Attenuation of hemodynamic responses to laryngoscopy and tracheal intubation: Propacetamol versus lidocaine - A randomized clinical trial

The purpose of this study is to assess the effects of propacetamol on attenuating hemodynamic responses subsequent laryngoscopy and tracheal intubation compared to lidocaine. In this randomized clinical trial, 62 patients with the American Anesthesiologists Society (ASA) class I/II who required laryngoscopy and tracheal intubation for elective surgery were assigned to receive propacetamol 2 g/I.V./infusion (group P) or lidocaine 1.5 mg/kg (group L) prior to laryngoscopy. Systolic and diastolic blood pressures (SBP, DBP), mean arterial pressure (MAP), and heart rate (HR) were recorded at baseline, before laryngoscopy and within nine minutes after intubation. In both groups P and L, MAP increased after laryngoscopy and the changes were statistically significant (P < 0.001). There were significant changes of HR in both groups after intubation (P < 0.02), but the trend of changes was different between two groups (P < 0.001). In group L, HR increased after intubation and its change was statistically significant within 9 minutes after intubation (P < 0.001), while in group P, HR remained stable after intubation (P = 0.8). Propacetamol 2 gr one hour prior intubation attenuates heart rate responses after laryngoscopy but is not effective to prevent acute alterations in blood pressure after intubation. © 2014 Ali Kord Valeshabad et al

Vacuum pressure and gas detection with a silicon based micromechanical squeeze film sensor

AbstractIn this work a new concept for the fabrication of a silicon based micromechanical squeeze-film sensor has been developed. A thin film of a gas is trapped between the resonator structure and its fixed substrate and builds up a squeeze-film arrangement. Characteristic parameters, such as resonance frequency, quality-factor and phase-shift depend on pressure and viscosity of the trapped gas and thus can be used for sensing these gas properties. First samples with different geometries have been fabricated by using a combination of dry and wet etching of the silicon substrate. Measurement results of the squeeze effect of this micro sensor are shown and compared with theoretical simulations

Solid-phase epitaxy of silicon amorphized by implantation of the alkali elements rubidium and cesium

The redistribution of implanted Rb and Cs profiles in amorphous silicon during solid-phase epitaxial recrystallization has been investigated by Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy and secondary ion mass spectroscopy. For the implantation dose used in these experiments, the alkali atoms segregate at the a-Si/c-Si interface during annealing resulting in concentration peaks near the interface. In this way, the alkali atoms are moved towards the surface. Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy in ion channeling configuration was performed to measure average recrystallization rates of the amorphous silicon layers. Preliminary studies on the influence of the alkali atoms on the solid-phase epitaxial regrowth rate reveal a strong retardation compared to the intrinsic recrystallization rate

Simulation and design optimization of transparent heaters for spectroscopic micro cells

For several applications, micro cells with a uniform temperature profile and at least one optical port are required. One example for those cells is the physics package of a chip-scale-atomic-clock. It is necessary that the micro chambers are heated homogeneously to 353 K using a low energy consumption heater. In this work transparent heating structures are investigated to achieve this goal. First an analytical approach is used to describe the behavior of thermal energy dissipation of the heating structures. Then different approaches of possible heater structures are simulated to find the optimal basic configuration. Furthermore, this configuration is optimized to obtain a uniform temperature distribution in the whole cell