In order to clarify smokers' characteristics by "Stages of Change" based on Prochaska's transtheoretical model, we conducted cross-sectional and logitudinal studies with biochemical markers of ...smoking and smoking habits. In a workplace-based sample of 277 male smokers, we examined cross-sectionally the relationships between stages and biochemical markers of smoking which include expired carbon monoxide concentrations and urinary nicotine metabolite concentrations, and smoking habits which include the number of cigarettes smoked per day, yields of cigarettes, inhalation patterns, time to first morning cigarette, and quit attempts in the past. Additionally we examined longitudinally the relationship between stages and expired carbon monoxide concentrations, the number of cigarettes, and yields of cigarettes. In the cross-sectional study there were significant differences among stages on expired carbon monoxide concentrations (P = 0.006), urinary nicotine metabolite concentrations (P = 0.049), the number of cigarettes smoked per day (P = 0.001), and yields of cigarettes (P = 0.042) using analyses of variance. There were also significant differences among stages on time to first morning cigarette (P = 0.018) and quit attempts in the past (P < 0.001) using chi-square tests. In the longitudinal study for each level of elevation in stage during a one-year period, expired carbon monoxide concentrations decreased on an average of 2.3 ppm (P = 0.125) and the number of cigarettes smoked per day decreased on an average of 2.8 cigarettes per day (P = 0.07). However, the yields of cigarettes did not change during the one-year period.
The stony spherules collected from deep-sea sediments were analyzed for rare earth elements (REE) by direct-loading mass spectrometric isotope dilution together with examination of their petrographic ...characteristics. Abundances of some major and trace elements including Fe, Co, Ni, Ir, and Au were also determined by instrumental neutron activation analysis. One spherule, which does not show deep-sea alteration, exhibits a flat REE pattern (1.8 × CI chondrite) with no specific anomaly. Relatively high Ni, Ir, and Au abundances in several spherules also confirm that they are of extraterrestrial origin. On the other hand, the altered spherules show highly fractionated, light REE enriched patterns with large negative Ce and minor negative Eu anomalies. Most of the stony spherules extracted magnetically from deep-sea sediments are extraterrestrial in origin and may have been derived from unfractionated chondritic material, but they are affected by deep-sea alteration during residence on the seafloor.
Several anatomical distances of Koch's triangle including the ablation site were measured and correlated with clinical features and slow pathway potentials in patients with atrioventricular nodal ...reentrant tachycardia to improve the avoidance of complete atrioventricular block.
Sixty consecutive patients (24 males and 36 females, mean age 47 +/- 12 years) with successfully eliminated atrioventricular nodal reentrat tachycardia were studied. The distances between the His-bundle area and the base of the coronary sinus ostium (Dis HBE-CS) and the distances between the successful ablation site and the base of the CS ostium (Dis SP-CS) were measured in both right anterior oblique and left anterior oblique views, and used to define the dimensions of Koch's triangle. The relationship between the slow pathway potentials at the successful ablation site and anatomical distances was estimated.
The Dis HBE-CS in the right anterior oblique view was negatively correlated with patient age (r = -0.759, p < 0.001) and body mass index. In contrast, the Dis HBE-CS in the left anterior oblique view had only weak correlations with patient age and body mass index. The mechanism of the short Dis HBE-CS in the right anterior oblique view in elderly obese patients tended to change the shape of the tricuspid annulus from a circle to an ellipse, compressed by the ascending aorta and diaphragma. The Dis SP-CS in the right anterior oblique view associated with the low frequency potential (Haissaguerre's slow pathway potential) was longer than that associated with the high frequency potential (Jackman's slow pathway potential).
Elderly obese patients had shorter distances between the proximal His-bundle area and the base of the coronary sinus ostium in the right anterior oblique view. In contrast, the Dis HBE-CS in the left anterior oblique view was not so narrow. Therefore, slow pathway ablation can be performed safely without complicated complete atrioventricular block, using both the slow pathway potential guided approach and the anatomical guided approach, especially in the left anterior oblique view.
We review recent progress of burst-mode CDR technology as the key PMD device supporting next-generation, 10 Gb/s-based TDM-PON systems. For the essence of the burst-mode CDR design, its performance ...result of the burst-mode lock-time is also presented.
We developed a system that is a combination of sound information and picture. We studied the estimation of the direction of incidental plane waves with a small sized electric generator outdoor ...experimentally. As average numbers of the cross spectrum increase, sound source points are concentrated in a place, in the case that the sound source is random noise. We studied the visualization of sound insulation by this svstem in the anechoic room and outdoors. We confirmed the result and we were able to visualize the diffraction by setting the wall.
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