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The special wind compensation system recently adopted by Federation Internationale de Ski (FIS; International Ski Federation) to consider the effects of changing wind conditions has caused some controversy. Here, the effect of wind on jumping distance in ski jumping was studied by means of computer simulation and compared with the wind compensation factors used by FIS during the World Cup season 2009/2010. The results showed clearly that the effect of increasing head/tail wind on jumping distance is not linear: +17.4 m/ − 29.1 m, respectively, for a wind speed of 3 m/s. The linear formula used in the trial period of the wind compensation system was found to be appropriate only for a limited range of jumping distances as the gradient of the landing slope slows down the rate of distance change in long jumps.

Aim Currently, the widely adopted renal dynamic imaging in clinical practice uses Gates' method to calculate the glomerular filtration rate (GFR), but many researchers have proven that Gates' method may result in bias. Thus, this article explores alternative improved formulae to calculate GFR by renal dynamic imaging. Methods Three hundred and sixty-seven patients were selected and their GFR values were measured using renal dynamic imaging and the two-plasma method with 99mTc-diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (99mTc-DTPA) as the imaging agent. With the two-plasma GFR as reference value, two equations were obtained from linear and non-linear regression analyses between the renal uptake percentage and two-plasma GFR. The 367 patients were divided into two random groups, with the first group used to derive the regression formulae and the second to verify the formulae. Finally, all patients were studied to derive the formulae to calculate GFR. The comparison of our formulae with the commonly used Gates' formula was conducted by the Bland-Altman method. Results The linear and non-linear GFR formulae were as follows: GFR (ml/min/1.73 m2)=(631.633 x renal uptake percentage - 2.040) x 1.73/BSA (BSA, body surface area) and GFR (ml/min/1.73 m2)=(-1996.585 x renal uptake percentage2 + 1013.526 x renal uptake percentage - 12.739) x 1.73/BSA, respectively. The biases of the GFR values calculated using the linear and non-linear formulae and Gates' formula relative to the two-plasma GFR were -2.5 +/- 19.1 ml/min/1.73 m2, -2.0 +/- 19.3 ml/min/1.73 m2 and 3.4 +/- 19.4 ml/min/1.73 m2, respectively. Conclusions The GFR values calculated using our new formulae correlate better with the reference GFR value than does GFR calculated by Gates' formula, and the GFR values measured using the non-linear formula are more accurate than those obtained using the linear formula.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect that coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and aneurysmectomy in the same session have on QT dispersion (QTd) in moderate or severe left ventricular dysfunction.Forty-four patients underwent QT interval analyses before and 1 month after aneurysmectomy and CABG. QT interval and QTd were corrected for heart rate using the square root formula of Bazett (QTCB), the cubic root formula of Fridericia (QTCF), and the linear formula of Sagie et al (QT CS ).The mean pre- and postsurgery QTd results were 65.29 +/- 29.25 and 51.76 +/- 18.49 milliseconds, respectively; the corresponding findings for QT CF were 68.06 +/- 31.26 and 55.16 +/- 24.56 milliseconds; and the corresponding findings for QT CS were 66.53 +/- 32.22 and 51.10 +/- 18.29 milliseconds. With these 3 methods, the postoperative findings were significantly lower than the preoperative findings ( P.05 for all). In contrast, the opposite was true with the QT CB method (preoperative 71.1 +/- 65.80 vs postoperative 76.43 +/- 7.96 milliseconds, P.05).The study showed that based on the methods of Fridericia (QT CF ) and Sagie et al (QT CS ), QT intervals are significantly decreased after CABG and aneurysmectomy.

To date, no information is available comparing the prognostic significance of the QT interval corrected by Bazett’s equation with that corrected by linear formulas in patients after myocardial infarction. Because several reports1,2 demonstrated that heart rate measured on a standard electrocardiogram is a strong predictor of adverse outcome in patients after myocardial infarction, it is very probable that linear adjustment of the QT interval decreases the prognostic power of corrected QT interval. The present study compares the value of linearly and nonlinearly corrected QT intervals for identifying high-risk patients, and tests the hypothesis that more accurate adjustment of the QT interval for heart rate paradoxically decreases the prognostic significance of the corrected QT interval in patients with remote myocardial infarc

Dialyzer clearance K is usually presented as K = K0 + Tr Qu, were Qu is ultrafiltration rate, K0 is clearance for Qu = 0, and Tr is transmittance coefficient. Although a simple and accurate mathematical description of K0 is widely used, only a somewhat inaccurate formula for Tr that predicts a linear relationship between Tr and K0 has been proposed before. In this study the detailed investigation of Tr using a one-dimensional theory of a dialyzer is presented. In general, the application of a one-dimensional theory requires sophisticated numerical methods, but for small and middle molecular weight solutes an analytical formula for K can be derived. Tr predicted by the developed theory in comparison to Tr predicted by the previous linear formula is higher for small molecular weight solutes and lower for middle and large molecular weight solutes. These theoretical results were confirmed in experiments carried out in vitro for hollow-fiber dialyzers and small molecular weight solutes (urea, creatinine, sodium, TcO4) as well as middle molecular weight solutes (vitamin B12).

The use of a Neubauer chamber is a broadly employed method when cell suspensions need to be quantified. However, this technique may take a long time and needs trained personnel. Spectrophotometry has proved to be a rapid, simple and accurate method to estimate the concentration of spore suspensions of isolates of the genus Fusarium . In this work we present a linear formula to relate absorbance measurements at 530 nm with the number of microconidia/ml in a suspension.

Twenty years ago body weight was used as the point of reference from which parenteral fluid requirements were calculated. As interest in fluids and electrolytes increased it became apparent, however, that weight alone could not serve as the point of reference for these calculations since the same amount of fluid per pound could not be given to an older child as was given to an infant. Formulas were therefore constructed utilizing surface area as the standard of reference upon which maintenance fluid requirements could be based. 1 Recently the rationale of the entire "surface area concept" has been questioned by Wilson and his associates. 2 These authors have pointed out the inadequacy of the data upon which the surface area "nomograms" are based, and they have raised other technical objections. (Twelve patients studied in 1915 served as the basis for the DuBois Linear Formula from which the surface area nomograms