Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunts (TIPS) in children

The transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt procedure is an accepted treatment for adults with complications of portal hypertension. We performed a retrospective review of all pediatric TIPS placements performed at the University of California, San Francisco between 1990 and 1996. Twelve procedures were attempted in nine children, with a mean age (+/- SD) of 9.4 +/- 3.9 years (range, 5 to 15 years) and a mean weight of 31 +/- 18 kg (range, 16 to 70 kg). The indications for TIPS placement were portal hypertension complicated by chronic variceal hemorrhage not controlled with sclerotherapy (n = 7) and hypersplenism with thrombocytopenia (n = 2). TIPS placement was successfully completed initially in seven of nine (78%) patients. Unfavorable vascular anatomy was the cause of failure in two cases. The seven patients who underwent successful TIPS placement were followed up for an average of 136 days (range, 1 to 800 days); two still have patent shunts, three underwent liver transplantation, one had a splenorenal shunt after stenosis, and one died of underlying liver disease. Variceal bleeding was controlled in four of five patients who successfully underwent TIPS placement. Shunt occlusion occurred in four patients; patency was restored by transjugular shunt revision in three, and a splenorenal shunt was performed in one.     

Longitudinal bone mineral density changes in early rheumatoid arthritis

A prospective longitudinal study of patients with early RA was performed to examine the influence of disease duration, disease activity and physical activity on bone loss. Sixty-seven patients with non-steroid treated RA of less than 5 yr duration, including 16 patients with disease duration less than 6 months, had BMD measurements of the femoral neck and the lumbar spine over a 12-month period using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. The BMD changes were compared with values from 72 control patients and were also correlated with serial measurements of disease activity (measured by the Stoke Index) and disability [measured by the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) score], at 3-monthly intervals over the 12-month period. No significant differences in BMD changes were found between RA patients and controls overall. Patients with disease duration of less than 6 months had significantly greater loss of BMD at the femoral neck (-3.9%, S.E.M. 1.5) than the remainder of the cohort (-0.2%, S.E.M. 0.7) (P = 0.02) and controls (-0.8%, S.E.M. 0.6). Lumbar spine BMD changes correlated with the initial Stoke Index (Rs-0.373, P = 0.01) but not mean Stoke Indices. There was no correlation of BMD changes with age or HAQ scores. These findings suggest that significant bone loss occurs within the first few months of disease in patients with RA.     

Molecular interactions in aqueous solutions of the starch polysaccharides: a review

The aqueous solution behaviour of malto oligosaccharides, amylose and amylopectin is discussed. Experimental studies, using biophysical methods, on the aggregation behaviour of these compounds are reviewed.     

Use of a sex attractant and an inhibitor for monitoring winter moth and bruce spanworm populations

A single sex pherormone component was isolated from abdominal tip extracts of female Bruce spanworm.Operophtera bruceata (Hulst). This was identified as (Z,Z,Z)-1,3,6,9-nonadecatetraene by capillary gas chromatography (GC), electroantennography, and mass spectrometry. In addition, hexane extracts of female abdominal tips from Bruce spanworm and the winter moth.O. brumata L., were analyzed by GC coupled to an electroantennographic detector (GC-EAD). The extracts ofO. bruceata andO. brumata females elicited only a single response, at the same retention time, from antennae of their conspecific and reciprocal males. In field tests conducted in Saskatchewan, traps baited with the synthetic tetraene captured Bruce spanworm males. In tests carried out on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, where the two species coexist, both Bruce spanworm and winter moth males were captured. The attractancy of lures containing the synthetic pheromone alone and in combination with several structurally related analogs was field tested at both locations. One of these, an isomer of the natural pheromone, (E,Z,Z)-1,3,6,9-nonadecatetraene, inhibited the capture of Bruce spanworm males but had no effect upon the number of winter moth males which were taken. Thus, populations of these two very similar species can be distinguished by employing traps baited with pheromone ± the inhibitor. Coneorifice Hara traps were found useful for field trapping males of both species.Issued as NRCC No. 26107     

浅埋暗挖地铁车站管棚的数值模拟及其加固效果分析

以北京地铁十号线黄庄站126 m超前大管棚一次性施作作为研究背景,在对管棚作用效果和作用机理分析的基础上,比较了现有管棚计算模型的优劣,提出了在数值计算中采用桩单元模拟管棚的思路;对车站导洞施工过程中管棚变形的动态过程以及管棚注浆和管棚直径对地表沉降的控制效果进行了分析研究.监测数据表明:北京地铁十号线黄庄站管棚施作后,四导洞开挖完成后地表沉降控制在30 mm左右,与四号线黄庄站四导洞完成后地表80 mm的沉降值相比大大减小,起到了良好的控制作用.     

Leadership and justice: Increasing non participating users’ assessment of an IT through passive participation

Allowing users to actively participate in the development and implementation of a new IS is supposed to increase their satisfaction with it. This type of participation, representing aspects relating to distributive and procedural justice, is increasingly impractical in current organizational settings, because many IS are used by thousands of employees and having them involved is impossible. Nonetheless, there are still benefits to be gained in other ways. Extrapolating from interactional justice, we proposed a passive participation method of engaging users. Its effect was tested in a large company in the USA and proved effective. Interactional justice, the perception of fairness in the way that people were treated at an interpersonal level, was found to increase user assessment of the value of their IS. Implications and expansions to interactional justice theory and how this antecedent affects IS implementation are discussed.