Development of a solderbump technique for contacting a three-dimensional multi electrode array

The application of a solder bump technique for contacting a multi electrode sensor/actuator system is presented. Techniques adapted from the literature could successfully be scaled down to 55×55 ¿m bumps at 120 ¿m heart-to-heart spacin

Acute Oxcarbazepine-Induced Hepatotoxicity in a Patient Susceptible to Developing Drug-Induced Liver Injury

Oxcarbazepine (OXC) is generally accepted as a drug without risk of severe drug-induced hepatotoxicity, but according to recently reported pharmacovigilance data this statement has been challenged. However, in the literature there have been no reports of acute OXC-induced hepatotoxicity without systemic manifestations of Drug Rash with Eosinophilia and Systemic Symptoms (DRESS) syndrome. We present a female with seizures one month after delivery who had borderline elevated liver enzymes prior to the initiation of OXC treatment. Two weeks after introducing OXC, highly elevated liver enzymes were found. After discontinuation of OXC the enzymes continued to rise for another week, and afterward gradually decreased. The causal relationship with OXC intake was determined to be highly probable. Two years later, the transitory elevation of liver enzymes was observed during the treatment of acute tonsilopharingitis with amoxicillin + clavulanic acid. The repeated elevation of liver enzymes related to use of different drugs might indicate patient`s susceptibility for drug induced liver injuries.We suggest that monitoring of liver function tests would be clinically rational for early detection of acute OXC-induced liver hepatotoxicity in the patients with clinical and/or laboratory features which might be interpreted as possible risk factors of the increased susceptibility to drug induced liver injuries

Sensitivity and Uncertainty Analysis of Multiphysics Nuclear Reactor Core Depletion

Nuclear reactor simulation is a complex process described by the neutronic, thermal-hydraulic, and fuel thermo-mechanical behavior of the core components. In current generation reactor physics analysis these three areas are at best loosely coupled. Within this work, a methodology for tightly coupling the core neutronics code PARCS, thermal-hydraulics code PATHS, and fuel rod simulator code FRAPCON was developed. This coupled code package was applied to two fuel depletion problems. The behavior of the fuel-cladding gap and associated temperature drop was found to be important. The code package was then applied to the pin cell calculation to evaluate the uncertainty and sensitivity of the nuclear performance of the core due to the influence of fuel thermo-mechanical models available for manipulation in FRAPCON. A sensitivity study was conducted to determine which fuel models were influential on the neutronics outputs; we determined that fuel thermal conductivity, fuel thermal expansion, cladding creep, fuel swelling and heat transfer coefficient had an important influence on some neutronics parameters. The package was integrated within the DAKOTA uncertainty package. Two sampling-based methods and two stochastic expansion methods were used to evaluate the uncertainty in the nuclear parameters throughout core depletion. We found that the uncertainty in the core reactivity was approximately 60 pcm at the beginning of depletion, reducing to approximately 15 pcm by the end of life, due to the effect of plutonium buildup reducing the importance of fuel uncertainty on high-burnup fuel. We found that the response statistics could be well-estimated by a first-order tensor-product PCE expansion, only requiring 32 calculations. Using variance-based decomposition, we found that initially the most important models contributing to nuclear variance were the thermal conductivity and fuel thermal expansion models. Once the fuel-clad gap closes, however, fuel thermal conductivity uncertainty dominates the overall variance in the output. We also found that the importance of input interactions on overall variance is negligible; at worst case, interaction effects contribute ~3% of the overall variance in both Doppler temperature and reactivity.PhDNuclear Engineering and Radiological SciencesUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/111444/1/asbiele_1.pd

Unrecognized psychosis leads to severe hyponatremia, a case report

Hyponatremia is the most common electrolyte disorder and psychogenic polydipsia (PPD) is one of the many possible causes. We present a case of severe hyponatremia in a patient with unrecognized psychosis

Distributed lags time series analysis versus linear correlation analysis (Pearson's r) in identifying the relationship between antipseudomonal antibiotic consumption and the susceptibility of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates in a single Intensive Care Unit of a tertiary hospital

The relationship between antibiotic consumption and selection of resistant strains has been studied mainly by employing conventional statistical methods. A time delay in effect must be anticipated and this has rarely been taken into account in previous studies. Therefore, distributed lags time series analysis and simple linear correlation were compared in their ability to evaluate this relationship. Data on monthly antibiotic consumption for ciprofloxacin, piperacillin/tazobactam, carbapenems and cefepime as well as Pseudomonas aeruginosa susceptibility were retrospectively collected for the period April 2006 to July 2007. Using distributed lags analysis, a significant temporal relationship was identified between ciprofloxacin, meropenem and cefepime consumption and the resistance rates of P. aeruginosa isolates to these antibiotics. This effect was lagged for ciprofloxacin and cefepime [1 month (R=0.827, P=0.039) and 2 months (R=0.962, P=0.001), respectively] and was simultaneous for meropenem (lag 0, R=0.876, P=0.002). Furthermore, a significant concomitant effect of meropenem consumption on the appearance of multidrug-resistant P. aeruginosa strains (resistant to three or more representatives of classes of antibiotics) was identified (lag 0, R=0.992, P<0.001). This effect was not delayed and it was therefore identified both by distributed lags analysis and the Pearson's correlation coefficient. Correlation coefficient analysis was not able to identify relationships between antibiotic consumption and bacterial resistance when the effect was delayed. These results indicate that the use of diverse statistical methods can yield significantly different results, thus leading to the introduction of possibly inappropriate infection control measures

Pain in multiple sclerosis

U pacijenata s multiplom sklerozom bol je jedan od simptoma koji vrlo negativno utječu na kvalitetu života. Procjenjuje se da otprilike polovina bolesnika imaju neku vrstu boli. Međutim, čini se da unatoč tome u zbrinjavanju bolesnika s multiplom sklerozom dijagnostika i liječenje boli nemaju još uvijek mjesto koje po svojoj važnosti zaslužuju. Prema patofiziologiji nastanka, bol se može podijeliti na neuropatsku, nociceptivnu i disfunkcionalnu. Svaka od tih podvrsta ima distinktivne kliničke karakteristike, te je vrlo važno ispravno dijagnosticirati tip boli i primijeniti odgovarajuće liječenje. Dok se kod neuropatske boli kao sredstvo prvoga izbora preporučuju pregabalin, gabapentin i triciklinički antidepresivi, kod nociceptivne i disfunkcionalne boli primjenjuje se medikamentna politerapija u kombinaciji s različitim psihosocijalnim intervencijama.Among persons with multiple sclerosis pain is one of symptoms greatly influencing their quality of life. It is estimated that around 50% of these patients experience some sort of pain. In spite of this, it seems that diagnosis and treatment of pain still has not found its appropriate place in dealing with this condition. According to its pathophysiology, pain in multiple sclerosis can be divided into neuropathic, nociceptive and dysfunctional. Each of these have distinctive clinical characteristics, and it is very important to correctly diagnose the type of pain and apply appropriate treatment. Whereas in neuropathic pain pregabalin, gabapentin and tricyclic antidepressants are recommended as first line medication, in patients with primarily nociceptive or dysfunctional pain, the treatment often consists of drug polytherapy combined with various psychosocial interventions

Risk Behaviors for Getting HIV Infection among the Croatian Men Who Have Sex With Men

This study was conducted with the aim of obtaining the very first information on the sexual risk behavior of Croatian men who have sex with men (MSM). There were 1127 respondents recruited at four venues: three physical meeting places of the Croatian MSM population (disco club, bar and sauna) in Zagreb and one virtual (gay oriented web-site) meeting place of the Croatian MSM population. The overall response rate was only 19%. The rate of condom use during last anal intercourse was 59% and 56% of those who used a lubricant had chosen an incorrect product to use with latex condoms. There was no connection between drug-use and unprotected anal intercourse (UAI). Only a fifth of those who had also had sex with women (MSM/MSW) during last 12 months regularly used protection. The obtained findings will serve for focused and effective prevention activities and a basis for comparison in future research

RF MEMS Switches for Mobile Communication

Switched capacitors based on radio frequency microelectromechanical systems (RF MEMS) can enable a breakthrough in radio technology. Their switching principle is based on the mechanical movement of the plates of a parallel plate capacitor using the electrostatic force. The resulting difference in capacitance is used to switch an RF signal. This article discusses the device physics and application of these Microsystems