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Pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) is a rare skin disorder of unknown etiology that is believed to be part of the spectrum of neutrophilic dermatoses. Although 25% to 50% of cases are idiopathic, PG is associated with systemic disease in up to 70% of patients, most notably inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and paraproteinemia. Although a multitude of PG cases after breast reduction have been reported, only recently has an association of PG with breast reconstruction been acknowledged. In the present article, the case of postsurgical PG (PSPG) after autologous breast reconstruction is presented along with a review of the literature. The importance of early diagnosis and initiation of appropriate treatment is discussed. The authors discuss the possibility that the increased number of breast reconstructions being performed may increase the incidence of PSPG cases seen by plastic surgeons. As such, it is critical to remove PSPG from the list of "exotic" diseases and place it higher on the list of differential diagnoses as delays in treatment can result in debilitating complications with substantial patient morbidity.

Smart-looking clothes have been designed for wheelchair users. These clothes make dressing faster and easier, and the clothes fit better than the standard garments. The special features for new adaptive clothing for wheelchair users include easy handling fastenings, quick-access garment openings, conveniently placed pockets, custom-curved trousers, slacks, and jackets, custom-shaped dresses and skirts, ponchos or custom-made coats, easy-fit undergarments, and durable styled fabrics. These clothing adaptations are attractive and give the wearer and the observer the feeling that the person with the disability is not set apart by the clothing he or she wears.

The growth of optical radiation, scattered transverse to the pump axis by stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) in optical windows, is considered. Basic equations are presented, and an analytic expression that determines the parasitic buildup time is derived for a transverse SBS geometry. Losses suffered by the scattered optical radiation are included in a bulk-loss term. Calculations are performed for fused-silica windows and compared with a numerical model. This parasitic process may affect the design of laser systems that will generate multinanosecond, multikilojoule, narrow-band pulses in the ultraviolet region.

Two different types of KrF lasers currently being analyzed as potential laser-fusion drivers: large electron-beam (e-beam)- pumped amplifiers using pure optical multiplexing for pulse compression and small e-beam sustained discharge lasers using a hybrid pulse compression technique. Both types of KrF lasers appear able to satisfy all of the requirements for commercial-applications ICF drivers, including cost, efficiency, pulse shaping, energy scaling, repetition rate, reliability, and target coupling. The KrF driver can effectively operate at efficiencies > 10% and can contribute < 10 mill/kWh to the cost of electric power production, with the total estimated cost of electricity from either KrF laser system being comparable (25 to 50 mill/kWh, 1985 dollars) with the cost from other methods of electric power production. The Aurora facility is described.