We report a new analysis protocol for HCN hyperfine data, based on the PySpecKit package, and results of using this new protocol to analyse a sample area of seven massive molecular clumps from the Census of High- and Medium-mass Protostars (CHaMP) survey, in order to derive maps of column density for this species. There is a strong correlation between the HCN integrated intensity, IHCN, and previously reported |$I_{\rm HCO^{+}}$| in the clumps, but |$I_{\rm N_{2}H^{+}}$| is not well correlated with either of these other two 'dense gas tracers'. The four fitted parameters from PySpecKit in this region fall in the range of VLSR = 8–10 km s−1, σV = 1.2–2.2 km s−1, Tex = 4–15 K, and τ = 0.2–2.5. These parameters allow us to derive a column density map of these clouds, without limiting assumptions about the excitation or opacity. A more traditional (linear) method of converting IHCN to total mass column gives much lower clump masses than our results based on the hyperfine analysis. This is primarily due to areas in the sample region of low I, low Tex, and high τ. We conclude that there may be more dense gas in these massive clumps not engaged in massive star formation than previously recognized. If this result holds for other clouds in the CHaMP sample, it would have dramatic consequences for the calibration of the Kennicutt–Schmidt star formation laws, including a large increase in the gas depletion time-scale in such regions.
Stainless steel structural sections possess several features that result in a significantly different response to that of equivalent carbon steel sections. To date these features have not been fully recognized in design codes, which have largely adapted rules devised for carbon steel in a rather simplistic fashion. Recently, a new approach for dealing with local buckling and the associated loss of effectiveness that does not utilize the concepts of either cross-sectional classification or effective cross-sectional properties has been developed for stainless steel and has also been applied to other nonlinear metallic materials. The method is based directly on the deformation capacities of cross sections and covers the behavior of stainless steel members subjected to flexural buckling and combined axial load plus bending. The proposed method has been verified using test results and its performance has been compared against the existing ASCE and Eurocode design guidance for structural stainless steel. Significantly improved and more consistent predictions have been obtained using the proposed method without any extra calculation effort.
Coronary angioplasty was performed in 53 patients in whom unstable angina had reoccurred after 48 hr and within 30 days after sustained myocardial infarction. Single-vessel disease was present in 64% of the patients and multivessel disease in 36%. The preceding myocardial infarction had been small to moderate in size in the majority of the patients. The left ventricular ejection fraction was more than 50% in 80% of the patients. Forty-five patients were refractory to pharmacologic treatment; eight were initially stabilized but once again became symptomatic with light exertion. Angioplasty was performed in 35 patients 2 to 14 days and in 18 patients 15 to 30 days after infarction (average 12 +/- 7 days after infarction). The initial success rate was 89% (47/53). The success rate of the patients treated at 2 to 14 days was lower (29/35, 83%) than that of patients treated at 14 to 30 days (18/18, 100%) but did not reach statistical significance (p less than .06). There were no deaths related to the procedure. In four of the six failures, emergency bypass surgery was performed and two patients sustained a myocardial infarction. Furthermore, a myocardial infarction complicated the angioplasty procedure in two other patients; thus the overall procedure-related myocardial infarction rate was 8% (4/53). At 6 months follow-up 26% (14/53) of all the patients who underwent angioplasty had recurrence of angina, which was successfully treated with repeat angioplasty, bypass surgery, or medical therapy. There were no late deaths. Late myocardial infarction occurred in two patients. Thus the total myocardial infarction rate after angioplasty at 6 months was 11% (6/53 patients).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Sputum induction has been proposed as a noninvasive method of sampling airway cells for assessing airway inflammation in asthma. Although useful in the research setting, the applicability of this technique to a respiratory clinic, where it might prove useful for clinical management of anti-inflammatory therapy, has not been assessed. We therefore studied the effect of sputum induction in terms of patient acceptability, effect upon airway caliber, and reproducibility of the total cell and differential cell count at 2 weeks in 20 asthmatic subjects first attending an asthma clinic. We compared such patients with normal controls. Thirty-seven subjects underwent sputum induction on two occasions (20 asthmatics and 17 normal subjects) separated by a 2-week interval, using a standardized protocol. Acceptability was assessed by questionnaire. Airway caliber was measured by serial spirometry, using albuterol premedication for asthmatic subjects. Sputum was induced by inhalation of 3.5% saline over 12 min. Total cell and differential counts on induced sputum were assessed and correlated with bronchial hyperresponsiveness, as well as reproducibility of the technique in the clinical setting. All subjects found the process acceptable, although mild side effects occurred in more than 90% of subjects. No differences in acceptability were found between asthmatic and normal subjects. Sputum induction was associated with a significant decrease in forced expiratory volume in 1 sec (FEV1) in normal subjects (from 4.1 +/- 0.17 to 4.02 +/- 0.19 L [p < 0.01] on visit 1 and on visit 2 from 4.01 +/- 0.15 to 3.90 +/- 0.16 L [p < 0.01]), but not in asthmatic subjects after albuterol premedication. Total pulmonary cell yield on the first and second sputum induction days was 1.97 +/- 0.06 x 10(6) cells/mL of sputum and 2.01 +/- 0.05 x 10(6) cells/mL of sputum, respectively, giving a reliability coefficient of 0.77. Less agreement was seen between individual cell differential counts within subjects, but most fell within the expected range on Bland-Altman plots. Sputum induction appears to be safe and acceptable in both normal and asthmatic subjects. A small decrease in FEV1 occurs in normal subjects, which is prevented by albuterol premedication in asthmatics. Reproducibility at 2 weeks yielded similar total numbers of pulmonary cells, but in a clinic population some variability was seen in the number of inflammatory cells, probably because of the small numbers of these cells. This technique may be less valuable in a clinical than a research setting.
