Diagnosis of venous incompetence inerectile dysfunction

In 26 of 214 patients with erectile dysfunction and proved venous incompetence by cavernosography, an additional bidirectional Doppler ultrasound was performed also to demonstrate venous outflow disturbances. All except one leakage in the superficial and deep dorsal veins could be demonstrated as well as 4 of 6 cavernosum-glandular shunts. Bidirectional Doppler ultrasound visualized a continuous retrograde blood flow from the sulcus coronarius to the root of the penis in superficial and deep dorsal penile veins as well as in ectopic penile veins, an orthograde blood flow in the sulcus coronarius in cavernosum-glandular shunt

Regression analysis of time trends in perinatal mortality in Germany 1980-1993.

Numerous investigations have been carried out on the possible impact of the Chernobyl accident on the prevalence of anomalies at birth and on perinatal mortality. In many cases the studies were aimed at the detection of differences of pregnancy outcome measurements between regions or time periods. Most authors conclude that there is no evidence of a detrimental physical effect on congenital anomalies or other outcomes of pregnancy following the accident. In this paper, we report on statistical analyses of time trends of perinatal mortality in Germany. Our main intention is to investigate whether perinatal mortality, as reflected in official records, was increased in 1987 as a possible effect of the Chernobyl accident. We show that, in Germany as a whole, there was a significantly elevated perinatal mortality proportion in 1987 as compared to the trend function. The increase is 4.8% (p = 0.0046) of the expected perinatal death proportion for 1987. Even more pronounced levels of 8.2% (p = 0. 0458) and 8.5% (p = 0.0702) may be found in the higher contaminated areas of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR), including West Berlin, and of Bavaria, respectively. To investigate the impact of statistical models on results, we applied three standard regression techniques. The observed significant increase in 1987 is independent of the statistical model used. Stillbirth proportions show essentially the same behavior as perinatal death proportions, but the results for all of Germany are nonsignificant due to the smaller numbers involved. Analysis of the association of stillbirth proportions with the (137)Cs deposition on a district level in Bavaria discloses a significant relationship. Our results are in contrast to those of many analyses of the health consequences of the Chernobyl accident and contradict the present radiobiologic knowledge. As we are dealing with highly aggregated data, other causes or artifacts may explain the observed effects. Hence, the findings should be interpreted with caution, and further independent evidence should be sought

Effect of Fe content on atomic and electronic structure of complex oxides Sr Ti,Fe O3 delta

Two series of SrTi1 xFexO3 amp; 948; STFO powders with different Fe content produced by two different methods, solid state reaction or modified Pechini synthesis, have been investigated by soft X ray absorption spectroscopy. The O1s K , Fe2p L2,3 and Ti2p L2,3 absorption spectra of STFO powders were analyzed. Partial substitution of Ti by Fe atoms in SrTiO3 were found to cause asymmetric distortion of TiO6 octahedrons which may violate the cubic symmetry of STFO. It was established that the distortion of TiO6 octahedrons increases with increasing Fe content. The joint analysis of the STFO spectra along with the reference compounds points to the presence mainly of Fe3 states in octahedral environment at small concentration of Fe atoms along with essentially smaller content of Fe4 states in octahedral environment where the latter contribution increases with increasing Fe content. Also a presence of Fe3 states in tetrahedral environment with Fe content higher than 50 is traced. A certain amount of Fe2 ions in an octahedral environment was also found in the STFO compound prepared by spray pyrolysis with Fe content higher than 75 . The O1s K absorption spectra point to increase in oxygen vacancy concentration with increasing Fe content. The lowest degree of structure distortions was traced in STFO35. Hence, the STFO35 compound seems to be mostly appropriate for technical application

Elevated frequency of abnormalities in barn swallows from Chernobyl

Ever since the Chernobyl accident in 1986, that contaminated vast areas in surrounding countries with radiation, abnormalities and birth defects have been reported in human populations. Recently, several studies suggested that the elevated frequency of such abnormalities can be attributed to poverty and stress in affected human populations. Here, we present long-term results for a free-living population of barn swallows, Hirundo rustica, demonstrating the presence of 11 morphological abnormalities in populations around Chernobyl, but much less frequently in an uncontaminated Ukrainian control population and three more distant control populations. The presence of these abnormalities in barn swallows is associated with reduced viability. These findings demonstrate a link between morphological abnormalities and radiation in an animal population that cannot be attributed to poverty and stress. The most parsimonious hypothesis for abnormalities in animal and human populations alike is that the effects are caused by the same underlying cause, viz. radiation derived from the Chernobyl accident

Investigation of short range structural order in Zr69.5Cu12Ni11Al7.5 and Zr41.5Ti41.5Ni17 glasses, using X ray absorption spectroscopy and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations

Short-range order has been investigated in Zr69.5Cu12Ni11Al7.5and Zr41.5Ti41.5Ni17metallic glasses using X-ray absorption spectroscopy andab initiomolecular dynamics simulations. While both of these alloys are good glass formers, there is a difference in their glass-forming abilities (Zr41.5Ti41.5Ni17&gt; Zr69.5Cu12Ni11Al7.5). This difference is explained by inciting the relative importance of strong chemical order, icosahedral content, cluster symmetry and configuration diversity.</jats:p