Sex difference in the mortality trends of acute myocardial infarction in Taiwan, 1974 to 1993

The nutritional status of 75 maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients was evaluated according to the dietary intake analysis, anthropometric measurements, biochemical and immunological parameters in this study. Furthermore, some possible factors which would affect nutritional status of hemodialysis patients were discussed. The results showed that hemodialysis patients demonstrated a high incidence of malnutrition. The low intake of protein and calorie, metabolic acidosis and inadequate dialysis would worsen the malnutrition while erythropoietin treatment improve the nutritional status of hemodialysis patients. Based on these results, suggestions were proposed for the improvement of nutritional status of MHD.     

Toward optimal health: the experts discuss tamoxifen and breast cancer prevention. Interview by Jodi Godfrey Meisler

Retinoids are commonly used for the treatment of nonmalignant skin disorders and occasionally for the treatment of various neoplasms including epidemic Kaposi sarcoma (KS). Dry skin and mucus membranes, muscle and joint aches, alopecia, headaches, and liver and lipid abnormalities are the most frequent medication-related side effects. Very rarely, this class of drugs is associated with the development of hypercalcemia. The authors report the case of a man with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)-associated KS who, while participating in a phase II clinical trial of LGD 1057 (9-cis-retinoic acid) for treatment of epidemic KS, developed hypercalcemia, mental status changes, and renal insufficiency. The etiologic factors of retinoid-induced hypercalcemia are imperfectly understood, but with drug withdrawal his serum calcium, mental acuity, and renal function quickly normalized. Hypercalcemia occurs infrequently in the setting of AIDS and when present, is usually mediated by opportunistic infections. Clinicians should be alert to this potentially life-threatening iatrogenic complication that responds favorably to drug withdrawal.     

Three-dimensional CT scan of hemimandibular hyperplasia: case report

Transient absorption spectra of adenine, adenosine and 2'-deoxyadenosine 5'-monophosphate (dAMP) arising from 248 nm laser flash photolysis using acetone as a photosensitizer have been observed. The intermediates recorded are assigned to the excited triplet states and dehydrogenated radicals of adenine and its nucleoside and nucleotide. The excited triplet states of adenine and its derivatives are produced via triplet-triplet excitation transfer and observed for the first time, while the dehydrogenated radicals stemming from the interaction of triplet acetone with adenine and its derivatives via electron transfer through a five-member-ring electron donor-acceptor intermediate. The site of dehydrogenation is suggested to be the hydrogen atom on C(8) of the adenine moiety. Moreover, three sets of kinetic parameters of the triplet decay have been determined. The rate constants of the unimolecular decay (k0), the triplet quenching by the ground state (ksq) and by the triplet quencher Mn2+ (kq) are 1.1 x 10(5), 7.9 x 10(4), 3.7 x 10(4) s-1, 6.9 x 10(8), 8.3 x 10(8), 3.6 x 10(8) dm3 mol-1 s-1 and 4.2 x 10(8), 3.5 x 10(8), 6.0 x 10(8) dm3 mol-1 s-1 respectively for adenine, adenosine and dAMP.     

Glow discharge beam techniques

The cathode fall region of the glow discharge contains fast electrons and fast ions which are accelerated in the electric field between the cathode and a plasma at near anode potential. When operated at low pressure and high voltage (i.e. on the left-hand branch of the Paschen breakdown curve), the fast electrons tend to form a mono-energetic group, although the ions, owing to relatively large cross-sections for interaction with the gas, have their energies spread over a wide range and also give rise to fast neutrals by charge exchange. Both types of particle can be efficiently brought out of the discharge through orifices placed in the electrodes. Thin or broad beams or sheets of particles, converging or diverging, can be designed over a wide range of current and voltage. At lower voltages, electron beams may be applied to a target placed within the discharge. As the voltage is increased, extracted electron beams become penetrating and can be manipulated magnetically outside the discharge. The gas pressure required for operation depends on the gas, the anode to cathode distance, and voltage and current. By appropriate design, operation at a pressure of about 100 m or more can usually be arranged thus demanding only the simplest vacuum techniques.Both electron and ion beams may be applied to insulating materials as well as conducting materials. This is possible because electrical charging difficulties are avoided owing to the associated presence of ionised gas. A number of different types of glow discharge gun of novel design have been constructed and their characteristics investigated. This paper discusses the design principles employed and illustrates applications in the fields of crystal growing, vapour deposition, welding, thermal milling and etching and milling by sputtering.     

L-Shell Ionization in Proton and Alpha Particle Collisions with Argon

We report results of coupled-state calculations of argon L-shell ionization by proton and alpha particle collisions in the 100 to 500 kev/amu energy range. Our target-centered basis includes up through f-states. We have explored the angular momentum convergence and ability of our pseudostates to describe the ionization continuum by comparing to the Born calculations of Choi; excellent agreement is obtained. In the Born we have shown the effect of using different independent-particle target potentials; these effects are large, particularly at low energy. We propose a modification of the Hartree-Fock potential that leaves all the wavefunctions and the bound orbital energies unaltered, but that lowers the continuum by an amount that brings the L-shell ionization potentials roughly into agreement with experiment. Our coupled-states calculations show deviations from the 1st Born approximation, and are in fair agreement with experiment. A complete comparison to experiment will require the calculation of the charge transfer channel contribution to the vacancy production.