The operating room--perceptions of a change in working environment.

The questionnaire surveyed OR staff on themes such as design, security, and workload. Surgical nurses had greater expectations for their roles and functions in the new facility. Levels of physical comfort improved; however, mood was not affected positively.

Change of digastric muscle length in feeding rabbits.

An experiment was undertaken to measure directly the changing length of a jaw muscle during feeding in four intact, unanesthetized New Zealand White rabbits. Metal markers were implanted to define the anterior and posterior ends of the single belly of the digastric muscle and fluoroscopic images were recorded on videotape while the animals fed on pelleted chow and carrot. Graphs of muscle length versus incisor separation were obtained by making measurements of single frames of the videotape record. The graphs revealed that when pelleted chow was being chewed the length of the digastric muscle changed by no more than 9% of its greatest length; during the latter part of the closing stroke it changed very little. Incising and chewing carrot caused the digastric muscle to change in length continuously throughout the chewing cycle; incising carrot resulted in a 13% change in the length of the digastric muscle. The velocity of shortening is slightly less than one muscle length per second.

Numerical model of multiple-Raman-shifting excimer lasers to the blue-green in H(2).

Results of a computer model, which describes all resonant parametric and Raman processes involving frequencies up to fifth-order Stokes waves in a multiple-Raman-shifting amplifier using H(2), are reported. The model is primarily concerned with downconverting ultraviolet excimer laser wavelengths to the blue-green. Results for shifting the XeCl laser (308 nm) to the third Stokes wave (499 nm) are presented.