The depolarization of p-nitroaniline at a stationary cathode under different conditions has been studied. Results obtained with a copper cathode, in presence of 0.1% copper sulphate and on amalgamated copper cathode are reported. The product isolated has been confirmed as p-phenylenediamine.     

Bases of surgical treatment of bilateral suppurative processes in the lungs

In dogs subjected to gravitational overloadings (+Gx) according to a special training schedule the wall structure of the main arteries (carotid, humeral, femoral and aorta) was studied by histological methods. The amount of catecholamines (adrenaline and noradrenaline) in the venous blood plasma and in the adrenal tissue was the index of the sympathoadrenal system condition. It was demonstrated that in trained animals the tolerance threshold to continuously increasing overloadings (+Gx) rose. It was accompanied by an elevated amount of catecholamines in blood and the adrenals In the walls of the main arteries studied a moderate hyperelastosis and a slight collagenization of the adventitia was noted. All parts of the microcirculatory bed were moderately dilated, which favoured a better blood outflow. The data obtained demonstrate adaptational changes, which can be interpreted as indices of training and reliability of the organism.     

Gabapentin treatment of mood disorders: a preliminary study

OBJECTIVE: To determine if gabapentin is effective either as adjunctive treatment or as monotherapy for major affective disorders in a naturalistic setting. METHOD: All charts of patients meeting DSM-IV criteria for bipolar disorder or unipolar major depressive disorder treated with gabapentin in a private psychiatric practice were reviewed and clinical response was assessed retrospectively using the Clinical Global Impressions scale for Improvement (CGI-I). RESULTS: Gabapentin was moderately to markedly effective in 30% (15/50) of patients, with statistically nonsignificant differences between patients with bipolar disorder type I, bipolar disorder type II and NOS, and unipolar major depressive disorder. 70% reported side effects, mainly sedation, with 16% of the total sample discontinuing treatment due to adverse events. CONCLUSION: Gabapentin appears to be somewhat effective as add-on treatment in a subgroup of patients with mood disorders in a naturalistic setting. Prospective, controlled studies are required to clarify these pilot data.     

In vitro cytotoxicity and teratogenicity of norethisterone and levonorgestrel released from hollow nylon monofilaments

We investigate the effect of the neuron characteristics on the behavior of a recurrent excitatory neural network model. First, we present the different types of dynamics obtained with simulations of a network of coupled excitatory spike-response neuron models placed under the influence of noise. Then, we derive a discrete map describing the dynamics of large fully connected networks. By studying the bifurcation structure of this map, we can determine for which ranges of the neuron model parameters the network will display collective oscillations or other types of dynamics.