OBJECTIVE To evaluate a new technique for pressure-volume curve tracing. DESIGN Prospective experimental study. SETTING Animal research laboratory. SUBJECTS Six anesthetized rats. INTERVENTIONS Two pressure-volume curves were obtained by means of the super-syringe method (gold standard) and the continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) method. For the CPAP method, the ventilator was sw...

Gompertz growth functions were fitted to longitudinal measurements of daily feed intake (DFI) and BW of 586 boars and 495 gilts from a selection experiment in Yorkshire pigs for residual feed intake (RFI). The selection experiment consists of a line selected for low residual feed intake (LRFI) for 5 generations and a randomly selected control line (CTRL). The objectives of this study were to us...

1 Ana Aizcorbe In the mid-1990s, measured productivity growth for the semiconductor industry showed a pickup that coincided with an economy-wide acceleration in labor productivity growth. This pickup in semiconductor markets stems from an increase in the growth of real output that was, in turn, generated by what Dale Jorgenson (2001) called an " inflection point " in the price indexes for the s...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the correlation between different radiographic methods in the evaluation of the lumbosacral concavity. METHODS The sample consisted of 52 individuals with ages ranging from 18 to 28 years old. The procedures related to radiographic image collection were carried out in collaboration with a diagnostic imaging center of a hospital in Curitiba, PR, Brazil. The angles of t...

The shift of the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) spectrum is widely used in bio- and chemical sensing. Traditionally, the shift is monitored at the peak maximum of the extinction spectrum. We demonstrate that the inflection point at the long wavelength side of the peak maximum shows better refractive index sensitivity than the peak maximum. A consistent improvement in bulk refractive...

A total of 86 profiles from meat and egg strains of chickens (male and female) were used in this study. Different flexible growth functions were evaluated with regard to their ability to describe the relationship between live weight and age and were compared with the Gompertz and logistic equations, which have a fixed point of inflection. Six growth functions were used: Gompertz, logistic, Lope...

BACKGROUND The sniffing position is often considered optimal for direct laryngoscopy. Another concept of airway configuration involving a laryngeal vestibule axis and two curves has also been suggested. We investigated whether this theory can be supported mathematically and if it supports the sniffing position as being optimal for direct laryngoscopy. METHODS Magnetic resonance imaging scans ...

The efflux of salt from human red blood cells suspended in isotonic sucrose plus low concentrations of salt, was measured under steady-state conditions. The relationship between the efflux and the log of the salt concentration can be fitted by two straight lines with a sharp inflection point, the steeper slope occurring at concentrations below 0.2 mM NaCl. The determining factor in the rate of ...