Neutrophil accumulation is reduced during partial liquid ventilation

OBJECTIVE: This study evaluates the ability of perflubron to inhibit pulmonary neutrophil accumulation during partial liquid ventilation (PLV) in the setting of acute lung injury. DESIGN: Randomized, controlled, nonblinded study. SETTING: Research laboratory at a university. SUBJECTS: Male, Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 120, 506 +/- 42 g). INTERVENTIONS: Animals were divided into eight groups (n = 15 in each group, of which n = 12 for myeloperoxidase content and n = 3 for histologic neutrophil counting): a) GV-CVF group, animals received gas ventilation (GV) with the induction of lung injury using cobra venom factor (CVF); b) PLV-CVF group, animals received partial liquid ventilation before the induction of lung injury; c) PEEP-CVF group, animals received positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) before the administration of cobra venom factor; d) CVF-PLV group, animals received partial liquid ventilation after cobra venom factor; e) CVF-PEEP group, animals received PEEP after cobra venom factor; f) PLV only group, animals received partial liquid ventilation only; g) GV only group, animals received gas ventilation only; and h) NVSBA group, nonventilated spontaneous breathing animals. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: After the experimental period, total lung myeloperoxidase content was significantly decreased in the PLV-CVF (0.29 +/- 0.08, p = .02) and PEEP-CVF (0.34 +/- 0.04, p = .01) groups when compared with the GV-CVF group (0.62 +/- 0.07). When compared with the GV-CVF group, a trend toward a reduction in myeloperoxidase was observed in the CVF-PLV (0.42 +/- 0.05, p = .07) and the CVF-PEEP (0.39 +/- 0.06, p = .07) groups. When compared with the cobra venom factor only group (GV-CVF 47 +/- 2 neutrophils/high-power field), reductions in neutrophil count were observed in all groups (neutrophils/high-power field): PLV-CVF (20 +/- 2, p = .009); PEEP-CVF (24 +/- 1, p = .01); CVF-PLV (30 +/- 2, p = .03); and CVF-PEEP (37 +/- 1, p = .04). CONCLUSION: These data suggest that both partial liquid ventilation and PEEP result in a reduction in neutrophil accumulation in the setting of acute lung injury.     

Generalised drift-diffusion model of bipolar transport in semiconductors

Contents A generalisation of the conventional relaxation-time approximation for bipolar transport with electron-hole scattering is presented. A simple phenomenological ansatz leads to Generalised Drift-Diffusion current equations, which contain both conventional Drift-Diffusion equations and matrix-form Drift-Diffusion equations with drag currents as special cases. The effect on carrier transport in semiconductor devices under both low and high injection conditions is discussed analytically and compared with simulation results.

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Verallgemeinertes Drift-Diffusions-Modell des bipolarem Transports in Halbleitern

Übersicht Eine Verallgemeinerung der üblichen Relaxationszeit-Näherung zur Beschreibung von bipolarem Transport unter Berücksichtigung von Elektron-Loch-Streuung wird vorgestellt. Ein einfacher phänomenologischer Ansatz führt zu verallgemeinerten Drift-Diffusions-Gleichungen, die sowohl die konventionellen Drift-Diffusions-Gleichungen, als auch die Matrix-Stromgleichungen als Spezialfälle enthalten. Die Auswirkungen auf Ladungsträgertransport in Halbleiter-Bauelementen für niedrige und hohe Injektion wird analytisch diskutiert und mit Simulationsergebnissen verglichen.

     

Transitional cell carcinoma of Bartholin's glands

A report is given about a patient aged 57 years, who developed a transitional cell carcinoma of the Bartholin's gland. Transitional cell carcinomas of the vulva are rare neoplasms. To the best of our knowledge only eight cases are reported in the literature including this case. In context with the international literature etiopathogenetic theories, therapeutic and prognostic aspects of the disease are discussed.     

Experimental and theoretical study of the turn-off behavior of field-controlled thyristors (FCTh's)

Contents The turn-off behavior of FCTh's with surface-gates is studied. The devices investigated in this paper exhibit short turn-off times of less than 300 ns. The anode current, gate voltage and anode voltage are measured under resistive and inductive load. Analytical models are developed to describe the turn-off transients of the FCTh's. Studies of the storage phase including the time-dependent gate current and the tail period including the recombination in thep ⁺-anode region have been perfomed by applying the new models.

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Experimentelle und theoretische Untersuchung des Abschaltverhaltens von feldgesteuerten Thyristoren (FCTh's)

Übersicht Es wird das Abschaltverhalten von FCTh's mit Oberflächen-Gates untersucht. Die verwendeten Bauelemente weisen Abschaltzeiten von weniger als 300 ns auf. Gemessen werden die transienten Verläufe von Anodenstrom, Gatestrom und Anodenspannung bei ohmscher und induktiver Last. Zur Beschreibung des Abschaltverhaltens werden neue analytische Modelle erstellt. Berechnungen der Abschaltverzugsphase unter Berücksichtigung transienter Gatestromverläufe und der Tailphase unter Berücksichtigung der Rekombination in derp ⁺-Anodenzone werden durchgeführt.

     

Combined therapy with cyclosporin A and cortisone in endocrine Basedow endocrine orbitopathy: successful use in compressive optic neuropathy

In the nineteen-thirties and -forties, genes were universally believed to be made of protein. Biochemists met Avery, MacLeod and McCarty's discovery, that the transforming factor of pneumococci consists of DNA, with disbelief, and the notion that this was true of genes took a long time to be generally accepted even after Watson and Crick's discovery of its double helical structure. Until Watson's arrival, Kendrew, Crick and I were interested mainly in solving the structure of proteins, but Watson made us think about the structure of genes which determine protein structure.