Blood Bank on Wheels : A Novel Concept.

The concept of supplying safe and screened blood to casualties in war has been a problem over the years. Using the equipments available in a Corp Blood Supply Unit, we describe a simple modification of a vehicle for blood supply and its potential use as a mobile blood bank.

Tamoxifen Therapy for Breast Cancer and Endometrial Pathology.

BACKGROUND: Tamoxifen, used as adjuvant therapy for carcinoma breast in postmenopausal women to prevent relapse has estrogenic effect on the endometrium. METHODS: 104 patients on tamoxifen for more than six months were subjected to a clinical examination and transvaginal sonography. Patients with endometrial thickness > 8 mm were further evaluated by hysteroscopy and endometrial biopsy. RESULTS: 35(34%) patients were symptomatic. The average endometrial thickness was 11.2 mm which correlated with duration of tamoxifen use. 27(48%) patients had abnormal hysteroscopic findings. 35 (63%) of endometrial biopsies revealed abnormal endometrium. One case of endometrial carcinoma was diagnosed. The results were statistically analysed. There is a significant association between symptomatic status and endometrial thickness and duration of tamoxifen use. CONCLUSION: All patients on long term tamoxifen should be annually screened for endometrial pathology.

OVARIAN HYPERSTIMULATION SYNDROME DURING INDUCTION OF OVULATION FOR INTRA UTERINE INSEMINATION.

Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS) is a known iatrogenic complication of ovulation induction. Our experience of such complication while managing basic assisted conception cycles has been analysed in the present study. 12 such cases were identified in 976 cycles studied giving an overall incidence of 1.22%. All the cases were of mild to moderate variety and were managed conservatively. The duration of the complication ranged between 10 days to 6 weeks. Polycystic ovarian disease, LH: FSH ratio of more than 1, presence of four or more secondary follicles were found to be important predictive criteria. Identification of predictive factors of OHSS can be helpful in taking due care while using ovulation inducing drugs. Conception does worsen OHSS, but termination is usually not necessary.

Force Parameters for On-line Tool Wear Estimation: A Neural Network Approach.

Reliable on-line tool conditioning monitoring is an essential feature of modern sophisticated and automated machine tools. Appropriate and timely decision for tool-change is urgently required in the machining systems. Ample researches have been carried out in this direction.Recently artificial neural networks (NN) are applied for this purpose in conjunction with suitable sensory systems. Its fast processing capability is well-suited for quick estimation of tool condition and corrective measure to be taken.The present work uses back-propagation type training and feed-forward testing procedures for the neural networks. Three models using different force parameters are tried to monitor tool wear on-line. The close estimation of the modeled output to the actual wear value demonstrates the possibility of successful tool wear monitoring. Copyright 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.