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Unsuccessful Attempts (unsuccessful + attempt)
Selected AbstractsAeolian fetch distance and secondary airflow effects: the influence of micro-scale variables on meso-scale foredune developmentEARTH SURFACE PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS, Issue 7 2008Kevin Lynch Abstract Unsuccessful attempts to use process-scale models to predict long-term aeolian sediment transport patterns have long been a feature of aeolian research. It has been proposed that one approach to overcome these problems is to identify micro-scale variables that are important at longer timescales. This paper assesses the contribution of two system variables (secondary airflow patterns and fetch distance) to medium-term (months to years) dune development. The micro-scale importance of these variables had been established during previous work at the site (Magilligan Strand, Northern Ireland). Three methods were employed. First, sand drift potentials were calculated using 2 years of regional wind data and a sediment transport model. Second, wind data and large trench traps (2 m length × 1 m width × 1·5 m depth) were used to assess the actual sediment transport patterns over a 2-month period. Third, a remote-sensing technique for the identification of fetch distance, a saltation impact sensor (Safire) and wind data were utilized to gauge, qualitatively, sediment transport patterns over a 1-month period. Secondary airflow effects were found to play a major role in the sediment flux patterns at these timescales, with measured and predicted rates matching closely during the trench trap study. The results suggest that fetch distance is an unimportant variable at this site. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] COLLINGWOOD, BRADLEY, AND HISTORICAL KNOWLEDGEHISTORY AND THEORY, Issue 2 2006ROBERT M. BURNS ABSTRACT The central feature of the narrative structure of Collingwood's The Idea of History (IH) is the pivotal role accorded to Bradley, evident in the table of contents and in the two discussions of him. Few readers have noticed that, confusingly, the book's first discussion of Bradley (on pages 134-141) is a revision of the (1935) Inaugural Lecture "The Historical Imagination," which constitutes the book's second discussion of Bradley (on pages 231-249). The differences between these two presentations of Bradley are significant. The 1935 account (presented in IH on pages 231-249) seeks to portray the Bradley of the Presuppositions of Critical History as a Copernican revolutionary in historical thought, even though the neo-Kantian transcendentalism promoted in the Lecture had been the core of Collingwood's approach to philosophy of history from the mid-1920s, many years before he encountered Bradley's essay. By 1935 this transcendentalism was in the process of self-destructing because of inner contradictions. By 1936, once Collingwood's narrative and his criticisms of Bradley left the 1935 claims unsustainable, Collingwood shifted attention to Bradley's later works, in an unsuccessful attempt to sustain the notion of his originality (presented in IH on pages 134-141). Hitherto neglected Collingwood manuscripts held in the Bodleian prove that by 1940 Collingwood recognized this, so that the prominence Knox gave to Bradley in his editing of the IH is demonstrably not in accord with Collingwood's views and plans for The Idea of History. Knox's much-disputed claim that there was a radical shift to historicism in the later Collingwood is, however, confirmed, clear proof being adduced that in the later 1930s the attempt transcendentally to deduce universal and necessary presuppositions of historical knowledge is abandoned for a radically historicist account, paralleled by a demotion of "critical history" as the final form of "history proper" in favor of "scientific history." [source] Tocolysis for repeat external cephalic version in breech presentation at term: a randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trialBJOG : AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS & GYNAECOLOGY, Issue 5 2005Lawrence Impey Background External cephalic version (ECV) reduces the incidence of breech presentation at term and caesarean section for non-cephalic births. Tocolytics may improve success rates, but are time consuming, may cause side effects and have not been proven to alter caesarean section rates. The aim of this trial was to determine whether tocolysis should be used if ECV is being re-attempted after a failed attempt. Objective To determine whether tocolysis should be used if ECV is being re-attempted after a failed attempt. Design Randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial. Setting UK teaching hospital. Population One hundred and twenty-four women with a breech presentation at term who had undergone an unsuccessful attempt at ECV. Methods Relative risks with 95% confidence intervals for categorical variables and a t test for continuous variables. Analysis was by intention to treat. Main outcome measures Incidence of cephalic presentation at delivery. Secondary outcomes were caesarean section and measures of neonatal and maternal morbidity. Results The use of tocolysis for a repeat attempt at ECV significantly increases the incidence of cephalic presentation at delivery (RR 3.21; 95% CI 1.23,8.39) and reduces the incidence of caesarean section (RR 0.33; 95% CI 0.14,0.80). The effects were most marked in multiparous women (RR for cephalic presentation at delivery 9.38; 95% CI 1.64,53.62). Maternal and neonatal morbidity remain unchanged. Conclusions The use of tocolysis increases the success rate of repeat ECV and reduces the incidence of caesarean section. A policy of only using tocolysis where an initial attempt has failed leads to a relatively high success rate with minimum usage of tocolysis. [source] Percutaneous closure of atrial septal defect via transjugular approach with the Amplatzer septal occluder after unsuccessful attempt using the CardioSEAL deviceCATHETERIZATION AND CARDIOVASCULAR INTERVENTIONS, Issue 2 2004J. Thompson Sullebarger MD Abstract Percutaneous closure of a secundum atrial septal defect was performed successfully via the jugular approach in a 77-year-old patient with heparin-induced thrombocytopenia and total occlusion of the inferior vena cava using the Amplatzer septal occluder after an unsuccessful attempt using the CardioSEAL septal occluder. This case demonstrates the advantages of the jugular approach in the patient with difficult anatomy and the advantage of the Amplatzer over the CardioSEAL device in this situation. Catheter Cardiovasc Interv 2004;62:262,265. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Sequencing of DSM-IV criteria of nicotine dependenceADDICTION, Issue 8 2009Denise B. Kandel ABSTRACT Aims To determine whether there is a sequence in which adolescents experience symptoms of nicotine dependence (ND) as per the DSM-IV. Design A two-stage design was implemented to select a multi-ethnic target sample of adolescents from a school survey of 6th,10th graders from the Chicago Public Schools. The cohort was interviewed at home five times with structured computerized interviews at 6-month intervals over a 2-year period. Participants Subsample of new tobacco users (n = 353) who had started to use tobacco within 12 months prior to wave 1 or between waves 1 and 5. Measurements and statistical methods Monthly histories of DSM-IV symptoms of ND were obtained. Log-linear quasi-independence models were estimated to identify the fit of different cumulative models of progression among the four most prevalent dependence criteria (tolerance, impaired control, withdrawal, unsuccessful attempts to quit), indexed by specific symptoms, by gender and race/ethnicity. Findings Pathways varied slightly across groups. The proportions who could be classified in a progression pathway not by chance ranged from 50.7% to 68.8%. Overall, tolerance and impaired control appeared first and preceded withdrawal; impaired control preceded attempts to quit. For males, tolerance was experienced first, with withdrawal a minor path of entry; for females withdrawal was experienced last, tolerance and impaired control were experienced first. For African Americans, tolerance by itself was experienced first; for other groups an alternative path began with impaired control. Conclusions The prevalence and sequence of criteria of ND fit our understanding of the neuropharmacology of ND. The order among symptoms early in the process of dependence may differ from the severity order of symptoms among those who persist in smoking. [source] The Rule of Law in the Realm and the Province of New York: Prelude to the American RevolutionHISTORY, Issue 301 2006HERBERT A. JOHNSON British and American views of public law have diverged greatly over the past two hundred years. This article examines the evolution of New York's adherence to the rule of fundamental law and the use of colonial common law courts to protect the rights of New York subjects against the prerogative power of the crown. As a conquered province from 1664 to 1683, New York was denied a legislature. Thereafter the colonial legislative bodies were active in making unsuccessful attempts to claim their birthright as Englishmen. In England the Glorious Revolution represented a major step in the development of parliamentary supremacy. In New York, however, it facilitated an ethnic insurrection followed by the realization that English governmental policy mandated the denial of basic rights of Englishmen to colonial residents. The Glorious Revolution simply made it possible for parliament, as well as the crown, to regulate colonial affairs without any constitutional restrictions prior to 1774. In terms of constitutional dynamics in eighteenth-century England, continued imperial rule through an untrammelled royal prerogative substantially increased the political power and revenues of the crown. Failing to consider the impact of monarchial power in a growing empire, the 1688,9 Convention Parliament laid the foundation for an unbalanced British government in the middle of the eighteenth century. Deprived of patronage and extraordinary revenues at home, the monarchs turned to regulation of their empire and to reaping increased financial benefit. Both of these unintended consequences of the Glorious Revolution threatened parliamentary supremacy, even as parliament's new-found power began to undermine the rule of law in the empire. [source] The legal construction of the social security system of the Republic of KosovoINTERNATIONAL SOCIAL SECURITY REVIEW, Issue 1 2009Ma Lourdes Arastey Sahún Abstract Following the international community's unsuccessful attempts to broker an agreement between Serbia and Kosovo, the territory of Kosovo controversially declared independence on 17 February 2008. This article provides a description and analysis of the social protection system immediately after the declaration of independence. In the aftermath of conflict, and faced by enormous economic difficulties, Kosovo's society could not expect a complete restoration of the social security system. To date, the United Nations Mission has committed itself to building a minimum legal framework, seeking to give answers to main and essential challenges. But the core structure of the social security system is yet to be laid. Nonetheless, in a complex situation such as that of Kosovo, the realization of a social protection framework must be seen as an essential mechanism for reconstruction and peacekeeping. [source] Ex vivo expansion of apheresis-derived peripheral blood hematopoietic progenitorsJOURNAL OF CLINICAL APHERESIS, Issue 1 2002Zeev Estrov Because the administration of hematopoietic growth factors and the use of stem cell support often fails to alleviate the neutropenic phase induced by cytotoxic drugs, several investigators have attempted to expand ex vivo hematopoietic progenitors for clinical use. These attempts have clearly shown that the cultured cells are functional and can be safely administered to patients, but that the in vivo performance is disappointing and the concept as a whole is not yet clinically useful. The major reasons for these unsuccessful attempts are thought to be cumbersome cell fractionation techniques, contamination, prolonged incubation, and the use of less than ideal cytokine combinations. In response, we have developed a simple procedure for ex vivo expansion of myeloid progenitor cells. In this assay, unfractionated mononuclear cells from apheresis donors are incubated in nonpyrogenic plastic bags for 7 days in the presence of culture medium either containing fetal calf serum or human plasma, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, and stem cell factor. We have demonstrated that under these conditions the number of colony-forming units (CFU) granulocyte-macrophage (CFU-GM) and of CFU-granulocyte-macrophage-erythroid-megakaryocyte (CFU-GEMM) increased 7- and 9-fold, respectively, by day 7 and the number of burst-forming units-erythroid (BFU-E) increased 2.7-fold by day 5 of culture. Significant increases in the numbers of cells expressing CD34+, CD34+/CD38+, CD34+/CD33+, CD34+/CD15+, and CD34+/CD90+ and significant declines in the numbers of cells expressing CD34+/CD38- and CD19 surface antigens were also observed. The relative numbers of cells expressing T-cell markers and CD56 surface antigen did not change. By using different concentrations of various hematopoietic growth factor combinations, we can increase the number of mature and immature cells of different hematopoietic lineages. J. Clin. Apheresis 17:7,16, 2002. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Diagnosis of tuberculosis: Available technologies, limitations, and possibilitiesJOURNAL OF CLINICAL LABORATORY ANALYSIS, Issue 5 2003Sanjay K. Garg Abstract Rapid diagnosis and treatment are important for preventing transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. However, the diagnosis of tuberculosis continues to pose serious problems, mainly because of difficulties in differentiating between patients with active tuberculosis and those with healed lesions, normal mycobacterium boris BCG (Bacillus Calmette Guerin) vaccinated individuals, and unvaccinated Manteux positives. Physicians still rely on conventional methods such as Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN) staining, fluorochrome staining, sputum culture, gastric lavage, and other non-traditional methods. Although the tuberculin test has aided in the diagnosis of tuberculosis for more than 85 years, its interpretation is difficult because sensitization with nontuberculous mycobacteria leads to false-positive tests. There have been numerous unsuccessful attempts to develop clinically useful serodiagnostic kits for tuberculosis. A number of proteinaceous and nonprotein antigens (such as acyltrehaloses and phenolglycolipids) have been explored from time to time for the development of such assays but they have not proved to be clinically useful. It has been difficult to develop an ELISA utilizing a suitable antigen because M. tuberculosis shares a large number of antigenic proteins with other microorganisms that may or may not be pathogenic. With the advent of molecular biology techniques, there have been significant advances in nucleic acid-based amplification and hybridization, which are helping to rectify existing flaws in the diagnosis of tuberculosis. The detection of mycobacterial DNA in clinical samples by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a promising approach for the rapid diagnosis of tuberculous infection. However, the PCR results must be corrected for the presence of inhibitors as well as for DNA contamination. In the modern era of genetics, marked by proteomics and genomics, the day is not far off when DNA chip-based hybridization assays will instantly reveal mycobacterial infections. J. Clin. Lab. Anal. 17: 155,163, 2003. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Confirmatory factor analysis and the factor structure of expagg in context: A reply to forrest et al., 2002AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR, Issue 2 2004Steven Muncer It has been suggested that confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) can be used to investigate the construct validity of psychometric scales and Forrest et al. [2000] specifically query the factor structure of Expagg using this technique. In this paper we report unsuccessful attempts to confirm the factor structure of three widely used scales using CFA criteria. In the fourth study, a two-factor model of Expagg, which has been derived from previous studies, is tested for fit on new data. The results suggest that from a CFA point of view, Expagg is best considered as two scales measuring expressivity and instrumentality with five items on each scale. This model satisfies four of the five fit criteria (CFI = 90, GFI = .94, RMSEA = .08, ECVI = .44), failing only on the chi square test, a benchmark that has attracted criticism from statisticians. Other concerns are raised about the meaning of CFA results and their importance. Aggr. Behav. 30:146,157, 2004. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Concurrent and Discriminant Validity of DSM-IV Symptoms of Impaired Control Over Alcohol Consumption in AdolescentsALCOHOLISM, Issue 4 2002Tammy Chung Background: Little research has examined impaired control over alcohol consumption in adolescents. This study examined the concurrent and discriminant validity of two DSM-IV dependence criteria that reflect impaired control over drinking: "using more or longer than intended" (Larger/Longer) and "persistent desire or unsuccessful efforts to quit or cut down" (Quit/Cut Down). Methods: Adolescent drinkers, ages 13,19 (N= 173), were recruited from addictions treatment (76%) and community sources (24%). A modified SCID that included assessment of alcohol craving and questionnaires measuring dependence severity, attempts to limit drinking, and impulsivity were administered. Results: Larger/Longer had higher prevalence and an earlier onset than Quit/Cut Down, suggesting that the symptoms respectively represent milder and more severe manifestations of impaired control over drinking. Both symptoms were associated with drinking frequency, dependence severity, episodes of passing out, and an independent measure of unsuccessful attempts to limit drinking. Alcohol craving was associated with both Larger/Longer and Quit/Cut Down. Impulsivity was correlated with Larger/Longer but not Quit/Cut Down. Conclusions: Larger/Longer and Quit/Cut Down demonstrated adequate concurrent validity. The two symptoms were distinguished by severity and differential relations with impulsivity, suggesting that Larger/Longer and Quit/Cut Down reflect different types of impaired control over alcohol consumption. Results suggest the need for improved description and scaling of the impaired control construct in adolescents. [source] Liver tumors: Pediatric population,LIVER TRANSPLANTATION, Issue 11 2008Milton J. Finegold Liver tumors in childhood are rare and are typically not detected clinically until they reach a large size and often spread within the organ or metastasize. This can make surgical resection problematic, and almost all of them require extirpation for cure. With very effective chemotherapy for hepatoblastoma and to some extent for sarcomas, many cancers can be shrunk to permit partial hepatectomy, but for most hepatocarcinomas, some of the other malignancies, and even some benign proliferations, their location at the hilum and multiplicity of masses in multiple lobes make transplantation the treatment of choice. Major advances in diagnostic imaging, especially enhanced computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, permit a preoperative choice of resection versus transplantation to be achieved in almost all instances, and for the remainder, intraoperative ultrasonography can further help to determine the most desirable approach. The outcome is very much better in the case of hepatoblastoma when transplantation is a primary modality rather than following unsuccessful attempts at resection. In this review, transplantation for liver tumors in children is considered from all aspects, including the importance of screening for tumors whenever possible to avoid the need for transplantation. Liver Transpl 14:1545,1556, 2008. © 2008 AASLD. [source] Nursing and the issue of ,party' in the Church of England: the case of the Lichfield Diocesan Nursing AssociationNURSING INQUIRY, Issue 2 2009Stuart WildmanArticle first published online: 12 MAY 200 In recent years, there has been increased interest in the role of religion in the reform of nursing during the mid-nineteenth century. However, less is known about how ,party' disputes between evangelicals and followers of the ,Oxford Movement' may have affected nursing. This study examines a proposal to create a nursing association for the Diocese of Lichfield in 1864, which leads to a public dispute concerning the ,ecclesiastical' nature of the organisation. Leading evangelicals in Derby campaigned against the idea of nurses belonging to a ,sisterhood'. This resulted in two rival organisations being created in 1865. This paper reports upon the nature and origins of the dispute within the diocese, unsuccessful attempts to draw Florence Nightingale into the dispute and the relative success of the two institutions. The results of this research indicate that the importance of context and of place must be recognised when studying the history of nursing. This research is based mainly, upon newspaper reports, correspondence and miscellaneous sources, including biographies as there are few surviving records from the two organisations under scrutiny. [source] Graft rejection after hematopoietic cell transplantation with nonmyeloablative conditioningAMERICAN JOURNAL OF HEMATOLOGY, Issue 7 2008Tania N. Masmas Graft rejection after hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) with nonmyeloablative conditioning is a rare but serious clinical problem. Graft rejection and salvage therapy in eight patients in a retrospective analysis of 124 consecutive patients is reported. The patients were conditioned with low-dose fludarabine and total body irradiation (TBI). The association of pretransplantation risk factors with rejection and the effect of chimerism and graft-versus-host disease on rejection were analyzed. Overall survival (OS) and progression free survival (PFS) were compared between patients with and without rejection. Retransplantation was performed with increased TBI conditioning for all patients, and with increased mycophenolate mofetil doses for recipients with HLA-identical sibling donors. No known pretransplantation risk factors were confirmed in this study. Rejection episodes were unevenly distributed over time. The storage temperature of the apheresis products was identified as a risk factor for rejection. Storage of the apheresis products at 5°C diminished the risk of rejection. Low donor T cell chimerism at Day +14 significantly increased the risk of rejection. Seven patients were retransplanted. All but one engrafted successfully, but with decreased OS and PFS. Two patients received pentostatin infusion prior to donor lymphocyte infusions in unsuccessful attempts at reversing rejection. Storage temperature and donor chimerism had a significant effect on rejection. Following rejection, patients are at greater risk of dying from infections and progression/relapse of their malignancy. Retransplantation is feasible and well tolerated after HCT with nonmyeloablative conditioning and should be performed without delay in patients with imminent and manifest graft rejection. Am. J. Hematol. 2008. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Can We Help Addicts Become more Autonomous?BIOETHICS, Issue 5-6 2003Inside the Mind of An Addict ABSTRACT I examine the impact of addiction on autonomy in terms of the standard literature on addiction , referred to also as ,substance dependence.'1 Then in terms of the criteria for substance dependence, by developing a set of practical strategies to help people with addictions think more clearly, I test the idea whether addicts can be helped to become more autonomous. Given that unsuccessful attempts to quit constitute part of the criteria of substance dependence, I look at what goes wrong when people try to quit using a substance. The subjective experience of addiction is an important aid in understanding addiction and first person accounts and literary characterisations of addiction provide insight into the addict's mind and assist us in deciding whether addicts can be helped to become more autonomous. [source] Sustained Growth of Explants from Mediterranean Sponge Crambe crambe Cultured In Vitro with Enriched RPMI 1640BIOTECHNOLOGY PROGRESS, Issue 3 2006F. Garcia Camacho Marine sponges are potential sources of many unique metabolites, including cytotoxic and anticancer compounds. Natural sponge populations are insufficient or inaccessible for producing commercial quantities of metabolites of interest. It is commonly accepted that tissue (fragments, explants, and primmorphs) and in vitro cell cultivation show great potential. However, there is little knowledge of the nutritional requirements of marine sponges to carry out efficient and sustained in vitro culture and progress has been slow. In marine invertebrate fila many unsuccessful attempts have been made with in vitro cultures using typical commercial animal cell media based on sources of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) (e.g., DMEM, RPMI, M199, L-15, etc.). One of the reasons for this failure is the use of hardly identifiable growth promoters, based on terrestrial animal sera. An alternative is the use of extracts from marine animals, since they may contain nutrients necessary for growth. In this work we have cultivated in vitro explants of the encrusting marine sponge Crambe crambe. It is one of the most abundant sponges on the Mediterranean coastline and also possesses an array of potentially active metabolites (crambines and crambescidins). Initially a new approach was developed in order to show consumption of DOC by explants. Thus, different initial DOC concentrations (300, 400, 700 and 1200 mg DOC L,1) were assayed. Consumption was evident in all four assays and was more marked in the first 6 h. The DOC assimilation data were adjusted to an empirical model widely used for uptake kinetics of organic dissolved compounds in marine invertebrates. Second, a protocol was established to cultivate explants in vitro. Different medium formulations based on RPMI 1640 commercial medium enriched with amino acids and inorganic salts to emulate seawater salinity were assayed. The enrichment of this medium with an Octopusaqueous extract in the proportions of 10% and 20% (v/v) resulted in an evident sustained long-term growth of C. crambe explants. This growth enhancement produced high metabolic activity in the explants, as is confirmed by the high ammonium and lactate content in the medium a few days after its renewal and by the consumption of glucose. The lactate accumulation increased with the size and age of explants. Prior to these experiments, we successfully developed a robust new alternative method, based on digital image treatment, for accurate determination of the explant apparent volume as growth measure. [source] Iatrogenic recto-urethral fistula: perineal repair and buccal mucosa interpositionBJU INTERNATIONAL, Issue 2 2009Martin Spahn OBJECTIVE To present a new and promising technique for repairing recto-urethral fistulae (RUF) using a perineal approach and buccal mucosa graft interposition, as RUF are rare but severe complications of rectal or urinary tract surgery, radiation treatment, trauma or inflammation, and the repair of recurrent or persistent RUF is particularly difficult when previous surgical attempts have failed, resulting in high recurrence rates. PATIENTS AND METHODS Between 2004 and 2006, five men (aged 61,67 years) with iatrogenic RUF had the perineal fistula closed using a buccal mucosa graft interposition. The RUF had developed after laparoscopic or retropubic radical prostatectomy in four patients and after radical cystectomy and ileal neobladder in the fifth. Four of the patients had had at least one failed RUF repair before their referral to our institution. RESULTS Four of the five RUF were repaired successfully using the perineal approach and buccal mucosa graft interposition. Failure occurred in one patient who had developed a RUF after laparoscopic radical prostatectomy followed by two unsuccessful attempts at closure. The failure was most probably due to a previously undetected postoperative perineal haematoma with infection. CONCLUSION Our perineal approach for repairing RUF, combined with buccal mucosa graft interposition, is a simple technique fulfilling all the requirements for successful fistula closure, especially in repeat surgery. [source] Operative contractility: A functional concept of the inotropic stateCLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL PHARMACOLOGY AND PHYSIOLOGY, Issue 10 2005Roberto Curiel SUMMARY 1.,Initial unsuccessful attempts to evaluate ventricular function in terms of the ,heart as a pump' led to focusing on the ,heart as a muscle' and to the concept of myocardial contractility. However, no clinically ideal index exists to assess the contractile state. The aim of the present study was to develop a mathematical model to assess cardiac contractility. 2.,A tri-axial system was conceived for preload (PL), afterload (AL) and contractility, where stroke volume (SV) was represented as the volume of the tetrahedron. Based on this model, ,operative' contractility (,OperCon') was calculated from the readily measured values of PL, AL and SV. The model was tested retrospectively under a variety of different experimental and clinical conditions, in 71 studies in humans and 29 studies in dogs. A prospective echocardiographic study was performed in 143 consecutive subjects to evaluate the ability of the model to assess contractility when SV and PL were measured volumetrically (mL) or dimensionally (cm). 3.,With inotropic interventions, OperCon changes were comparable to those of ejection fraction (EF), velocity of shortening (Vcf) and dP/dt-max. Only with positive inotropic interventions did elastance (Ees) show significantly larger changes. With load manipulations, OperCon showed significantly smaller changes than EF and Ees and comparable changes to Vcf and dP/dt-max. Values of OperCon were similar when AL was represented by systolic blood pressure or wall stress and when volumetric or dimensional values were used. 4.,Operative contractility is a reliable, simple and versatile method to assess cardiac contractility. [source] | ||||||||||||||||