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Abstract Background: It was shown that a traditional Chinese medicine, Hochu - ekki - to (HET), had adjuvant effects in influenze vaccination in an animal experiment. This, however, could not [...]

Aim: To show characteristic ocular surface findings caused by conjunctivochalasis (CCh) in dry eye patients with or without aqueous tear deficiency (ATD). Design: Comparative non-interventional cases. Patients and methods: Clinical [...]

Electric relay manufacture and assembly is an example of high-precision machining followed by an assembly process. During machining, parts exhibit dimensional variance and manufacturers have several techniques and strategies for how to maximise production and improve efficiency when variance is present. One approach is to measure the variance, select parts appropriately for the best match, perform the minimum amount of adjustment and rework, and then perform the assembly. This approach is difficult in practice because measurement errors also occur and confound the knowledge about each part's dimensions. In this paper, we consider a new matching approach to increase the production rate. We propose a part-combination selection method in which a pair of assembly parts in buffers is optimally selected using a target of an estimated assembly error, and an adjustment machine is then optimally selected using a range of estimated assembly errors. Furthermore, we consider an analytical approach to estimate the optimal control parameters for the proposed method that yield the maximum production rate. The analysis results show that the analytical approach can estimate the nearly optimal control parameters, including the nearly maximum production rate in any buffer capacity. The results also show that by installing a small buffer capacity, the production rate can be increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the tape-head contact, especially the spacing between the tape and the head in video tape recorder (VTR) from the view point of tape surface roughness. The spacing was measured by optical interference method, and the surface roughness, by optical noncontact microsurface measurement system. As the result the spacing, obtained by the phase-shift correction of the reflected light, is found to be equal to the surface roughness P-O (peak to 0 level) value of the tape. Based on this result it is assured that the output voltage of so-called ME tape is larger than that of MP tape by only about +2 dB at the wavelength Lambda = 0.49 micrometer except for the spacing effect caused by the tape surface roughness.

Objective We sought to develop a model to calculate the likelihood of vaginal delivery in nulliparous women undergoing induction at term. Study Design We obtained data from the Consortium on Safe Labor by including nulliparous women with term singleton pregnancies undergoing induction of labor at term. Women with contraindications for vaginal delivery were excluded. A stepwise logistic regression analysis was used to identify the predictors associated with vaginal delivery by considering maternal characteristics and comorbidities and fetal conditions. The receiver operating characteristic curve, with an area under the curve (AUC) was used to assess the accuracy of the model. Results Of 10,591 nulliparous women who underwent induction of labor, 8,202 (77.4%) women had vaginal delivery. Our model identified maternal age, gestational age at delivery, race, maternal height, prepregnancy weight, gestational weight gain, cervical exam on admission (dilation, effacement, and station), chronic hypertension, gestational diabetes, pregestational diabetes, and abruption as significant predictors for successful vaginal delivery. The overall predictive ability of the final model, as measured by the AUC was 0.759 (95% confidence interval, 0.749-0.770). Conclusion We identified independent risk factors that can be used to predict vaginal delivery among nulliparas undergoing induction at term. Our predictor provides women with additional information when considering induction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To estimate the incidence and risk of complications associated with a fetal scalp electrode and to determine whether its application in the setting of operative vaginal delivery was associated with increased neonatal morbidity.Design: Retrospective cohort study.Setting: Twelve clinical centers with 19 hospitals across nine American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists US districts.Population: Women in the USA.Methods: We evaluated 171 698 women with singleton deliveries ≥ 23 weeks of gestation in a secondary analysis of the Consortium on Safe Labor study between 2002 and 2008, after excluding conditions that precluded fetal scalp electrode application such as prelabour caesarean delivery. Secondary analysis limited to operative vaginal deliveries ≥ 34 weeks of gestation was also performed.Main Outcome Measures: Incidences and adjusted odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals of neonatal complications were calculated, controlling for maternal characteristics, delivery mode and pregnancy complications.Results: Fetal scalp electrode was used in 37 492 (22%) of deliveries. In non-operative vaginal delivery, fetal scalp electrode was associated with increased risk of injury to scalp due to birth trauma (1.2% versus 0.9%; adjusted odds ratios 1.62; 95% confidence intervals 1.41-1.86) and cephalohaematoma (1.0% versus 0.9%; adjusted odds ratios 1.57; 95% confidence intervals 1.36-1.83). Neonatal complications were not significantly different comparing fetal scalp electrode with vacuum-assisted vaginal delivery and vacuum-assisted vaginal delivery alone or comparing fetal scalp electrode with forceps-assisted vaginal delivery and forceps-assisted vaginal delivery alone.Conclusions: We found increased neonatal morbidity with fetal scalp electrode though the absolute risk was very low. It is possible that these findings reflect an underlying indication for its use. Our findings support the use of fetal scalp electrodes when clinically indicated.Tweetable Abstract: Neonatal risks associated with fetal scalp electrode use were low (injury to scalp 1.2% and cephalohaematoma 1.0%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]