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The Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (SCMR) is an international society focused on the research, education, and clinical application of cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR). The SCMR web site (https://www.scmr.org) hosts a case series designed to present case reports demonstrating the unique attributes of CMR in the diagnosis or management of cardiovascular disease. Each clinical presentation is followed by a brief discussion of the disease and unique role of CMR in disease diagnosis or management guidance. By nature, some of these are somewhat esoteric, but all are instructive. In this publication, we provide a digital archive of the 2019 Case of the Week series as a means of further enhancing the education of those interested in CMR and as a means of more readily identifying these cases using a PubMed or similar search engine.

The population structure of Taiwan is evolving toward aged society. The ratio of elderly population over total population is increasingly approaching to 1/4 or above, leading to the increasing demand of the aged care in Taiwanese society. Further the increasing the long-term care cost would have a great impact on National financial burden. As for the delimitation on the growth rate of the elder population, we would like to develop an auxiliary aid capable of reminding people’s daily exercise, as well as detecting the people’s aged degree. In this study we implement such an aid by a cost-effective, intelligent ring type sensor capable of measuring people’s essential tremor as well as recording people’s daily exercise/showing them up at a user friendly interface. Based on the state of the art sensor technology, the intelligent sensor comes out to be capable of recording aged people’s essential tremor spectrum via fast Fourier transform (FFT) and their daily exercise simultaneously. With gathering both of detecting information, the sensor would be transmitting the information in a real-time fashion toward people’s cellular phone via a Bluetooth interface. Then an application on the phone could evaluate the degree of the aging and show the daily sport records toward the medical staff at the remote site. In order encourage elderly people to exercise and prevent elderly people from falling accidentally, the device also has fall warning function. It is believed via such a surveillance on elder people and referring their daily sport records in a long term fashion, the phenomenon of population aging could be effectively improved.

Background & Aims Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) is the preferred treatment to prevent maternal transmission of HBV, owing to its efficacy and safety. However, data are lacking on the long-term safety outcomes in children following fetal exposure to TDF. Methods Children participating in a prospective, multisite trial of maternal TDF treatment during late pregnancy were recruited for follow-up visits once a year. Growth parameters, serum biochemistry, HBV serology, and bone mineral density (BMD) by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometery scan were measured. Results One hundred and twenty-eight children, 71 in the TDF and 57 in the control group, completed 255 follow-up visits at the age of 2 to 7 (median, 4.08) years. No differences in z-scores for weight-for-age (0.26 ± 0.90 vs. 0.22 ± 0.99, p = 0.481), z-scores for height-for-age (0.20 ± 1.02 vs. 0.25 ± 0.98, p = 0.812), and estimated glomerular filtration rate (169.12 ± 50.48 vs. 169.06 ± 34.46 ml/min/1.73m2, p = 0.479) were detected. After adjustment for age, sex and HBV status by multiple linear regression, children in the TDF and control group had comparable levels of serum calcium, phosphorus, bone-specific alkaline phosphatase, calcidiol and BMD of lumbar spines (0.55 ± 0.01 vs. 0.57 ± 0.01 g/cm2, p = 0.159) and left hip (0.56 ± 0.01 vs. 0.56 ± 0.01 g/cm2, p = 0.926). Conclusions Children of HBV-infected mothers who did or did not receive tenofovir disoproxil fumarate treatment during late pregnancy had comparable long-term growth, renal function, and bone development up to 6–7 years after delivery. Clinical trial number NCT01312012 ( ClinicalTrials.gov ) Lay summary Currently there are insufficient long-term safety data in children born to mothers who took antiviral agents during pregnancy to prevent mother-to-infant transmission of hepatitis B virus (HBV). In this study, we found that children of HBV-infected mothers who did or did not receive tenofovir disoproxil fumarate treatment during late pregnancy had comparable long-term growth, renal function, and bone development up to 6-7 years after delivery.

The Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (SCMR) is an international society focused on the research, education, and clinical application of cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR). Case of the week is a case series hosted on the SCMR website (https://www.scmr.org) that demonstrates the utility and importance of CMR in the clinical diagnosis and management of cardiovascular disease. Each case consists of the clinical presentation and a discussion of the condition and the role of CMR in diagnosis and guiding clinical management. The cases are all instructive and helpful in the approach to patient management. We present a digital archive of the 2020 Case of the Week series of 11 cases as a means of further enhancing the education of those interested in CMR and as a means of more readily identifying these cases using a PubMed or similar search engine.

Aims To explore in psychosis patients their subjective perceptions on the definition of relapse, the costs involved, the potential risk and protective factors for relapse, the effect of medication and the consequences of relapse. Method Sixteen patients who had previously enrolled into a randomized controlled trial of medication discontinuation during first-episode psychosis were interviewed after 10 years. Results Patients had a broader definition of the criteria of relapse, extending from medication discontinuation to family support. Although most agreed that taking antipsychotics is effective in preventing relapse, most have negative views on them. All patients predicted their risk of relapse to be less than 50% and they were generally optimistic about the future. Conclusion These findings have implications for development of effective medication compliance and relapse prevention programmes in psychosis.

Summary Background The long-term consequences of discontinuing antipsychotic medication after successful treatment of first-episode psychosis are not well studied. We assess the relation between early maintenance therapy decisions in first-episode psychosis and the subsequent clinical outcome at 10 years. Methods This is a 10 year follow-up study, spanning Sept 5, 2003, to Dec 30, 2014, of a randomised, double-blind trial in seven centres in Hong Kong in which 178 patients with first-episode psychosis with full positive symptom resolution after at least 1 year of antipsychotic treatment were given maintenance treatment (n=89; oral quetiapine 400 mg daily) or early treatment discontinuation (n=89; placebo) for 12 months. After the trial, patients received naturalistic treatment. Overall this cohort of patients will have received about 3 years of treatment before entering the follow-up phase of the study: about 2 years of maintenance treatment before study entry and 1 year of treatment in the trial. The primary outcome of this follow-up was the proportion of patients in each group (including those for whom direct follow-up was not available) with good or poor long-term clinical outcomes at 10 years, with poor outcome defined as a composite of persistent psychotic symptoms, a requirement for clozapine treatment, or death by suicide. The randomised trial was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00334035, and the follow-up study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01926340. Findings Poor 10 year clinical outcome occurred in 35 (39%) of 89 patients in the discontinuation group and 19 (21%) of 89 patients in the maintenance treatment group (risk ratio 1·84, 95% CI 1·15–2·96; p=0·012). Suicide was the only serious adverse event that occurred in the follow-up phase (four [4%] patients in the early discontinuation group vs two [2%] in the maintenance group). Interpretation In patients with first-episode psychosis with a full initial response to treatment, medication continuation for at least the first 3 years after starting treatment decreases the risk of relapse and poor long-term clinical outcome. Funding Food and Health Bureau, Research Grants Council of Hong Kong, and AstraZeneca.

This study presents an improved direct current potential drop (DCPD) method to quantify the full field ductile damage evolution for sheet metals subjected to large plastic deformation. Tensile tests were carried out to obtain full field deformation and overall electrical resistance through digital image correlation (DIC) and DCPD techniques, respectively. A new damage identification procedure based on the variation of electrical resistance is presented. Different aspects of the proposed procedure are particularly addressed. The results obtained by both the proposed approach and the micro-hardness method are compared.

Background Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) is ideal for assessing patients with repaired aortic coarctation (CoA). Little is known on the relation between long-term complications of CoA repair as assessed by CMR and clinical outcome. We examined the prevalence of restenosis and dilatation at the repair site and the long-term outcome in patients with repaired CoA. Methods and results CMR imaging and clinical data for adult CoA patients (247 patients aged 33.0±12.8years, 60% male), were analyzed. The diameter of the aorta at the repair site was measured on CMR and its ratio to the aortic diameter at the diaphragm (repair site-diaphragm ratio, RDR) was calculated. Restenosis (RDR≤70%) was present in 31% of patients (and significant in 9% [RDR 150%) in 13.0%. A discrete aneurysm at the repair site was observed in 9%. Restenosis was more likely after resection and end–end anastomosis, whereas dilatation after patch repair. Systemic hypertension was present in 69% of patients. Of the hypertensive patients, blood pressure (133±20/73±10mmHg) was well controlled in 93% with antihypertensive therapy. Mortality rate over a median length of 5.9years was low (0.69% per year, 95% CI: 0.33–1.26), but significantly higher than age-matched healthy controls (standardised mortality ratio 2.86, CI 1.43–5.72, p Conclusion Restenosis or dilatation at the CoA repair site as assessed by CMR is not uncommon. Medium term survival remains good, however, albeit lower than in the general population. Life-long follow-up and optimal blood pressure control are likely to secure a good longer term outlook in these patients.

A lighting condition has a significant influence on humans' concentration, performance, and eye comfort. A well-designed lighting environment is critical for work efficiency and human health. Lighting design is commonly based on designer's previous experience and computational lighting simulation results. Although simulations can provide relatively accurate calculation results, several difficulties exist in terms of measuring actual users' experience and reflecting their feedback into the design. In this traditional approach, users are unable to experience or feel realistic lighting effects until the installation phase. This lack of user experience in the design phase leads to increasing risk of redesign and revision, which are extremely time-consuming and reduce the efficiency of lighting design. Therefore, it is necessary to minimize the gap between the lighting design and users' satisfaction. This research aims to enhance visualization of lighting design and thus improve the design efficiency by developing a real-time interactive lighting design approach using building information modeling (BIM) and virtual reality (VR) technologies. By integrating these technologies, the proposed approach is able to support user interactions, actual activities simulation, and personalized lighting design. In addition, the proposed approach can provide users with immersive and sensory experiences to evaluate their lighting design alternatives. The whole process of the approach includes 3D modeling in Revit, texture mapping in 3ds Max, simulation analysis in DIALux, and interactions development and VR realization in Unity. A case study was conducted to implement and validate the proposed approach. In this case study, users were able to experience realistic lighting effects and provide their feedback for improving the design in a sensory way while lighting simulation was automatically conducted simultaneously. The approach enables better user experience and provides a practical way to apply BIM and VR technologies to improve the efficiency of real-time interactive lighting design.

We sought to improve understanding of the diastolic prolongation of forward flow seen through a unilateral branch pulmonary artery (PA) stenosis.Of patients studied by cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) for congenital heart disease, we reviewed right and left PA flow to find 10 cases with a diastolic prolongation of flow in a stenosed branch PA. They were aged 20 years (median, range = 14-40 years, 7 males). Seven had transposition of the great arteries corrected by arterial switch (TGA-AS) and 3 had repaired tetralogy of Fallot (rToF). All had at least moderate unilateral stenosis and competent pulmonary valves. For comparison, we identified 10 patients with unilateral stenosis and at least moderate pulmonary regurgitation, 9 rTOF and 1 TGA-AS, aged 23.5 years (range = 14-42 years, 6 males). Flow in each PA was measured, and in 10 healthy volunteers aged 27 years (range = 20-42 years, 5 males). The curves of flow through stenosed and non-stenosed arteries were averaged for each patient group and compared with those from controls. In competent pulmonary valve patients, the minimum diameters of the stenosed versus non-stenosed branches were as follows (median [range]): 4 [3-8] mm versus 13.5 [10-28] mm, p0.001, although their flows differed a little: 2.5 [1.5-6.8] L/min versus 3.2 [1.2-8.8] L/min, p=0.6. No diastolic tail was identifiable in the patients with unilateral PA stenosis and pulmonary regurgitation, where stenosed versus non-stenosed diameters were 7 [4-12] mm versus 20.5 [13-33] mm, p0.001, and flows differed: 1.3 [0.4-2.9] L/min versus 3.8 [3.0-5.0] L/min, p0.001. No controls showed stenosis or diastolic tail.Beyond a competent pulmonary valve, flow through a unilateral PA stenosis, although limited in systole, can continue into diastole, maintaining flow to the lung.

Ebstein's anomaly involves both the right ventricle (RV) and tricuspid valve.The functional RV and tricuspid orifice were traced from magnetic resonance images in 29 adult Ebstein patients and 9 normal subjects and reconstructed for visualization and measurement of regional RV size, function, and shape at 20 cross sections, and inlet and outflow tract ejection fractions (EFs).The RV in Ebstein's had RV dilation (end diastolic volume index 179 ± 69 vs. 84 ± 22 ml/m(2) in normals, p0.001) and global dysfunction (EF 45 ± 8 vs. 55 ± 5% in normals, p0.001). Longitudinal contraction was preserved (26 ± 13 vs. 26 ± 4 mm in normals) and correlated more weakly with EF than short axis fractional shortening (r=0.44 vs. r=0.71, p0.05 for both). The apical region in Ebstein's RV was enlarged, rounded and contributed more than normal to the global stroke volume. However this contribution correlated inversely with global EF. In contrast slices in the basal region had normal cross sectional area and their function correlated directly with global EF. Inlet EF was depressed (46 ± 8% vs. 55 ± 6 in normals, p=.002); outflow tract EF was even more depressed (39 ± 14, p=0.019).The three dimensional shape of the RV in adult Ebstein patients was demonstrated. The Ebstein's RV remodels in diverse regional patterns rather than following a shape continuum. Changes at the apex and base had opposing effects on function. Global EF was supported more by short axis than longitudinal contraction.

In operations research, the cutting-stock problem is an important issue in the manufacturing of textile, leather, paper, ship building, and sheet metal industries. This problem arranges the specific profiles on the material with minimum material wasted. It can increase the utility rate and reduce the cost of the stock. For example in the leather industry, the stock has irregular profiles, and the base material may also be irregular when using the remainders of the last cut. In this paper, the problem is formulated as a constrained optimization problem and solved by the Sequential Quadratic Programming (SQP) method. A global optimization algorithm is also proposed to avoid the local minimum point, which is helpful for the multi-stock problem.

Retromuscular ventral hernia repair with mesh is a durable technique. In this paper, we describe a novel technique which allows for significant mesh overlap via the retromuscular space in cases of massive ventral hernia.The retromuscular space is developed laterally, to the edge of the rectus sheath. The posterior rectus sheath is incised, dividing the posterior aponeurosis of the internal oblique. The dissection is carried out laterally between the internal oblique and the transversus abdominis muscle, creating space for a large mesh underlay.We have performed this technique successfully in 20 patients with a mean defect area of 223 cm(2) and a mean mesh area of 698 cm(2). Three patients developed wound complications and none complained of long-term pain or abdominal wall deformity. There has been one recurrence due to technical error after a mean 12-month follow-up.This technique of dissection between the internal oblique and transversus abdominis muscles allows for the closure of large hernia defects. The mechanism is two-fold: (1) mobility for closure of the posterior rectus sheath, dorsal to the prosthetic; and (2) increased mobility of the rectus, internal, and external obliques, allowing reconstruction of the linea alba.

Higher education makes high demands on a teacher, his knowledge, pedagogical skills and personal features to ensure that he meets the demands of students and the requirements of employers. Teachers are under constant pressure to innovate, to update their knowledge in their field, and to improve students’ test scores. Teacher frustration and emotional burnout may be caused by too high a workload, a lack of appreciation for their efforts, and ineffective management. The authors studied the phenomenon and causes of emotional burnout. They researched the burnout syndrome among university teachers with over 20 years of teaching experience, by using a short questionnaire. And they provide recommendations for further studies.

Background Exercise capacity relates to right ventricular (RV) volume overload in congenital heart disease and may improve after surgery. We herewith investigate the relation between exercise capacity, cardiac index, and RV volume overload due to tricuspid regurgitation (TR) in Ebstein's malformation and pulmonary regurgitation (PR) after repair of tetralogy of Fallot (rToF). Methods We measured cardiac index and tricuspid/pulmonary regurgitant fraction by cardiovascular magnetic resonance in patients with Ebstein's malformation (n=40) or rTOF (n=53) with at least moderate TR/PR and 24 healthy controls. Exercise tolerance was determined by peak oxygen consumption (peak VO 2 ) during cardiopulmonary exercise testing. Results TR and PR fraction were similar in Ebstein and rTOF patients (43±17% versus 39±12%, respectively). Cardiac index was reduced in Ebstein (2.7±0.6L/min/m 2 compared to controls 3.5±0.9L/min/m 2 , p 2 ). Multiple regression analysis revealed a significant correlation between peak VO 2 and cardiac index in Ebstein. Furthermore, peak VO 2 correlated with peak heart rate in both groups but not with regurgitation fraction. Conclusions Despite comparable amounts of regurgitation from a right sided heart valve in patients with Ebstein and rToF, reduction of cardiac index was observed only in the former group. Greater physiologic complexity and adverse ventricular interaction with chronotropic incompetence in Ebstein's malformation may account for this.

A simple current-blocking process was presented and proved to increase the luminous intensity of AlGaInP light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Deeper blocking depth would dramatically raise the luminous intensity of devices. If the chip size was small, however, deeper blocking depth would increase the junction temperature under a higher operation current. On the whole, with a current-blocking layer embedded in the current-spreading layer, the luminous intensity increased to 1.19 and 1.13 times at 20 mA for 9 mil (280 × 280 μm 2 ) and 16 mil (406 × 406 μm 2 ) devices respectively, compared with that of the conventional structures. In terms of energy-saving, LEDs with the current-blocking layer can save roughly 42% of energy consumption compared with that having a conventional structure.

Hydrogen lateral diffusion by annealing at low temperature was proposed to eliminate the burn-in effect in carbon-doped InGaP/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs). After a thermal annealing at 480 °C for 30 min, the current gain variations caused by the electrical stress decreased from 42.7% to 2.6% as the emitter width was reduced from 100 to 5 μm. After the annealing process, the sheet resistance was decreased from 194.4 to 162.7 ohm/sq. as the van der Pauw line widths was reduced from 65 to 5 μm. Effective doping concentration in base layer was increased by removal of incorporated hydrogen atoms. Degradation of device characteristics was not obvious after annealing by comparing the ratio difference of current gain to base sheet resistance.

In this study, a contactless power supply for the ultrasonic motor on the spindle is proposed. The proposed power supply is composed of a series-parallel resonant circuit and a cylindrical contactless transformer. Based on the study and rotation experiments, it can be seen that the proposed power supply can both provide a stable ac power with 25 kHz / 70 V to the ultrasonic motor. When the output power is 250 W, the efficiency of the proposed supply is 89.8 % in respectively rotation tests. When the output power is more than 150 W, the efficiency of the proposed supply is higher than 80 % within the rated output power range.

The Guang Dong lightning location system (GDLLS) was put into operation in 1997. Its performance, including detection efficiency and location accuracy, was evaluated with the data of the recorded lightning faults on 110, 220 and 500 kV transmission lines in 1997-1999. Lightning parameters, such as thunderstorm days, ground-flash density and peak lightning current were estimated with the lightning data collected by GDLLS. It is found that the detection efficiency is as high as 86%, and the median lightning accuracy is about 1.3 km. The correlation between the number of detected lightning flashes and recorded transmission line faults is weak, but can be improved if more appropriate analysis methods or data are employed.

Individuals with first-episode psychosis (FEP) have markedly elevated risk for suicide. Previous research investigating risk factors of suicidal behavior in FEP mainly focused on western populations. This study aimed to examine the prevalence, and pretreatment and early illness predictors of suicidal behavior in Chinese FEP patients.Seven hundred participants aged 15-25 years consecutively enrolled in a territory-wide treatment program for FEP in Hong Kong from July 2001 to August 2003 were studied. Baseline and 3-year follow-up variables were collected via systematic medical file review. Suicidal behavior evaluated in this study comprised suicide attempt and completed suicide.Seventy-four (10.6%) participants attempted suicide before treatment. Ten percent (n = 70) exhibited suicidal behavior and 1% (n = 7) committed suicide during 3-year follow-up. The majority of post-treatment suicidal behaviors (51.4%) occurred in the first year of follow-up. Jumping from a height was the most common method of committing suicide. Multivariate regression analysis indicated that previous suicide attempt, history of substance abuse and poorer baseline functioning were significantly associated with an increased risk for suicidal behavior after treatment initiation.In a large representative cohort of Chinese young FEP patients, the rates of suicidal behavior before and after treatment and risk factors for post-treatment suicidal behavior were comparable to the findings of previous research on early psychosis conducted in western populations. Close monitoring of high-risk patients with history of attempted suicide or substance abuse, and enhancement of psychosocial functioning may help reduce suicide risk in the early stage of psychotic illness.

Amorphous silicon nitride (a-SiNx) thin films have been synthesized by nitrogen plasma immersion ion implantation (PIII) into a-Si:H and crystalline silicon. The electrical properties of the a-SiNx thin films were assessed using current-voltage (I–V) measurements on thin film diode structures incorporating these synthesized layers. The I–V characteristics showed that the electrical properties of the diodes were dominated by damage defects at low doses but as the time in the plasma immersion kit increased, alloying effects and the formation of silicon nitride began to take over. After long immersion times the composition of the a-SiNx saturated at about x = 0.6. Following annealing-out with hydrogen passivation, thin film diode characteristics could be obtained that were similar to those measured on high quality PECVD films with a similar composition.

InAs/GaSb superlattices sandwiched between conventional InAs layers were grown by low pressure metal organic chemical vapor deposition. Period and roughness of the superlattices were examined by field emission transmission electron microscopy. Room temperature infrared absorption spectra for InAs/GaSb superlattices were obtained by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The effects of varying the doping levels and thicknesses of the InAs sandwiching layers on the absorption spectra of InAs/GaSb superlattices were studied. It was found that by choice of suitable doping levels and cap/buffer thicknesses, the resulting fermi level equalization (as in normal homo or heterojunctions) thereby allowed the setting or “pinning” of the superlattice Fermi level to any desired value within the range made available by the original bulk material characteristics in conjunction with the doping conditions. When the thicknesses of the InAs sandwiching layers became less than 1 μm, the sandwiching effect and the intersubb...

The Plasma Immersion Ion Implantation (PIII) technique has several unique advantages over traditional ion implantation. However, it is still far from use in routine production because of problems such as the ability to control the ion energy distribution, the ion depth profile, the ion dose and contamination. The computer simulation of the PIII process can help us understand the mechanism and predict or control the process. In this paper, the plasma device simulation software XPDP1 was used to simulate the ion motion in a plasma and the TRIM code was used to calculate the ion transport into the solid target. The effects of neutral gas pressure, ion density and bias voltage on the PIII processing are demonstrated.

El estres en ratas prenadas altera el patron de secrecion de corticosterona (COR) materna la cual, por via transplacentaria, produce una alteracion del eje Hipotalamo-Hipofiso-Adrenal (HHA) fetal. El estres prenatal producido durante la etapa critica de diferenciacion hipotalamica, esta relacionado con la disminucion de la fertilidad en las crias macho, por un aumento en el nivel de COR basal. Esta modificacion podria inducir cambios a largo plazo en el proceso de apoptosis testicular. Sin embargo, la estimulacion postnatal temprana mejora el comportamiento materno, revirtiendo las alteraciones producidas por el aumento de COR en las crias adultas. El objetivo fue investigar el efecto de la estimulacion postnatal temprana sobre el eje Hipotalamo-Hipofiso-Gonadal (HHG) en ratas macho estresadas prenatalmente (EP), por inmovilizacion cronica durante las dos ultimas semanas de la prenez. Se utilizaron crias de 3 meses de edad, que fueron divididas en 4 grupos: (a) individuos EP y sin estimulacion postnatal; (b) individuos EP con estimulacion postnatal; (c) individuos controles no estresados prenatalmente (CP) y sin estimulacion postnatal; y (d) individuos CP con estimulacion postnatal. En todos los grupos se midio COR, Testosterona (T) y Hormona Luteinizante (LH). Se determinaron la apoptosis y la Caspasa 3 testicular y el indice gonadosomatico. Se concluye que el estres prenatal por inmovilizacion aumenta los niveles de COR del eje HHA e inhibe el eje HHG obteniendo valores bajos de LH y T plasmaticas. Se observa disminucion del tamano testicular y aumento de la apoptosis de las celulas testiculares. Por otro lado, la estimulacion postnatal temprana se traduce en un aumento del cuidado materno hacia la cria, lo que revierte los efectos producidos por el estres prenatal sobre el eje HHG. Este efecto podria estar mediado por algun mecanismo independiente del eje HHA.

ZnO thin film has been widely applied in high-frequency acoustic microscopy using single element transducer. It needs mechanical scanning which is much more time-consuming than electronic scanning with transducer array. However, one of the challenges in the implementation of ZnO transducer array is the patterning of small scale features in the array elements. In this paper, a controllable wet-chemical etching method is investigated to fabricate high-frequency ZnO-based ultrasonic transducer arrays. The wet-chemical etchant is NH4Cl aqueous solution with a concentration of 10 wt% and the etching rate is 53 nm/min at room temperature. A ZnO array is achieved with a small ratio (0.25) of lateral etching to vertical etching. Finite element method is employed to calculate acoustic field, electrical impedance and crosstalk of the transducer. The characteristics of the transducer are measured and compared to the theoretical predictions. This etching method provides a possibility to acquire a pitch of a λ in a 300 MHz array. It indicates that the proposed wet etching is promising in the fabrication of high-frequency ZnO transducer arrays.

High-frequency ultrasonic array transducers are essential for high resolution imaging in clinical analysis and Non Destructive Evaluation (NDE). However, the fabrication of piezoelectric array transducers is a great challenge due to the small features in elaborating piezoelectric array films. This paper describes a MEMS based self-aligned mask-free process for fabrication of ZnO linear array transducers of more than 100MHz. A four-step-rotation deposition approach is proposed and investigated, that improves the lateral growth in ZnO array deposition. The ratio of vertical to lateral growth is improved by 40% compared to one-step deposition method. The results prove that the reduction of the lateral growth helps to achieve full-kerfed ZnO array with smaller pitch.

The arterial switch operation (ASO) is currently the treatment of choice in neonates with transposition of the great arteries (TGA). The outcome in childhood is encouraging but only limited data for long-term outcome into adulthood exist.We studied 145 adult patients (age16, median 25 years) with ASO followed at our institution. Three patients died in adulthood (mortality 2.4/1000-patient-years). Most patients were asymptomatic and had normal left ventricular function. Coronary lesions requiring interventions were rare (3 patients) and in most patients related to previous surgery. There were no acute coronary syndromes. Aortic root dilatation was frequent (56% patients) but rarely significant (45 mm in 3 patients, maximal-diameter 49 mm) and appeared not to be progressive. There were no acute aortic events and no patient required elective aortic root surgery. Progressive neo-aortic-valve dysfunction was not observed in our cohort and only 1 patient required neo-aortic-valve replacement. Many patients (42.1%), however, had significant residual lesions or required reintervention in adulthood. Right ventricular outflow tract lesions or dysfunction of the neo-pulmonary-valve were frequent and 8 patients (6%) required neo-pulmonary-valve replacement. Cardiac interventions during childhood (OR 3.0, 95% CI 1.7-5.4, P0.0001) were strong predictors of outcome (cardiac intervention/significant residual lesion/death) in adulthood.Adult patients with previous ASO remain free of acute coronary or aortic complications and have low mortality. However, a large proportion of patients require re-interventions or present with significant right sided lesions. Life-long cardiac follow-up is, therefore, warranted. Periodic noninvasive surveillance for coronary complications appears to be safe in adult ASO patients.

Summary Diastolic prolongation of forward flow, or diastolic tail is present in unilateral branch pulmonary artery stenosis in patients after the arterial switch operation for transposition of the great arteries and after repair for tetralogy of Fallot. Interestingly, as a result of a diastolic tail, flow through the stenosed artery is comparable to that in the non-stenosed artery and therefore the impact of stenosis may be relieved. Background Diastolic prolongation of forward flow, or diastolic tail, is known as an indicator of the hemodynamic impact of aortic coarctation or recoarctation. We have observed similarly tailed flow curves in unilaterally stenosed branch pulmonary arteries (PA) of patients with transposition of the great arteries corrected by arterial switch (TGA-AS) and after repair of tetralogy of Fallot (rToF). We are not aware that this has been described before. We aimed to improve understanding of the nature and possible clinical implications of this pathophysiological finding. Methods Our clinical cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) reports on TGA-AS and rTOF patients of the last five years (200 and 350, respectively) were searched for the above finding. It had been noticed from the appearances of cine images and through-plane velocity acquisitions aligned with or transecting, respectively, the right and left PAs. Diastolic tail was confirmed by clear discrepancy between the curves of stenosed and non-stenosed PA flow (Figure 1A). CMRtools was used to measure the volume of flow through each branch PA. The branch PA flow curves of 10 healthy volunteers aged 28 ±5 years, 6 male, were studied for comparison. Results

A novel multilayer flexible metamaterial that can work at near infrared (NIR) regime that can be fabricated on transparent PET substrate using flip chip transfer (FCT) technique. An embodiment of the present invention also provides novel NIR metamaterial device that can be transformed into various shapes by bending the PET substrate, wherein said metamaterial device is tunable via physical manipulation of its flexible substrate with no requirement to change the material composition of the substrate. The flexibility allows the novel NIR metamaterial device to bend and stretch, which can alter the device structure. Since the resonant frequency of each device is a function of the device structure, the resonant frequency can be tuned by the bend and stretch of the substrate. Another embodiment of the present invention further provides novel tunable sensors and emitters using such flexible metamaterials and devices.

EOT scale down is a critical issue in LaO/AlO capped Hf-based devices, because it will result in serious V FB roll-off. The incorporation of capping layer induces more traps in the gate stack. These traps are oxygen vacancy related defects and are sensitive to reliability stress. By using the oxygen vacancies detection method, we demonstrate that these oxygen vacancy defects are near to IL (SiO 2 ). In addition, the interface states are found strongly dependent on the V FB roll-off, especially for IL scaled device.

We previously found reduction of cardiac index (CI) in patients with tricuspid regurgitation (TR) due to Ebstein anomaly, but not in patients with comparable right ventricular (RV) volume loading due to pulmonary regurgitation (PR) in patients with repaired tetralogy of Fallot (rTOF). We postulated that the difference may be attributable to impaired left ventricular (LV) filling caused by leftward bulging of the atrialized portion of the RV in Ebstein patients.

Methods CMR scans of patients with Noonan’s syndrome referred for imaging were analyzed. All patients were imaged on a 1.5T MRI. RV volumes were generated from SSFP cines and normalized to gender, body surface area and age. Phase contrast velocity mapping was used to assess pulmonary and aortic flow. The prevalence of concomitant cardiovascular abnormalities was also assessed. Results Thirty two consecutive patients (age 29 (20 - 50), (median (IQR); male 69%) were studied. Prior intervention for MPA or PV stenosis was performed in 15 (47%) patients and data was compared to 17 (53%) Noonan’ sp atients without MPA or PV intervention. Pulmonary regurgitation was more prevalent (73% vs. 33%, c 2 = 8.4; p = 0.037) and severe (regurgitant fraction 26.4±5% (mean ± SEM) vs. 6.5 ± 3%; p

This journal suppl. entitled: Abstracts of the 4th Biennial Schizophrenia International Research Conference

We have grown unstrained Al0.66In0.34As0.85Sb0.15/Ga0.64In0.36As0.84Sb0.16 multiple-quantum-well (MQW) structures on InP substrates by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy. Low-temperature photoluminescence was performed for these MQW structures. By comparing the luminescence peak energies with the theoretical calculations, we estimated the conduction-band offset ratio to be 0.75±0.10 for the Al0.66In0.34As0.85Sb0.15/Ga0.64In0.36As0.84Sb0.16 heterostructure.

5-1 Advantages and Disadvantages of Robotics for Rehabilitation of Stroke Patients One may find that robotics provides an integral solution to the treatments and objective assessments of some neurological diseases such as stroke. The robots can perform repeated treatment protocols without the need of continuous involvement of therapists. A robot can save therapists' arduous efforts by helping with heavy, challenging and repetitious movements. Physical strain and professional injury in therapists can be minimized. It is cost-effective to strengthen some basic elements, such as muscle strength, range of motion, and sensorimotor coordination, in preparation for higher skill-level movement patterns on a mass-practice basis. Robotic therapy techniques can mimic appropriate functional kinematics or apply novel patterns of force with precision, such as isokinetic contraction, that are potentially effective for muscle strengthening. More advanced robots can even provide tactile feedback that kinetically and kinematically corrects the impaired movements. Data collected during the robot training sessions can be quantified with ease to complement the subjective and qualitative observation of clinicians.

Objectives To establish normative data for the width of the fetal cavum septi pellucidi at various gestational ages. Subjects and methods A total of 608 consecutive fetuses between 19 and 42 gestational weeks were included in this prospective study. The largest width of the cavum septi pellucidi was measured by two-dimensional ultrasound. Piecewise regression analysis was used to study the relationships between the width of the fetal cavum septi pellucidi, gestational age and biparietal diameter. Results The fetal cavum septi pellucidi width increased gradually between 19 and 27 weeks of gestation and then plateaued between 28 weeks and term. Regression analysis revealed significant associations between cavum septi pellucidi width and gestational age, and cavum septi pellucidi width and biparietal diameter. Conclusions The present study provides normative data for fetal cavum septi pellucidi width and useful information about the development of the midline brain structure in the fetus. Copyright © 1998 International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology

Turbulent blood flow caused by arterial stenosis can induce platelet activation and aggregation, which subsequently participate in arterial thromboembolic events.To test the hypothesis that platelet activation (expressed by CD62p) is enhanced in cerebral vs systemic circulation in patients with severe internal carotid artery (ICA) stenosis.Platelet CD62p expression was prospectively measured using flow cytometry in 35 consecutive symptomatic patients with severe ICA stenosis and in 20 at-risk control subjects who underwent both coronary and cerebral angiographic studies due to angina pectoris and suspicious vertebral artery or intracranial artery stenosis. The CD62p expression was also evaluated in 20 healthy subjects. Blood samples were first drawn from the right internal jugular vein (cerebral circulation) and right femoral vein (systemic circulation) before extra- and intracerebral angiographic examination of both patients and at-risk control subjects and again at 40 minutes after ICA stenting. Clopidogrel was administered to the patients following the second blood sampling.Systemic CD62p expression was higher in patients than in both the healthy and at-risk control subjects (both p0.0001). Additionally, cerebral CD62p expression was higher in patients than in at-risk control subjects (p0.0001) prior to intervention. Moreover, CD62p expression was higher in cerebral circulation than in systemic circulation in the patients (p0.0001) before ICA stenting. However, CD62p expression was less enhanced in cerebral circulation than in systemic circulation after ICA stenting (p0.0001). Furthermore, CD62p expression was decreased after 3 months of follow-up (p0.0001).Compared to systemic CD62p expression, cerebral CD62p expression was more enhanced prior to ICA stenting and was less enhanced after ICA stenting in patients with severe ICA stenosis.

An interesting two-mode photodetector was constructed using an In/sub 0.19/Ga/sub 0.81/Sb/GaSb strained-layer superlattice (SLS). Such a structure is, at the same time, of type I for heavy hole and type II for light hole. The mini-subbands of this In/sub 0.19/Ga/sub 0.81/Sb/GaSb SLS are calculated using the modified Kronig-Penney model, as a function of well width at 300 K. A ten-period In/sub 0.19/Ga/sub 0.81/Sb/GaSb SLS structure can be applied as a two-mode photodetector with near-zero and reverse bias. This phenomenon can be proved by the spectral response of the structure grown by low-pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The wavelengths of dominant absorption peaks are 1.92 and 1.77 mu m at near-zero and reverse bias, respectively. The experimental data are in good agreement with the theoretical deductions. >

SUMMARY A case is reported in which an unexpected occlusal result arose following bimaxillary osteotomy for correction of a skeletal Class III discrepancy. In order to correct the occlusion, the mandible was protracted independently of the recently plated maxilla, by means of a fronto-sternal traction device.

Summary Complications of restenosis or dilatation at the site of repair may occur late after initial repair of coarctation of the aorta (CoA). Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) is becoming the choice of imaging of patients after CoA. Using CMR, we studied the relation between these complications and outcome inn patients with previous CoA repair, and found that significant stenosis or dilatation at the repair site is a predictor of adverse outcome. Background Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) is becoming the method of choice for assessing repaired CoA patients, especially for identifying important long-term sequelae of restenosis or dilatation at the repair site. We examined the prevalence of restenosis and dilatation at the site of aortic coarctation (CoA) repair and their relation to long-term outcome in patients with repaired CoA.

A 49-year-old man with Ebstein's malformation presented with a 2-year history of increasing dyspnoea. Transthoracic echocardiography showed severe tricuspid regurgitation, no tricuspid stenosis, and, in retrospect, evidence of a mass adjacent to the dysplastic tricuspid valve ( Panels A and B , arrowed). Imaging by cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) confirmed Ebstein's malformation and showed …

We present a systematic theoretical study of the Cerenkov acoustic-phonon emission from a polar semiconductor such as GaAs driven by dc electric field. The drift electron velocity and electron-temperature in the system are determined by solving self-consistently the momentum- and energy-balance equations derived from the Boltzmann equation. The intensity of the phonon emission via piezoelectric and deformation-potential coupling is evaluated on the basis of the energy-balance equation. We find that the electron velocity exceeds the sound velocity in GaAs even when electrons are still in the linear response regime. This implies that the Cerenkov phonon emission can be easily observed in GaAs-based electron gas systems. We also examine the frequency and angular dependence of the acoustic-phonon emission on the applied electric field and find that our results are in line with those observed experimentally. This study is pertinent to electrical generation of acoustic-phonon sources from polar semiconductor sy...

Results are presented from a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) study into the complex flow of an excited electrorheological fluid (ERF) between a driven rotating and a parallel stationary radial shear plate's form of clutch. The real fluid is modelled using a technique which can be employed for any fluid/field characterisation. It is shown that the induced `cooling' through flow rate can not be maintained when a substantial field is switched on and the clutches remain slipping.

The growth reaction mechanism was experimentally investigated for TEGa and TMSb used for MOCVD GaSb epitaxial growth. The variations of growth rate, substrate temperature, the V/III ratio and the mole-fraction of III and V source gases, were detailly considered and investigated with regard to their effect on electrical and optical properties were measured during the epitaxial process. The experimental results were used to provide an inspection on defects interaction mechanisms and on the type of conductivity. Based on the investigation of growth mechanism, at 470°, a high quality GaSb epitaxial film 1 with 3 mobility, 634 cm2/V*sec and low hole concentration, 1.67x1016 cm−2 was obtained.