Third International Conference on Shape Memory and Superelastic Technologies

Summary. More than 10 years after its clinical introduction, extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) has proved to be the safest treatment modality for more than 90% of urinary stones. Absolute contraindications are untreated coagulopathy, urinary tract infection and pregnancy. After careful preparation, even patients with severe coagulopathy (haemophiliacs A/B, thrombocytopenia) can be treated successfully by ESWL. Shock wave lithotripsy for an increasing amount of small symptomatic renal calculi resulted in a stone-free rate of 50% and a complaint-free rate of 52%. A 50% chance of success justifies initial ESWL treatment for stones in caliceal diverticula. A stone-free rate of 70% was reported for stone-bearing horseshoe kidneys, but the recurrence rate was 29%. Therefore, percutaneous stone removal may become necessary in such cases.

The utilization of indwelling stents has contributed to the extension of indication for ESWL monotherapy, even for staghorn calculi, as acute morbidity is reduced. Double-J stents, however, do not improve the stone-free rate and special attention should be paid to double-J morbidity. Depending on stone localization, post-ESWL long-term stone-free rates are 58–84% with a recurrence rate of 6–11 % and despite persisting fragments, the infection rate is low.

The main features of third generation lithotripters are a combined localization system allowing interdisciplinary shock wave lithotripsy, a wide energy range of the shock wave source resulting in an efficacy similar to that of the Dornier HM3 and integration of the shock wave source and fluoroscopy unit in an endoscopic treatment table for multifunctional use. Finally, a modified version of the Clayman-Preminger efficacy quotient for clinical comparison of different lithotripters, is outlined.     

Patterns of laryngeal apraxia in two patients with Broca's aphasia

In this study the transillumination technique was applied to the study of laryngeal movements during speaking in two Broca's aphasics with apraxia of speech. In particular, laryngeal adductory and abductory gestures in the production of voiced and voiceless obstruents were analysed. The two patients presented disturbances concerning movement shape, amplitude, and timing. Patient 1 had particular problems in the initiation of laryngeal adduction. These observations are compared to the patients' clinical patterns of apraxic speech and are discussed in the light of earlier studies of apraxic speech.     

Improved word comprehension in Global aphasia using a modified semantic feature analysis treatment

Limited research has investigated treatment of single word comprehension in people with aphasia, despite numerous studies examining treatment of naming deficits. This study employed a single case experimental design to examine efficacy of a modified semantic feature analysis (SFA) therapy in improving word comprehension in an individual with Global aphasia, who presented with a semantically based comprehension impairment. Ten treatment sessions were conducted over a period of two weeks. Following therapy, the participant demonstrated improved comprehension of treatment items and generalisation to control items, measured by performance on a spoken word picture matching task. Improvements were also observed on other language assessments (e.g. subtests of WAB-R; PALPA subtest 47) and were largely maintained over a period of 12 weeks without further therapy. This study provides support for the efficacy of a modified SFA therapy in remediating single word comprehension in individuals with aphasia with a semantically based comprehension deficit.     

Evaluation of communication assessment practices during the acute stages post stroke

Rationale, aims and objectives Early detection of communication impairment post stroke is an important prognostic indicator and promotes the use of individualized treatment protocols. Therefore, the methods for speech and language assessment used by communication experts in acute settings following stroke were investigated. Methods A survey was conducted among 254 speech and language pathologists providing acute care for patients following stroke in all states and territories across Australia and New Zealand. Respondent attitudes and practices in speech and language assessment post stroke were recorded with a standardized questionnaire collected online. Results A total of 174 (68.5%) speech and language pathologists responded. Over 70% of participants assessed language and 80% assessed speech using their own clinical assessments. Respondents identified limited test repeatability and poor sensitivity to change over acute periods as key areas of concern for currently available standardized assessments. Conclusions Subjective and/or un‐standardized assessments were the most commonly used measures of communication during the acute phases post stroke. These results highlight a critical need for the development of population‐specific communication assessments that build on existing clinician derived techniques and expertise while considering the acute time demands and transient nature of patient's communicative functioning.     

Comparative studies on the ocular and dermal irritation potential of surfactants.

Comparative studies on the irritation potential of 18 surfactants were performed using the same stock solution of surfactant for each study. The ocular irritation potential of surfactants was studied using the red blood cell test (RBC), the hen's egg test-chorioallantoic membrane (HET-CAM) and the Skinethic ocular tissue model. The skin irritation potential was assessed based on data obtained from human studies using a 24h epicutaneous patch test (ECT) and a soap chamber test (SCT). The same pH and active substance (AS) content for all surfactants tested was used depending on the test conducted. In general, clusters of substances with varying irritation potential were identified similarly by most tests. These results show that when using standardized test conditions in which pH and % AS are the same for each surfactant tested, there is a good correlation between the in vitro ocular irritation assays themselves as well as between the dermal and ocular irritation assays. In particular the RBC test seems to be not only highly predictive for ocular irritation (H(50)/DI) but also for dermal irritation and changes in barrier function (DI) induced by surfactants.     

新生儿行为神经测定联合儿心量表在预测胆红素神经毒性中的价值探讨

目的探讨新生儿行为神经测定（NBNA）联合儿心量表在预测胆红素神经毒性中的价值。方法将2006年1～12月收治的足月无缺氧、窒息病史的高胆红素血症患儿76例，根据脑干听觉诱发电位（ABR）表现分成A、B、C三组，比较三组患儿治疗前、治疗后7、14d的NBNA总分及随访至1岁行儿心量表检测的发育商（DQ），分析NBNA及儿心量表与ABR的相关性。结果与A、B组比较，C组NBNA及儿心量表明显异常，可见NBNA及儿心量表与ABR的异常密切相关。结论NBNA联合儿心量表是预测胆红素神经毒性的良好指标。     

慢性重型乙型肝炎患者低血糖与能量代谢、胰岛素样生长因子-1的相关性

目的探讨慢性重型乙型肝炎患者发生低血糖的可能机制。方法分别以20例慢性重型乙型肝炎低血糖患者和20例慢性乙型肝炎患者作为研究组和对照组。采用间接测热法，使用CCM-D营养代谢测定系统测定患者的静息能量消耗（REE）、呼吸商（RQ）及糖、脂肪、蛋白质三种营养底物的氧化率；应用放射免疫法测定空腹血清胰岛素样生长因子-1（IGF-1）、胰岛素、C肽、皮质醇水平。结果慢性重型乙型肝炎患者的REE为（1397．1±452．6）kJ／d，显著低于静息能量消耗预计值（1532．7±277．9）kJ／d（P=0．033）；糖氧化率和RQ均显著低于对照组（38．5％ vs 56．9％，P=0．002；0．78±0．06 vs．0．86±0．04，P=0．000），脂肪氧化率显著高于对照组（38．8％ vs．20．1％。P=0．000）。慢性重型乙型肝炎组的糖氧化率与空腹血糖水平呈正相关（r=0．45，P〈0．05）。慢性重型乙型肝炎组的血清IGF-1水平显著低于对照组[（11．9±2．6）ng／ml强（159．8±35．7）ng／ml，P=0．000]，胰岛素水平显著高于对照组[（19．2±10．9）μIU／ml vs （10．6±7．3）μIU／ml，P=0．034]。结论慢性重型乙型肝炎患者低血糖的发生与血清IGF-1、胰岛素水平密切相关，且空腹血糖水平与糖的氧化利用率呈正相关。     

从国外经验看我国医学生的医患沟通教育

科学技术飞速发展的社会充满了机遇与挑战,也对人才提出了更高的要求。当代医学生不仅要具有专业理论知识和专业技能,还必须具备较高的情商水平才能适应现代医学发展的需要。这就要求医学院校重视和加强医学生的情商教育,只有这样才能培养出真正的合格人才。     

鼾症与儿童智商

目的探讨小儿鼾症对智商发育的影响。方法对56例6～7岁鼾症患儿进行智商测试,并与随机抽取的60例同年龄组健康儿童进行对照研究。结果鼾症患儿平均智商为(95.75±17.67)分,同年龄组健康儿童平均智商为(108.03±17.41)分,鼾症患儿智商低下者所占比例8.9%,较正常儿童智商低下者所占比例1.7%明显增加,而正常儿童高智商者比例28.3%,较鼾症患儿高智商者比例10.7%明显增加。结论鼾症患儿智商明显低于同年龄组非鼾症儿童,鼾症可能对儿童智商产生一定的影响。     

Patterns of phonological errors as a function of a phonological versus an articulatory locus of impairment

We present the case of two aphasic patients: one with fluent speech, MM, and one with dysfluent speech, DB. Both patients make similar proportions of phonological errors in speech production and the errors have similar characteristics. A closer analysis, however, shows a number of differences. DB's phonological errors involve, for the most part, simplifications of syllabic structure; they affect consonants more than vowels; and, among vowels, they show effects of sonority/complexity. This error pattern may reflect articulatory difficulties. MM's errors, instead, show little effect of syllable structure, affect vowels at least as much as consonants and, and affect all different vowels to a similar extent. This pattern is consistent with a more central impairment involving the selection of the right phoneme among competing alternatives. We propose that, at this level, vowel selection may be more difficult than consonant selection because vowels belong to a smaller set of repeatedly activated units.