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Simple Measurements (simple + measurement)
Selected AbstractsRight Ventricular Function in Congenital Heart Defects Assessed by Regional Wall MotionCONGENITAL HEART DISEASE, Issue 3 2010FSCAI, Michael R. Nihill MB ABSTRACT Objectives., To develop a simple method to assess right ventricular function by angiography. Background., Conventional methods of evaluating right ventricular function are inaccurate, cumbersome, and expensive. Methods., We analyzed biplane right ventricular angiograms taken in the posterior,anterior and lateral projections using software to measure right ventricular volumes and regional wall motion in 78 patients with normal hearts (n = 29), atrial septal defects (ASD n = 13), pulmonary valve stenosis (PVS n = 21), and postoperative atrial switch patients (n = 15). We also measured the shortening fraction (SF) from the midtricuspid annulus to the septum and correlated various angiographic measurements with the right ventricular (RV) ejection fraction. Results., The volume-overloaded patients (ASD) had larger end diastolic volumes and increased SF compared with normal patients, while the pressure-loaded patients (PVS) had normal volumes and SF. The postoperative atrial switch patients had decreased systolic function and increased end diastolic volume. The SF for all of the patients correlated with the ejection fraction (r= 0.785, P, .0001). Conclusions., A simple measurement of the end diastolic and end systolic distance from the midtricuspid annulus to the septum (SF) provides a good index of RV function by angiography and correlates well with RV ejection fraction. [source] Physiological characteristics of the body fluid in lymphedematous patients postbreast cancer surgery, focusing on the intracellular/extracellular fluid ratio of the upper limbJAPAN JOURNAL OF NURSING SCIENCE, Issue 1 2010Hiromi SAKUDA Abstract Aim:, The aim of this research was to determine the physiological characteristics of patients with lymphedema following breast cancer surgery, based on differences between the quantity of body water in the right and left fingertips, with a view to establishing whether or not this simple measurement could serve as a predictive index for the onset of lymphedema. Method:, The research was conducted at a hospital in Hiroshima, Japan (August 2004 to December 2004). Observations were made on 39 female breast cancer patients who had undergone surgery and 45 healthy female participants. Additional information was collected via interviews with the individual participants. The quantity of body water in all the participants was measured by using a bioimpedance spectrum analysis system. Comparisons of the intracellular/extracellular fluid ratios (I/Es) were made between the edema patients and the non-edema patients, with further testing being done between the affected and unaffected sides of the upper limb in the edema patients. Results:, In the edema patients, significant differences were recognized between the affected side's upper limb I/E and the unaffected side's upper limb I/E. In relation to the affected side's upper limb I/E of the edema patients, even when the mean value and standard deviation were included, the value did not exceed 1.0 and the mean , 3 SD value of the affected side's upper limb I/E in the non-edema patients was 1.04. Conclusions:, The results suggest that measurements of the affected and unaffected sides' upper limb I/E showed a potential for use as a reliable predictive index for lymphedema. [source] Identifying artificially deformed craniaINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OSTEOARCHAEOLOGY, Issue 6 2007J. L. Clark Abstract In this paper we report on a new discriminant function for the identification of artificially deformed crania. Development of the function, based on a sample of deformed and undeformed crania from the Philippines, required visual classification of the sample into deformed and undeformed groups. Working from the observation that deformed crania display flattened frontal and occipital regions, the sample was seriated based on degree of flattening; classification was based on the results of this seriation. The discriminant function, calculated using curvature indices, required only six simple measurements: arc and chord measurements for the frontal (glabella to bregma), parietals (bregma to lambda) and occipital (lambda to opisthion). The function was designed to be conservative, in that a deformed cranium may be classified as undeformed, but the opposite should not occur. Our function classified the undeformed crania with 100% accuracy and deformed crania with 76.9% accuracy, for a total of 91.9% agreement with visual classification. In order to evaluate whether the function is applicable for samples from outside the Philippines, a double blind test was conducted with a large sample of deformed and undeformed crania from a broad geographical and temporal range. For this sample, the function agreed with visual classification in 89.7% of cases; 98.8% of undeformed crania were correctly classified, while deformed crania were identified with 73.7% accuracy. These results demonstrate the utility of the new discriminant function for the classification of artificially deformed crania from diverse contexts. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Is there limiting similarity in the phenology of fleshy fruits?JOURNAL OF VEGETATION SCIENCE, Issue 6 2005K.C. Burns Abstract Question: Is there evidence for limiting similarity in the timing of fruit production by a bird-dispersed plant community? Is the rate of fruit removal in each plant species inversely related to fruit availability in other species? Can simple measurements of fruit phenologies (i.e. temporal changes in fruit availability) obscure important fruit attributes that influence their removal by birds? Location: Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Methods: Periods of fruit availability were measured in ten woody angiosperm species for two years. In the second year, the fate of individual fruits was quantified to disentangle dates of fruit maturation, removal and mortality from measurements of availability. Results: Null model analyses of fruit availability distributions showed no evidence for limiting similarity. However, fruit removal rates of most plant species were correlated with their relative abundance in the community, indicating fruits were removed more rapidly when other fruits were less abundant. Species with similar periods of fruit availability often had different dates of fruit maturation, rates of fruit removal and fruit persistence times, indicating fruit availability measurements can obscure important bird-fruit interactions. Conclusions: Competition for dispersers appears to occur. However, it has not resulted in limiting similarity in fruit availability distributions. A likely explanation for this discrepancy is that fruit availability distributions often confound several important fruit attributes that can independently influence fruit removal by birds. [source] Climatic factors influencing the isotope composition of Italian olive oils and geographic characterisationRAPID COMMUNICATIONS IN MASS SPECTROMETRY, Issue 3 2009Paola Iacumin The purpose of this study was to investigate the possibility of identifying oil source areas by means of simple measurements on the natural samples avoiding time-consuming sample treatments. The oxygen and carbon isotopic values of 150 samples of extra-virgin olive oil from eight different Italian regions and from three different years of production were measured according to well-established techniques. Statistical treatments of the results obtained show a very good correlation of the ,18O of oil with latitude, mean annual temperature, and mean relative humidity at the collection site. No correlation is found with elevation and mean annual precipitation. The shift of the oil ,18O per degree centigrade of the mean annual temperature is quantitatively close to that calculated for atmospheric precipitation in continental areas. Accordingly, in our measurements, the year of oil production can be identified on the basis of the ,18O value (mean 2004 temperatures were higher than 2005 temperatures). On the contrary, the oil ,13C values show no correlation with the above variables but only with latitude and, consequently, are less suitable for discriminating the geographic origin of oil. However, the ,13C values are suitable to indicate biological differentiation while the ,18O values are not. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | |||||||||||||