Contribution of initial median-nerve somatosensory evoked potentials and brainstem auditory evoked potentials to prediction of clinical outcome in cerebrovascular critical care patients: a statistical evaluation

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the pathological and clinical features of a variant of renal carcinoma: sarcomatoid renal carcinoma. METHODS: Of 316 patients diagnosed as having a renal tumor from 1975 to 1995, 11 (3.5%) with a pathological diagnosis of sarcomatoid renal carcinoma were analyzed. The clinical history, biological data and diagnostic imaging findings of these patients were reviewed. All patients had undergone surgical exploration. RESULTS: All the tumors showed a double cellular population, with a fusiform component. Histological analysis showed a high grade and stage tumor. Ten patients died from the disease, the mean survival rate was 9 months (range 2-48) following diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: Sarcomatoid carcinoma of the kidney is uncommon and can be occasionally difficult to distinguish from sarcoma. It has a worse prognosis than other variants of renal carcinoma.     

U.S. detergent/surfactant trends— 1980s1

The U.S. surfactant market is large, mature, and likely to grow at a rate of 2-3% over the next 10 years. The household, personal care and industrial markets will maintain roughly the same market shares of the total that they have held historically. Within the household market, there should be a continued trend toward the use of alcohol-based surfactants at the expense of linear alkylbenzene sulfonates (LAS). Several factors point to greater usage of nonionics in the future: popularity of heavy-duty liquids and detergents containing enzymes and fabric softeners, a trend to lower laundry wash temperatures and decreasing dependence on phosphate builders. In personal care end uses, alpha olefin sulfonates are expected to show growth due to cost performance advantages in liquid soaps and shampoos. The industrial surfactant market will remain highly segmented and will grow at ca. 3% annually, mainly as a result of overall industrial expansion. Ample capacity and anticipated feedstock availability at acceptable prices will allow producers of synthetic surfactants to satisfy demand through the rest of the decade. Research will lead to formulations aimed at cooler laundry washing conditions and increased enzyme usage. Enhanced oil recovery may involve new surfactants, but large-scale consumption will not begin before the end of the decade. 1 Presented March 24, 1983, to the European Committee of Organic Surfactants and Their Intermediates (CESIO), Bruges, Belgium.     

Rational Design of Novel Peptidic DnaK Ligands

The hsp70 chaperone DnaK from E. coli plays a major role in cellular stress response and is involved in assisted protein folding in vivo. By screening a combinatorial peptide library, we identified several DnaK‐specific peptide ligands with nanomolar affinities, which are able to inhibit the secondary amide peptide bond cis/trans isomerase (APIase) activity of DnaK, as well as DnaK/DnaJ/GrpE‐assisted refolding of firefly luciferase. Our designed DnaK inhibitors have the capability to penetrate E. coli cells and feature a high protease resistance. Once inside the cell, they physically target DnaK. NMR‐based ¹H/¹⁵N‐HSQC experiments furthermore confirmed that the designed peptidic ligands all bind in an identical manner to the conventional peptide‐binding site of DnaK. The subsequent blocking of DnaK function apparently results in the observed antibacterial effects on E. coli cells, with minimum inhibitory concentrations in the range of 100 μM .     

Fachgerechte Erstellung von Fugen in Verblendfassaden

Für die Erstellung optisch einwandfreier Verblendfassaden mit sachgerecht ausgeführtem Witterungsschutz bietet die Industrie Werktrockenmörtel an, die an die unterschiedlichen Steinqualitäten angepasst wurden. Gute Argumente für die Baustellenpraxis bieten Vormauermörtel, bei denen die Fugengestaltung mit dem Fugenglattstrich “aus einem Guss” erfolgt. Bei Verwendung von speziellen Fugenmörteln ist auch mit nachträglicher Verfugung eine dichte Fuge zu erzielen. Mörteltechnische Optimierungen, die aus zahlreichen Untersuchungen abgeleitet wurden, können die “Härten der Baustellenpraxis” abmindern. Nach wie vor ist aber die Beachtung ausführungstechnischer Hinweise von höchster Bedeutung. Professional preparation from joints in facades with facing brickwork. For the preparation from optically intact facades with facing brickwork, with a properly functioning weather protection, the mortar industry offers premade dry mortars, which are adapted to the different types of brick qualities. Good arguments for the construction site praxis are achieved by masonry mortars by which the joint design can be done directly in one step. Through the use of special joint mortars you can achieve in a subsequent application a very tight joint. Technical optimizations within the premade mortar products, which have been won on numerous praxis tests, can help to reduce complications on the working site. Nonetheless is extremely important to follow the application notices for a correct application.     

Process parameter analysis in ablating micro-mold manufacturing

The accuracy and process reliability of both laser ablation and EDM depend on various influences like machine tool performance, temperature, material properties and process parameters. This paper focuses on the variation of the most important process parameters to reduce surface roughness and machining time. For the experiments standard tool steel (X38CrMoV5-1) was used. In the following the variation of process parameters is described and validated by selected machining examples for EDM and laser ablation, respectively.