Experimental estimate of energy accommodation coefficient at high temperatures.

The energy accommodation coefficient (EAC), which is used to characterize gas-surface interactions, was experimentally estimated at high temperatures. A method utilizing laser irradiation to heat up nanoparticles that are generated in a flame was proposed. From the obtained dependence of particle temperature upon laser power, the EAC was derived to be approximately equal to 0.005, which agrees nicely with our recent rigorous theoretical result. It indicates that the efficiency of heat transfer between gas and particles is sufficiently small in high temperature system at large Knudsen numbers.

Impaired awareness of behavioral limitations after traumatic brain injury.

Sixty-four traumatically brain injured patients were divided into three groups. Patients in Group I overestimated their behavioral competencies. Patients in Group II showed behavioral ratings similar to relatives' reports concerning behavioral competencies. Patients in Group III underestimated their behavioral competencies. Group I patients had greater evidence of bilateral and multiple-site lesions than group II and III patients. Speed of left-hand finger tapping was also worse in Group I than groups II and III, but other standard neuropsychologic test findings failed to separate the groups. Specific brain lesion sites were not related to group membership. Impaired awareness of behavioral limitations after traumatic brain injury may be related to neuropsychologic changes not measured by standard tests. Bilateral impairment of heteromodal cortex may be important to this phenomenon when it exists several months or years postinjury.

Facilitation of neocortical kindling by depletion of forebrain noradrenaline.

The role of forebrain noradrenaline in seizures induced by electrical stimulation of the anterior neocortex (kindling) was investigated in control rats and rats pretreated with bilateral injections of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) into the mesencephalic trajectory of the dorsal tegmental noradrenergic bundle. Extensive depletion of forebrain noradrenaline significantly facilitated the rate of development of cortico-generalized seizures.

Ambulatory medical care: a comparison of internists and family-general practitioners.

We analyzed data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey to compare the style of practice of two primary-care providers, general internists and family-general practitioners. Whereas internists spent 18.4 minutes with the average patient, family-general practitioners spent 13.0 minutes. Whereas internists used laboratory tests in 73 per cent of visits and x-ray tests in 53 per cent, family-general practitioners used these studies in 34 and 19 per cent of visits. Internists provided instructions regarding health problems in 17.8 per cent of visits, and family-general practitioners in 12.4 per cent. The two provider groups did not differ in terms of therapy for emotional problems, both providing it in a relatively low proportion of visits (3 per cent). Whether by choice or necessity, family-general practitioners spent less time examining and instructing patients, and they ordered fewer laboratory and x-ray studies. The implications of these differences for the cost and quality of primary care need further study.

The roentgenographic manifestations and clinical features of lumbar spinal stenosis with special emphasis on the superior articular process.

Sixty-three cases of surgically confirmed lumbar spinal stenosis were studied with regard to the clinical manifestations, routine spine films, and myelograms. The results are compared with the data in the literature. While our clinical and myelographic findings correspond in general with those published data, we have found important features of the superior articular process seen on routine anteroposterior roentgenograms which have not been described in the literature. Two illustrative cases are presented to demonstrate such features.