Symptoms and signs in diseases caused by mycoplasma pneumoniae in infants and small children (author's transl)

In 12 children aged 8 month to 5 years (in the average 2,3 years), respiratory illness caused by Mycoplasma pneumoniae, could be secured with microbiological methods (growth inhibition, cultivation). The most common clinical, roentgenological and laboratory signs are discussed. A disease from Mycoplasma pneumoniae should be assumed, when a child will begin to cough often with staccato attacks without apnoea at night and has temperature short time after adimission to a group. The findings by auscultation are small but the X-ray-picture is showing marked alterations. A precise diagnosis can be achieved only with microbiological examinations (serology or cultivation). When there are no symptoms and signs described above, the diseases caused by Mycoplasma pneumoniae can be detected only if Mycoplasma serology has become a routine laboratory task in institutions for paediatric bronchopneumology.     

Optical coherence tomography system with no high-precision scanning stage and stage controller

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a novel technique for noninvasive imaging based on the use of a low-coherence interferometer. Conventionally, obtaining high-resolution images requires the use of high-precision sample and scanning stages and a stage controller for simultaneous measurement of the refractive index and the thickness of an optical sample. However, in this study a novel optical-fiber-type OCT system is developed that does not need both a high-precision scanning stage and a stage controller. Additionally, two signal demodulation processes are described. Compared with that of conventional OCT systems, the current configuration eliminates the high-precision scanning stage and stage controller and is therefore cheaper and less complex. Also, this new technique could be applied to conventional OCTs in biotissue scanning.     

High-performance fluidic adaptive lenses

High-performance fluidic lenses with an adjustable focal length spanning a very wide range (30 mm to infinite) are demonstrated. We show that the focal length, F-number, and numerical aperture can be dynamically controlled by changing the shape of the fluidic adaptive lens without moving the lens position mechanically. The shortest focal length demonstrated is less than 30 mm for a 20-mm lens aperture. The fluidic adaptive lens has a nearly perfect spherical profile and shows a resolution better than 40 line pairs/mm in a plano-convex structure and 57 line pairs/mm in a biconvex structure.     

An evaluation of the effectiveness of forward facing child restraint systems

The objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of forward facing child restraint systems (FFCRS) in preventing serious injury and hospitalization to children 12-47 months of age as compared with similar age children in seat belts. Data were obtained from a cross-sectional study of children aged 12-47 months in crashes of insured vehicles in 15 states, with data collected via insurance claims records and a telephone survey. Effectiveness estimates were limited to those children between 12 and 47 months of age seated in the back row(s) of vehicles, restrained in FFCRS, regardless of misuse, or seat belts of all types and usage. Completed survey information was obtained on 1207 children, representing 12632 children in 11619 crashes between 1 December 1998 and 31 May 2002. Serious injuries occurred to 0.47% of all 12-47-month olds studied, including 1.72% of those in seat belts and 0.39% of those in child restraint systems. The risk of serious injury was 78% lower for children in FFCRS than in seat belts (odds ratio (OR) = 0.22, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.11-0.45, P = 0.001). The risk of hospitalization was 79% lower for children in FFCRS than in seat belts (OR = 0.21, 95% CI = 0.09-050, P = 0.001). There was no difference between the restraint types in preventing minor injuries. As compared with seat belts, CRS are very highly effective in preventing serious injuries and hospitalization, respectively. This effectiveness estimate is substantially higher than older estimates, demonstrating the benefits of current CRS designs. These results provide those educating parents and caregivers population-based data on the importance of child restraint use.     

Acute healthcare utilization by children after motor vehicle crashes

This study, describing the overall patterns of acute healthcare resource utilization by child crash victims (age 15 years and younger), was conducted between 28 July 1999 and 30 November 2000 as part of an on-going large-scale, child-specific crash surveillance system, Partners for Child Passenger Safety: insurance claims from 15 states and the District of Columbia function as the source of subjects, with telephone survey and on-site crash investigations serving as the primary sources of data. A probability sample of 4862 eligible crashes with 7368 child occupants formed the study sample. Our results suggest that for every 1000 children involved in crashes, 3 are hospitalized; 108 are treated and released from an emergency department (ED); 48 are evaluated in a physician's office, urgent care center, or other facility; and 841 receive no care at all. Comprehensive surveillance systems for motor vehicle crashes must capture children treated in physicians' offices, emergency departments, and other healthcare facilities in order to provide accurate estimates of the impact on the health care system related to motor vehicle trauma.     

In vivo dosimetry for external photon treatments of head and neck cancers by diodes and TLDS

In vivo dosimetry was implemented for treatments of head and neck cancers in the large fields. Diode and thermoluminescence dosemeter (TLD) measurements were carried out for the linear accelerators of 6 MV photon beams. ESTRO in vivo dosimetry protocols were followed in the determination of midline doses from measurements of entrance and exit doses. Of the fields monitored by diodes, the maximum absolute deviation of measured midline doses from planned target doses was 8%, with the mean value and the standard deviation of -1.0 and 2.7%. If planned target doses were calculated using radiological water equivalent thicknesses rather than patient geometric thicknesses, the maximum absolute deviation dropped to 4%, with the mean and the standard deviation of 0.7 and 1.8%. For in vivo dosimetry monitored by TLDs, the shift in mean dose remained small but the statistical precision became poor.     

Characterization of silane-modified immobilized gold colloids as a substrate for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

Immobilized gold colloid particles coated with a C-18 alkylsilane layer have been characterized as a substrate for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) studies of adsorption onto hydrophobic surfaces. Atomic force microscopy images, optical extinction spectra, and SERS measurements are reported as a function of accumulation of gold colloid on glass. As the metal particles become increasingly aggregated on the surface, the SERS enhancement increases until the plasmon resonance shifts to wavelengths longer than the excitation laser. The gold colloid substrates are stable and exhibit reproducible SERS enhancement. When octadecyltrimethoxysilane is self-assembled over the gold, the metal surface is protected from exposure to solution-phase species, as evidenced by the inhibition of chemisorption of a disulfide reagent to the overcoated gold surface. The results show that interactions with gold can be blocked by a silane layer so as not to significantly influence physisorption of molecules at the C-18/solution interface. The SERS enhancement from these C-18-overcoated gold substrates is reproducible for different films prepared from the same colloidal suspension; the substrates are also stable with time and upon exposure to laser irradiation.     

An efficient method for quantifying the multichannel EEG spatial-temporal complexity

The complexity index (delta) quantifies the intrinsic dimensionality of the global complexity of a point set, and was shown to be able to characterize electroencephalogram spatial-temporal features. The complexity index is conceptually comprehensible and easily implemented, yet, it is time consuming. In this paper, we present an efficient computational method based on the projection of the high-dimensional state-space points onto a one-dimensional axis. The computational time decreases by at least 50%, without affecting the measure accuracy.     

Protecting the child's abdomen: a retractable bicycle handlebar

A surveillance system in the Emergency Department of a level 1 pediatric trauma center previously identified minor bicycle crashes as a cause of serious child abdominal injury. A discordancy exists between the apparently minor circumstances and serious injuries sustained by child bicyclists who impact bicycle handlebars. The objective of this work was to redesign the bicycle handlebar to reduce the forces transmitted to the child's abdomen during an impact with the handlebars. A retractable handlebar consisting of a spring–mass–damper system was designed to retract and absorb the majority of energy at impact (Patent pending). Because the child remains in contact with the bar after impact, the retracting system also includes a mechanism to damp the outward motion of the handlebar. This prototype will reduce the forces at impact by 50% in a collision similar to those discussed above. A unique methodology of translating research findings into product design produced a novel handlebar that absorbs significant energy that otherwise would be transferred to the child's abdomen when impacting the handlebar.     

Differential optical fiber refractometer based on a path-matching differential interferometer with temperature compensation

We present a new approach for the development of a highly stable optical fiber refractometer based on a path-matching differential interferometer. Exploiting a single-channel phase tracker and new synthetic heterodyne demodulations, one can eliminate the thermal drift on a piezoelectric transducer stack as a phase modulator by subtraction. A transducer in a differential Fabry-Perot refractometer is designed to compensate for the thermal effects not only from thermal expansion but also from the thermo-optic effect. The experimental data show that the refractive-index change in the sensing system can be kept at a level of approximately 5 x 10(-4) without serious variations for a 1-h period of long-term monitoring associated with a temperature variation of from 25 to 50 degrees C. Accordingly, the proposed new system can be easily implemented and used as a long-term monitoring system for medical care applications such as monitoring patients during drug injection.