A 66-year-old man, a known intravenous heroin user for 45 years, presented to Baylor University Medical Center (BUMC) in May 2001 with a painful left upper arm after falling off a crate. A fractured left humerus was diagnosed, the arm was placed in a sling, and the patient was sent home. Upon reviewing the radiograph the following day, the attending radiologist noticed abnormal lung findings and called the patient, who reported a 1-to 2-month history of dyspnea on exertion. Several months earlier the patient was found to have an ejection fraction of 30% by echocardiogram, as well as severe chronic pulmonary obstructive disease. A partial gastrectomy had been performed many years previously, and a bypass operation had been done in one leg. He had no known allergies. The only medicine he

The gastrointestinal (GI) tract consists of a hollow tube of largely smooth muscle, through which ingested contents can be absorbed and waste material excreted to the outside world. 1 In mammals, the contractile activity of the smooth muscle, responsible for the movement of content within the digestive tract has been studied for many years. Propagating contractions have been recorded from many mammalian species including humans. 2 While most studies focus on antegrade (or anally) propagating motor patterns, retrograde motor

The performance of thin, cerium activated, yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG:Ce), scintillating fiber-shaped crystals were investigated following ion irradiation. The optical behavior of the YAG:Ce fibers was simulated using DETECT2000, a Monte Carlo based software program designed to model the optical properties of scintillators. The fibers were exposed to a focused beam of 0.5 and 1 MeV electrons. Fiber light output and color shift were analyzed following irradiation.