Venous and Capillary Hematocrit in Newborn Infants and Placental Transfusion

Hematocrit values were measured on one hundred and eleven sets of capillary (from unwarmed and warmed heels) and venous blood samples obtained simultaneously during the first 5 days of life from 60 full term newborn infants, 40 of which the umbilical cords were clamped late, and 20 clamped early a t the time of birth. In the late clamped infants, the capillary hematocrits showed an initial rise during the first 6 hours of life seemingly due to fluid transudation in the capillary beds, followed by a fall a t 12 to 24 hours of age due to a subsequent fluid reabsorption into the vascular space in response to increasing circulatory demands in the visceral organs. In the early clamped infants, the capillary hematocrits remained stable during the first 6 hours, but a slight decline was observed a t 12 to 24 hours of age. The simultaneously measured venous hematocrits of both late and early clamped infants plotted against age revealed a strikingly similar pattern of alterations. A marked capillary venous hematocrit difference was observed in the late clamped infants and to a much lesser extent in the early clamped infants during the first 5 days of life, with the venous being lower than the capillary values. Warming the heels prior to capillary sampling improves the capillary venous hematocrit correlations in the late clamped infants and the improvement achieved by this procedure increases as the infant becomes older. In the early clamped infants heel warming produces relatively less effects because there was less capillary venous hematocrit discrepancy initially. In infants over 12 hours of age where venipuncture is difficult or inadvisable, capillary blood samples obtained from warmed heels could be used for hematocrit measurements. However, the hematoples do not exactly correspond with the venous values and the approximate venous reading could be estimated by using the regression lines derived from our samples, and their 95% confidence limit could be calculated from the appropriate formulas.     

Parathyroid imaging: comparison of double-tracer (T1-201, Tc-99m) scintigraphy and high-resolution US

Parathyroid scintigraphy using a double-tracer (T1-201, Tc-99m) subtraction technique depicted 17 of 23 (74%) parathyroid adenomas in patients with and without previous neck operations. High-resolution (10-MHz) ultrasound (US) depicted 18 (78%) of these adenomas. Average tumor size depicted by US was 17 X 10 X 8 mm (excluding a giant adenoma) and 19 X 10 X 9 mm by scintigraphy. Alone, neither modality was particularly sensitive in the depiction of primary hyperplasia of the parathyroid glands, but combined techniques were more effective than the use of a single modality. With both US and T1-201 scintigraphy, only two of 23 cases of parathyroid adenoma in the neck were missed, and none of the eight cases of secondary hyperplasia were missed. In 11 patients who had previously undergone neck surgery, parathyroid tumors were identified in eight by either US or double-tracer scintigraphy. Preoperative parathyroid imaging with double-tracer scintigraphy and high-resolution US is suggested for patients with hyperparathyroidism, particularly in those patients who have had previous parathyroid surgery.     

液化气扩散火焰的分形结构特征

基于图像处理方法和分型理论研究了液化气扩散火焰边缘分形结构特征。沿火焰轴向将火焰均分为5个区域,研究火焰边缘分形维数沿火焰轴向的变化,通过改变中心通道氧气速度,研究火焰长度、分形维数与过氧系数的关系。研究结果表明：随着过氧系数的增大,火焰长度逐渐缩短;火焰波动范围也减小,从喷嘴到火焰末端分形维数先减小后增大,并且变化范围不大。     

Outcome of mid-urethral sling procedures in Korean women with stress urinary incontinence according to body mass index

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to determine whether the outcome of mid-urethral sling procedures is influenced by the body mass index of Korean women suffering from stress urinary incontinence (SUI). METHODS: A total of 285 women, ranging in age from 28 to 80 years (mean 55.4), all of whom were followed up for at least 6 months, were ultimately included in this study. The patients were classified as follows: normal weight, 18.5-23 kg/m2; overweight, 23-27.5 kg/m2; obesity, 27.5 kg/m2 or higher. RESULTS: We noted bladder perforations in 11 cases (4.9%, 3.8% and 2.2% in the normal weight, overweight, and obesity groups, respectively; P = 0.449). We determined there to be no significant differences among the three groups with regard to cure rate (P = 0.173). The rates of postoperative urinary retention were 9.9% in the normal weight group, 10.1% in the overweight group, and 15.6% in the obesity group (P = 0.396). We determined there to be no significant differences among the three groups with regard to the persistence of urgency (P = 0.312). Seventy-nine patients (27.7%) exhibited symptoms indicative of voiding disorder (hesitancy, poor flow, or sensations of incomplete emptying). The postoperative development of these voiding symptoms was not significantly different among the three groups (P = 0.106). CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrate both the feasibility and the safety of mid-urethral sling procedures for obese Korean women who suffer from SUI. Additional studies, including prospective randomized trials with longer follow-up periods, will be required in order to confirm these findings.     

Clinical usefulness of cognitive evoked potentials to assess cognitive deficits in cerebrovascular diseases

Background: The aim of the present study is to evaluate the clinical applicability and usefulness of cognitive evoked potentials (CEP) to identify a cognitive deficit in patients with cerebrovascular diseases (CVD). Methods: The P3 latencies, amplitudes and latency to amplitude ratios (LAR) of CEP were measured in 25 healthy control subjects and 35 inpatients with CVD. The association of CEP with variables including age, sex, mini‐mental state examination (MMSE) score, CVD types, loci of hemiplegic limbs, duration, education, brief psychiatric rating scale (BPRS), instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) and daily living function assessment (DLFA) was also analyzed. Results: (i) The P3 latencies (447.87 ± 113.06 msec) and LAR (65.83 ± 43.25) were prolonged in CVD (P < 0.05), while the amplitudes (8.18 ± 2.51 µV ) were not changed; (ii) the P3 latencies (537.31 ± 101.14msec) and LAR (94.89 ± 46.44 in CVD with a MMSE score <24 were prolonged, and the amplitudes (6.45 ± 1.98 µV ) were reduced (P < 0.05, respectively); (iii) the BPRS, IADL and DLFA in CVD with a MMSE score <24 were different from MMSE ≥24 (P < 0.05); (iv) there was no difference in CEP between CVD caused by infaction and hemorrhage; (v) the P3 latencies were correlated positively with age, BPRS and IADL, while negatively with MMSE and DLFA. The amplitudes were correlated positively with MMSE and DLFA, while negatively with age, BPRS and IADL. The LAR were correlated positively with age, BPRS and IADL, while negatively with MMSE and DLFA; and (vi) on analyzing association of CEP with variables in CVD with MMSE <24, the P3 latencies were correlated positively with BPRS and DLFA, while negatively with MMSE and DLFA. The amplitudes were positively correlated with age. The LAR were positively correlated with IADL. Conclusions: The P3 latencies and LAR of CEP seemed to be useful clinical measures to assess cognitive disorders in CVD as well as in vascular dementia.     

性腺切除及急性饥饿对大鼠垂体-甲状腺功能的影响

本实验采用性腺摘除或经假摘除手术的两性SD大鼠,其中部分动物分别予以睾酮(T)或雌二醇(E_2),观察它们在急性饥饿或非饥饿状态下血清T_4、TSH与T浓度变化。结果提示急性饥饿可使雄鼠甲状腺合成或分泌T_4和性腺分泌睾酮减少,从而不完全地抑制了雄激素所介导的对垂体TSH分泌的兴奋作用。外源性T替代虽然可以使去势雄鼠血清T浓度恢复正常,但却无兴奋TSH分泌的作用;饥饿组去势雄鼠接受外源性T后血清TSH更为减少。提示外源性T可抑制此组雄鼠垂体TSH合成及(或)释放。     

Influence of pain and urinary symptoms on quality of life in young men with chronic prostatitis-like symptoms

BACKGROUND: Our aims in the present study were to estimate the influences of pain and urinary symptoms on quality of life, and to determine which of these two variables has the most predictive power with respect to quality of life in young men with chronic prostatitis-like symptoms. METHODS: Chronic prostatitis-like symptoms were measured by the National Institutes of Health-Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index. Of the 28,841 men aged 20 years who lived in the study community, 18,495 men (a response rate 64.1%) agreed to participate in the study. A total of 1057 men who complained of symptoms indicative of chronic prostatitis were included in the study. The influences of pain and urinary symptoms on quality of life were determined using logistic regression analysis. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to estimate the predictive ability of each of these variables with respect to quality of life. RESULTS: Results from multivariate analysis showed that both pain and urinary symptoms were associated with an increased likelihood of impaired quality of life, although pain contributed more to a reduced quality of life than urinary symptoms. Relative to men who experienced mild pain, men who experienced moderate pain had a 3.9-fold risk of poor quality of life (odds ratio [OR], 3.87; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.86-5.23; P < 0.001) and those who experienced severe pain had a 15.7-fold risk of reduced quality of life (OR, 15.68; 95% CI, 6.59-37.35; P < 0.001). Moderate urinary symptoms were associated with a 1.4-fold risk of bother (OR, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.01-1.99; P < 0.001) and severe urinary symptoms were associated with 2.4-fold risk (OR, 2.39; 95% CI, 1.37-4.12; P < 0.001), relative to mild urinary symptoms. Comparison of the effects of pain and urinary symptoms showed that pain severity had the most predictive power for bother, quality of life, and quality-of-life impact. The areas under the ROC curves for bother, quality of life, and quality-of-life impact were 71.3%, 69.3% and 72.5%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Urinary symptoms and pain might be associated with an increased likelihood of impaired quality of life in young men with chronic prostatitis-like symptoms. In addition, our findings suggest that pain severity is the most influential variable for determining quality of life in this population.