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Focuses on a study of the simulation of powder compaction for neodymium-iron-boron, samarium-cobalt and barium ferrite which showed the influence of different static field strengths and different mold filling on particle misalignment. Determination of particle density defects; Importance of powder assembly simulation; Results and discussion; Conclusions.

Abstract: The garter snake provides a unique model for in-vivo imaging of photoreceptor damage induced by laser retinal exposure. Laser thermal/mechanical retinal injury induced alterations in photoreceptor structure and leukocyte cellular behavior. Photoreceptors turned white, lost mode structure, and swelled; leukocyte activity was observed in the vicinity of photoreceptor cells. Non-thermal alterations were identified with a bio-tag for oxidative stress. Mechanisms of photoreceptor recovery and replacement were observed and evaluated for active cytoskeletal systems by using an anti-actin tag that could detect the presence of active cytoskeletal systems resident in photoreceptors as well as other retinal systems. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

An airborne remote sensor named GASPILS (gas pipeline leak sensor) has been developed and tested to detect leaks from natural gas pipelines by monitoring the amount of methane in the atmosphere above the leak. The sensor is a passive electro-optical system, with two independent channels, operating in a downward-looking profiling mode. It is designed to detect increases in the low levels of methane concentration by sensing the infrared spectral radiance signatures using a nondispersive gas filter correlation technique. This technique involves the use of a gas cell as a matched spectral filter, and it combines a high degree of sensitivity to the target gas with a high degree of specificity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: To assess the current state of asthma management in Austria and evaluate improvement of symptoms and quality of life (QoL) in asthma patients by adding the controller substance montelukast to existing therapy. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Office-based pneumologists across Austria were invited to participate in an open-label, multicenter observational study. Male and female patients aged from 12-50 years with mild or moderate persistent asthma according to GINA guidelines and FEV(1) > 70% predicted were included if they were on concurrent asthma treatment, but still had persistent symptoms and reduced quality of life. Asthma control was assessed at time of patient anamnesis and subsequent follow-up visits. In addition, a physical examination was performed, lung function (FEV(1)) was measured and two types of validated QoL questionnaires were used: the Juniper Asthma Control Questionnaire was evaluated and documented by the physicians at each study visit and the Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire was completed by the patients following each visit. RESULTS: A total of 851 patients (343 males, 508 females) were included and 328 patients were eligible for evaluation 3-5 months after completing at least two study visits. QoL rating by patients was available for 263 at baseline and for 216 patients after 3-5 months. The physicians' rating of asthma-related QoL showed improvements between 6.66 and 11.80% in the categories: nocturnal awakening, morning asthma symptoms, reduction of daily activities, wheezing and dyspnoea, but no reduction in the use of short acting ss(2)-agonists (SABA). The QoL judged by the patients by means of the QoL-Q showed statistically significant improvements in 13 of 15 parameters of QoL. The categories: response to cigarette smoke and response to air pollution showed positive trends (not significant) while the improvement of shortness of breath, response to dust, frustration, cough, anxiety, chest pressure, sleep quality, worries about asthma, wheezing, symptoms at heavy and moderate exercise and impairment of daily activities and activities at work reached statistical significance. CONCLUSION: This open-label, multicenter observational study shows significant improvement in six QoL parameters evaluated by the physicians and in 13 out of 15 QoL categories judged by the patients 3-5 months after adding montelukast to the ongoing asthma treatment in patients with mild or moderate persistent asthma. Limitations to these conclusions are the lack of a placebo control group (as this was an open-label study) and the continuing basal asthma therapy, which might contribute to improvement of asthma control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is no clear evidence whether inspiratory muscle strength (Pimax) is closely linked to inspiratory muscle endurance (Tlim). Moreover, normal values of Tlim, measured by flow-resistive loads, have not been established. Objectives: We tried to find answers to the following questions: Is it possible to establish normative values of Tlim when using flow-dependent, resistive loads? Are Pimax and Borg scale values predictors of Tlim? Are anthropometric and spirometric data closely related to Tlim? Is it really necessary to measure Tlim in addition to Pimax when evaluating inspiratory muscle function? Methods: Sixty-eight healthy Austrian volunteers between 17 and 75 years of age and with a sedentary lifestyle participated in our study. Pimax was defined as the maximal inspiratory mouth pressure, measured with a differential pressure transducer. Tlim was determined as the time span until exhaustion, while breathing against a resistive loading device. Results: Pimax values showed a low intra- and high interindividual variability for both sexes and were significantly age, weight and height dependent. For male subjects, Pimax was also significantly related to spirometric parameters. Tlim values showed a very high interindividual variability, but a low intraindividual variability. Interestingly, no correlation was found between Tlim and Pimax, nor lung function parameters and age. Conclusions: The results indicate that both Pimax and Tlim have to be determined when inspiratory muscle function is measured. Normal values for Tlim, evaluated by flow-resistive loads, cannot be satisfactorily established due to the high interindividual variability. Copyright © 2006 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To deal with the extremely high data rate and huge data volume generated onboard a hyperspectral satellite, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has developed two fast on-board data compression techniques for hyperspectral imagery. The CSA is planning to place a data compressor on-board a proposed Canadian hyperspectral satellite using these techniques to reduce the requirement for onboard storage and provide a better match to available downlink capacity. Since the compression techniques are lossy, it is essential to assess the usability of the compressed data and the impact on remote sensing applications. In this paper. 11 hyperspectral data users covering a wide range of application areas and a variety of hyperspectral sensors assessed the usability of the compressed data using their well understood datasets and predefined evaluation criteria. Double blind testing was adopted to eliminate bias in the evaluation. Four users had ground truth available. They qualitatively and quantitatively compared the products derived from the compressed data to the ground truth at compression ratios from 10:1 to 50:1 to examine whether the compressed data provided the same amount of information as the original for their applications. They accepted all the compressed data. The users who did not have ground truths available evaluated the compression impact by comparing the products derived from the compressed data with those derived from the original data. They accepted most of the compressed data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]