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Perioperative cardiac dysrhythmias are common and most of them are benign. Some dysrhythmias may cause a fatal outcome in patients undergoing operation. The dysrhythmogenic effect of anaesthetic agents is somewhat complicated and many anaesthetics have opposing effects, that is, both dysrhythmogenic and antidysrhythmogenic properties. It is important to understand interactions between anaesthetics and adjuvant drugs and to avoid prodysrhythmic situations during anaesthesia.

Using flash photolysis of caged ATP in skinned muscle fibers from rat psoas, we examined the inhibitory effects of 2,3-butanedione monoxime (BDM) on the contraction kinetics and the rate of ATP hydrolysis of the cross-bridges at approximately 10 degrees C. The hydrolysis rate was estimated from the stiffness records. The effects of BDM were compared with those of orthophosphate (P(i)) and of reduction in [Ca2+] (low Ca2+), and it was found that i) BDM and low Ca2+ inhibited ATPase activity to the same extent as they inhibited the steady tension, whereas P(i) inhibited ATPase activity much less than tension; ii) BDM and P(i) decreased tension per stiffness during the steady contraction more than did low Ca2+; iii) neither BDM nor low Ca2+ affected the initial relaxation of the fiber on release of ATP, but P(i) slightly slowed it; and iv) BDM hardly influenced the rate of contraction development after relaxation, although P(i) and low Ca2+ accelerated it. We concluded that BDM inhibits the Ca(2+)-regulated attachment of the cross-bridges and force-generation of the attached cross-bridges.

Purpose To assess the case mix or experiential curriculum of a university-based categorical medicine residency program and compare the residents' continuity clinic case mix with the outpatients seen by practicing internists. Patients and methods Descriptive study during the 1991–1992 academic year of 24,218 inpatients and outpatients from the University of California, San Francisco, Department of Medicine's three core hospitals: the University of California, San Francisco Hospital; the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center; and the San Francisco General Hospital. The diagnoses and ages of patients who made office visits to practicing internists from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) were compared with corresponding data from the categorical medicine residents' continuity clinic patients. Results Seventy percent of the general medicine inpatients at the three core hospitals had one of the 25 most common principal diagnoses for inpatients. Eighty-seven percent of the patients seen by the residents in their continuity clinic had one of the 20 most common diagnoses seen by practicing internists in the NAMCS. The age distribution was similar in both groups. Conclusions A systematic assessment of clinical training at one university-based hospital program shows that common internal medicine problems represent the case mix of the great majority of patients, both inpatients and outpatients, seen by categorical medicine residents. Residents' continuity clinic patients are similar to patients seen by practicing internists. The program's challenge is to ensure that residents have adequate time with general medicine experiences, both in the inpatient setting and in the ambulatory and longitudinal care settings, while balancing and integrating these activities.

8-(4'-Acetylphenyl)-1,4-dioxa-8-azaspiro[4.5]decane (APDA) was found to be a new organic material for nonlinear optical devices. Prior to its application to devices, material purification, single crystal growth, characterization and optical properties were studied, and second harmonic generation from the grown single crystal was demonstrated. Recrystallization from ethyl acetate solution by slow cooling, zone refining and sublimation under reduced pressure were explored. Among them, a combination of recrystallization and sublimation was the most effective for APDA purification. Single crystals were grown by the Bridgman technique with different growth parameters for the furnace temperature, the growing rate and the cooling rate of grown crystals. Single crystals with a diameter larger than 12 mm and length of 28 mm were obtained from the melt, but had some cracks. Characterization, measurements of optical properties of APDA crystals and second harmonic generation demonstration revealed that the crystals had good quality suitable for application to nonlinear optical devices, for example, frequency doublers of laser diodes in the blue region.

The taste analyzer developed by the Satake Engineering Co., Ltd. is a measuring apparatus systematically bridging the gap between the sensory perception of rice taste and the instrumental analysis. The theory for the measurement is that the major ingredients values are obtained through light absorption of rice with the near-infrared rays of various wavelengths, and the taste of rice is then quantitized based on the values. Since the sensory values as the reference data for the quantitization has a certain degree of ambiguity, the application of the Fuzzy Theory has been attempted. In addition, the neural network theory is used in the process of deriving taste values from the ingredients compositions, and a good result has been obtained.

The current-voltage ( I-V ) characteristics is investigated near the superconductor-insuator transition in YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7−δ thin films. It is found that the I–V curves exhibit quasiperiodic structures as a function of the current, which strongly depend on magnetic fields. These results are in good agreement with the prediction of resonant tunneling of the macroscopic variable.

The characteristics of the plasma induced by the bombardment of laser pulses (4–6 mJ, 10–15 ns) on a metal surface kept in the pressure range (0.1–10 Torr) is studied. The laser induced plasma consists of two distinct regions. One is a small-region plasma (primary plasma), which emits an intense continuous emission spectrum for a few tenths of 0.1 μs. The other is a plasma (secondary plasma) spreading out with time, which emits intense atomic emission spectra. It was found that the displacement length of the front of the secondary plasma is proportional to the two-fifths power of time. This fact indicates that the blast wave plays an important role in the mechanism of forming the luminuous secondary plasma. The primary plasma is considered as the source of the blast wave.