AIMS Previous studies using isolated strips of human detrusor muscle identified adjustable preload tension, a novel mechanism that acutely regulates detrusor wall tension. The purpose of this investigation was to develop a method to identify a correlate measure of adjustable preload tension during urodynamics. METHODS Patients reporting urgency most or all of the time based on ICIq-OAB survey scores were prospectively enrolled in an extended repeat fill-and-empty urodynamics study designed to identify a correlate of adjustable preload tension which we now call “dynamic elasticity.” Cystometric capacity was determined during initial fill. Repeat fills to defined percentages of capacity with passive emptying (via syringe aspiration) were performed to strain soften the bladder. A complete fill with active voiding was included to determine whether human bladder exhibits reversible strain softening. RESULTS Five patients completed the extended urodynamics study. Intravesical pressure (pves) decreased with subsequent fills and was significantly lower during Fill 3 compared to Fill 1 (P =0.008), demonstrating strain softening. Active voiding after Fill 3 caused strain softening reversal, with pves in Fill 4 returning to the baseline measured during Fill 1 (P = 0.29). Dynamic elasticity, the urodynamic correlate of adjustable preload tension, was calculated as the amount of strain softening (or its reversal) per % capacity (Δaverage pves between fills/Δ%capacity). Dynamic elasticity was lost via repeat passive filling and emptying (strain softening) and regained after active voiding regulated the process (strain softening reversal). CONCLUSIONS Improved understanding of dynamic elasticity in the human bladder could lead to both improved sub-typing and novel treatments of overactive bladder.

RSCP and RCSP are effective, efficient, and safe procedures.

III.

Owing to the risk of occult uterine pathologic finding and complicated postoperative management, preoperative endometrial assessment should be considered on all postmenopausal patients undergoing intra-abdominal uterine morcellation, regardless of risk factors.

A new, nonpenetrating ballistic injury mechanism involving individuals protected by soft body armor is described. Experimental studies using laboratory animals have demonstrated that despite stopping missile penetration, the heart, liver, spleen, and spinal cord are vulnerable to injury. The rapid jolting force of an impacting bullet is contrasted with the usually encountered mechanisms producing blunt trauma injury. The experimental methodology used to assess a 20% increase in survival probability and an 80% decrease in the need for surgical intervention with a new soft body armor is reviewed. Five cases of ballistic assaults on law enforcement personnel protected by soft body armor are presented. Four emphasize the potentially lifesaving qualities of the armor, while the fifth indicates the need for torso encircling design. Hospitalization should follow all assaults, regardless of the innocuous appearance of the skin lesion and the apparent well being on the assaulted individual. Therapeutic guidelines for patient management are suggested. SINCE THE 1960's, an increasing number of police officers have been assaulted with firearms. Attempts against the lives of public officials have also marred this period, including the assassinations of a president, a presidential candidate, and a prominent civil rights leader. The handgun represents the most commonly used weapon in assults against police personnel. F.B.I. statistics for the ten year period from 1964 through 1973 showed that 74% of police fatalities involved handguns. The "common" handguns and "Saturday night specials" (.38, .380, .32, .25, .22 caliber) represented 81% of the handguns used in the fatal police assaults. 18 In 1973, a multi-institutional program, the US Army Land Warfare Laboratory (LWL) and the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA), was