A retrospective analysis of 6,387 cholecystectomies.

This is the largest retrospective analysis of biliary tract surgery ever reported involving 6,378 patients operated on during a three year period, 1990-1992. During this time interval, the frequency of laparoscopic procedures has increased dramatically. The use of laparoscopic procedures was associated with a significant decrease in the total length of hospital stay and total charges as compared to the open procedures. Because of laparoscopic surgery's increased acceptance, we propose that the frequency of laparoscopic surgery of the biliary tract should be used as a quality control measure.

Adaptive clothing for persons with mobility disorders after burn injury.

Smart-looking clothes have been designed for wheelchair users. These clothes make dressing faster and easier, and the clothes fit better than the standard garments. The special features for new adaptive clothing for wheelchair users include easy handling fastenings, quick-access garment openings, conveniently placed pockets, custom-curved trousers, slacks, and jackets, custom-shaped dresses and skirts, ponchos or custom-made coats, easy-fit undergarments, and durable styled fabrics. These clothing adaptations are attractive and give the wearer and the observer the feeling that the person with the disability is not set apart by the clothing he or she wears.

Saturation of green absorption in titanium-doped sapphire laser crystals.

Saturation of the pump-band absorption in Ti:sapphire has been observed by using 10-nsec, pi-polarized pulses of 532 nm with fluences up to 4 J/cm(2). A Frantz-Nodvik method was used for fitting the data and determining the saturation fluence (7.6 J/cm(2)) and the absorption cross section (4.9 x 10(-20)cm(2)) at 532 nm. The peak absorption cross section was calculated to be 6.4 x 10(-20) cm(2) at 490 nm. This value is in reasonably good agreement with other determination methods.

Stimulated Brillouin scattering parasitics in large optical windows.

The growth of optical radiation, scattered transverse to the pump axis by stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) in optical windows, is considered. Basic equations are presented, and an analytic expression that determines the parasitic buildup time is derived for a transverse SBS geometry. Losses suffered by the scattered optical radiation are included in a bulk-loss term. Calculations are performed for fused-silica windows and compared with a numerical model. This parasitic process may affect the design of laser systems that will generate multinanosecond, multikilojoule, narrow-band pulses in the ultraviolet region.

Slab-geometry Nd:glass laser performance studies.

Slab-geometry solid-state lasers potentially provide significant performance improvements relative to conventional rod-geometry lasers. We have used a Nd:glass laser test-bed facility to verify the predicted slab-configuration advantages.