Usefulness of computed tomography and scintigraphy in diagnosis of emphysematous bullae in the lung

The x-ray examinations usually do not reveal morbid changes after lung expansion in the treatment of spontaneous pneumothorax. In our observation computed tomography (CT) and scintigraphy enable not only the exact determination of the extent of changes but also they disclose bullae invisible in conventional chest radiographs. 15 patients with cured spontaneous pneumothorax and 10 patients with radiographic evidence of a bulla or bullae were examined. CT scans showed bullae from 3 to 18 cm in diameter involving predominantly the upper lobes. 4 patients had additionally subpleural or intraparenchymal bullae of various degrees. In all patients with cured spontaneous pneumothorax, CT scans revealed intraparenchymal bullae, and in 6 cases bilateral intraparenchymal bullae were revealed. Only in sites of large bullae, no isotopic marker or its low elimination was shown in perfusion and inhalation scintigraphy. 10 patients with giant bullous emphysema were operated; in 6 patients enucleation of bullae, in 3 lobectomy and in one patient bullectomy were performed. CONCLUSION: CT is a method of choice in the diagnosis of lung emphysematous bullae and it enables the detection of the changes undetectable in chest radiographs. Perfusion and inhalation scintigraphy is helpful in the diagnosis of large emphysematous bullae and postoperative follow-up examination.     

Reduction of pantethine in rabbit ocular lens homogenate

In several animal models, preliminary studies have indicated that pantethine may inhibit cataract formation. Therefore, preclinical trials need to be conducted to study the pharmacology of pantethine in the ocular lens and to establish its efficacy. Since pantethine, which is a disulfide, can undergo a variety of chemical modifications such as reduction and formation of mixed disulfides, a detailed study was first conducted to determine the stability of pantethine in rabbit lens homogenate. A knowledge of the stability of pantethine in lens homogenate was necessary to establish if pantethine could be metabolized in the time it takes to harvest and homogenize a lens. The results of this study will be used to establish a protocol for harvesting and homogenizing lens samples. Pantethine (100 microM) is completely reduced to pantetheine in rabbit lens homogenate in about 16 min. About 1.5% of the pantethine added to lens homogenate forms a mixed disulfide with lens proteins, and the remainder is found in the supernatant. The supernatant pantethine concentration decreases exponentially as a function of time, and the terminal half-life for this process is 3.3 min. The free supernatant pantetheine concentration increases in pseudo first order manner as a function of time with a rate constant of 4.3 min. Pantethinase activity is not significant, because the free supernatant pantetheine concentration did not decrease. The exact mechanism of pantethine reduction in rabbit lens homogenate remains to be determined.     

Null testing convex optical surfaces

A new test for convex optical surfaces is presented. It makes use of an auxiliary ellipsoidal mirror that is of approximately the same diameter as the convex mirror tested. The test is a null test of excellent precision. The auxiliary ellipsoid used is also tested in a null fashion, permitting good precision to be obtained.     

Microstructural and Phase Composition Differences Across the Interfaces in Al/Ti/Al Explosively Welded Clads

The microstructure and phase composition of Al/Ti/Al interfaces with respect to their localization were investigated. An aluminum-flyer plate exhibited finer grains located close to the upper interface than those present within the aluminum-base plate. The same tendency, but with a higher number of twins, was observed for titanium. Good quality bonding with a wavy shape and four intermetallic phases, namely, TiAl₃, TiAl, TiAl₂, and Ti₃Al, was only obtained at the interface closer to the explosive material. The other interface was planar with three intermetallic compounds, excluding the metastable TiAl₂ phase. As a result of a 100-hour annealing at 903 K (630 °C), an Al/TiAl₃/Ti/TiAl₃/Al sandwich was manufactured, formed with single crystalline Al layers. A substantial difference between the intermetallic layer thicknesses was measured, with 235.3 and 167.4 µm obtained for the layers corresponding to the upper and lower interfaces, respectively. An examination by transmission electron microscopy of a thin foil taken from the interface area after a 1-hour annealing at 825 K (552 °C) showed a mixture of randomly located TiAl₃ grains within the aluminum. Finally, the hardness results were correlated with the microstructural changes across the samples.

     

Structural brain changes in the computerized tomography of schizophrenic patients

VBR was higher and the cortical atrophy more frequent in the schizophrenic patients as compared to the control group. VBR correlated negatively with SANS and PANSS (negative) scores, especially with alogia and inattention, it also correlated positively with female sex. Positive intercorrelations were found between VBR and other ratios concerning lateral ventricles and no correlations were found between them and cortical atrophy.     

Numerical simulation of the tip aerodynamics and acoustics test

The application of an efficient flow control system on helicopter rotor blades may lead to improved aerodynamic performance. Recently, our invention of Rod Vortex Generators(RVGs) has been analyzed for helicopter rotor blades in hover with success. As a step forward, the study has been extended to forward flight conditions. For this reason, a validation of the numerical modelling for a reference helicopter rotor(without flow control) is needed. The article presents a study of the flow-field of the AH-1G helicopter rotor in low-, medium- and high-speed forward flight. The CFD code FLOWer from DLR has proven to be a suitable tool for the aerodynamic analysis of the two-bladed rotor without any artificial wake modelling. It solves the URANS equations with LEA(Linear Explicit Algebraic stress) k-ω model using the chimera overlapping grids technique. Validation of the numerical model uses comparison with the detailed flight test data gathered by Cross J. L. and Watts M. E. during the Tip Aerodynamics and Acoustics Test(TAAT) conducted at NASA in 1981. Satisfactory agreements for all speed regimes and a presence of significant flow separation in high-speed forward flight suggest a possible benefit from the future implementation of RVGs. The numerical results based on the URANS approach are presented not only for a popular, low-speed case commonly used in rotorcraft community for CFD codes validation but preferably for medium- and high-speed test conditions that have not been published to date.     

Improved solution for the cemented doublet

A method is described that permits the calculation of a cemented doublet with a given spherical aberration and coma at the edge of the lens. In particular the aberrations can be set to zero. Given one glass, the equations reported in this paper permit the determination of a second matching glass that minimizes the spherochromatism and coma of the lens. This result is obtained by the introduction, into the third-order thin-lens formulas, the third-order values of the aberration coefficients, as derived from the equation developed by Mossotti which yields zero finite aberrations for the same lens with added thickness. After a brief historical introduction, the third-order equations are developed and tables for the color-correcting glasses and SI and SII (the Seidel third-order coefficients) are given for objects at infinity and at a magnification of - 1, both for flint- and crown-leading cases. The paper closes with a table of corrected doublets.     

Shock wave smearing by passive control

Normal shock wave, terminating a local supersonic area on an airfoil, limits its performance and becomes a source of high speed impulsive noise. It is proposed to use passive control to disintegrate the shock wave. Details of the flow structure obtained by this method are studied numerically. A new boundary condition has been developed and the results of its application are verified against experiments in a nozzle flow. The method of shock wave disintegration has been confirmed and detailed analysis of the flow details is presented. The substitution of a shock wave by a gradual compression changes completely the source of the high speed impulsive noise and bears potential of its reduction.