OBJECTIVE To analyse patients with cholesteatoma undergoing canal wall down mastoidectomy together with ossicular reconstruction with a titanium prosthesis, in order to identify factors associated with hearing outcomes. STUDY DESIGN Retrospective review of 97 cases undergoing single-stage surgical management. METHODS All patients underwent canal wall down mastoidectomy. Kurz titanium ossicu...

OBJECTIVE We evaluated frozen databases from two 52-week randomized placebo-controlled clinical diabetic neuropathy trials testing two doses of acetyl-L-carnitine (ALC): 500 and 1,000 mg/day t.i.d. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Intention-to-treat patients amounted to 1,257 or 93% of enrolled patients. Efficacy end points were sural nerve morphometry, nerve conduction velocities, vibration perce...

Electrophysiological changes occurring soon after experimental coronary occlusion have been examined in 13 dogs by combined recording of epicardial action potential, endocardial-epicardial conduction time, and epicardial ST segment elevation during successive 5-minute occlusions of the left anterior descending coronary artery. Mter initial coronary occlusion, action potential duration shortened...

BACKGROUND Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) using endocardial left ventricular (LV) pacing may be superior to conventional CRT. We studied the acute hemodynamic response to conventional CRT and LV pacing from different endocardial sites using a combined cardiac MRI and LV noncontact mapping (NCM) protocol to gain insights into the underlying mechanisms. METHODS AND RESULTS Fifteen pati...

Background Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) utilising endocardial left ventricular (LV) pacing may be superior to conventional CRT. We studied the acute hemodynamic response to conventional CRT and LV pacing from different endocardial sites using a combined cardiac MRI and LV non-contact mapping protocol to gain insights into the underlying mechanisms. Methods and Results Fifteen patient...

It has been suggested that optimization of either axonal conduction velocity or the energy efficiency of action potential conduction predominates in the selection of voltage-gated sodium conductance levels in the squid axon. A population genetics model of channel gene regulatory function was used to examine the role of these and other evolutionary forces on the selection of both sodium and pota...

Materials displaying high oxide-ion and/or proton conductivity have been attracting considerable interest for application as electrolytes in solid oxide fuel cells. In this respect, materials with the fluorite or perovskite-type structures have traditionally been targeted, but there is now growing interest in new structure-types. Important aspects to address are the dominant defects and mechani...

A wire-array flux-compression cartridge installed on Sandia's Saturn pulsed power generator doubled the current into a 3-nH load to 6 MA and halved its rise time to 100 ns. The current into the load, however, was unexpectedly delayed by almost 1 micros. Estimates of a plasma flow switch acting as a long-conduction-time opening switch are consistent with key features of the power compression. Th...

Combined hearing loss is an essential indication for implantable hearing systems. Depending on the bone conduction threshold, various options are available: Patients with mild sensorineural deafness usually benefit from transcutaneous BCI, while percutaneous BCI systems are recommended also for moderate hearing loss. For combined hearing loss with moderate and high-grade cochlear hearing loss, ...

Carpal tunnel syndrome is the most common entrapment neuropathy seen in the electrodiagnostic laboratory. Clinical assessment is an important part of the electrodiagnostic consultation and helps to form an appropriate differential diagnosis. Sensory conduction studies are a critical part of the evaluation. Using a summary index, such as the combined sensory index, is preferable to considering s...