Mitral annular nonplanarity: correlation between annular height/commissural width ratio and the nonplanarity angle.

Objective: To compare two methods of mitral annular nonplanarity: the mathematically calculated annular height-to-commissural width ratio (AHCWR) and the echocardiographically derived nonplanarity angle.

Design: Prospective.

Setting: Tertiary care university hospital.

Cardiac output monitoring: is there a gold standard and how do the newer technologies compare?

As a principal determinant of oxygen delivery and of blood pressure, cardiac output (CO) represents an important hemodynamic variable. Its accurate measurement, therefore, is important to the clinician caring for critically ill patients in a variety of care environments. Though the first clinical measurement of CO occurred 70 years ago, it was the introduction of the pulmonary artery catheter (PAC) with thermodilution-based determination of CO in the 1970s that set the stage for practical and widespread clinical measurement of CO.

Repair of tibial nonunions and bone defects with the Taylor Spatial Frame.

Objective: To investigate the outcomes of tibial nonunions and bone defects treated with the Taylor Spatial Frame (TSF) using the Ilizarov method.

Design: Retrospective.

Setting: Limb Lengthening and Deformity Service at an academic medical center.

Scope of enantioselective palladium(II)-catalyzed aerobic alcohol oxidations with (-)-sparteine.

Evaluation of the substrate scope for Pd(II)/ (-)-sparteine catalyzed aerobic oxidative kinetic resolution of secondary alcohols is disclosed. An improved system is found with use of tert-butyl alcohol solvent in which benzylic and aliphatic alcohols as well as alcohols containing olefins are effectively oxidatively resolved. For substrates that successfully undergo oxidative kinetic resolution, k(rel) values are generally between 10 and 20.