An outbreak of malignant catarrhal fever in young rusa deer (Cervus timorensis)

On the basis of clinical signs and histological findings eight 9-month-old male rusa deer (Cervus timorensis) were diagnosed with sheep associated-malignant catarrhal fever. Following a variable course involving rectal temperatures around 40.5 degrees C, depression, inappetence, diarrhoea, corneal opacity and hypopyon all animals died or were euthanased over a 5-week period. Severe multifocal vasculitis, mainly periglomerular and in the arcuate vessels were consistent histological findings which in the past have been adequate to confirm clinical diagnosis of sheep associated-malignant catarrhal fever. A nested polymerase chain reaction test has been used to detect a sheep associated-malignant catarrhal fever PRC product, 238 base-pairs in size, in DNA extracted from lymphocyte preparations. The result supported the diagnosis of sheep associated-malignant catarrhal fever in these deer.     

Air bearing design, optimization, stability analysis andverification for sub-25 nm flying

Three sub-25 nm fly height sliders are presented for near contact recording. The designs are geared towards the goal of achieving 10 Gb/in ² areal density. The optimization procedure presented shows promise for facilitating achievement of this goal. The dynamic simulations show the stability of these designs when disturbed from their steady state conditions     

The prospects for using the genetically engineered surface antigen of the hepatitis B virus (HBsAg) expressed by recombinant poxvirus strains as the basis for vaccines against hepatitis B

The use of a recombinant poxvirus (RPV) strain, expressing HBsAg in the process of reproduction in different bioreactor systems under stationary and bioreactor conditions of cultivation, made it possible to obtain highly purified HBsAg. The identity and purity of HBsAg was confirmed by the analysis of its amino acid composition, SDS electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gel, electron microscopy and high-performance liquid chromatography. Good prospects of the use of RPV-expressed gene engineering HBsAg as the basis vaccines against hepatitis B was demonstrated in 10 experimental batches of vaccine. All batches of the preparation had pronounced immunogenicity and were safe and nontoxic in animal experiments. The ID50 of experimental batches did not exceed 211 ng/ml, which, according to the data of comparative experiments, was lower than, or equal to, corresponding values of analogous foreign commercial preparations, based on plasma or yeast HBsAg.     

Writing as a therapeutic modality

1. Most psychiatric and mental health professionals are experienced with writing in some form as a tool for encouraging patients to express feelings and identify stressors. 2. Narrative writing, or journal writing, can also help patients identify areas of conflict in their lives and to clarify complicated issues. 3. Writing can be used effectively with patients who are reluctant or embarrassed to speak openly in one-on-one interactions.     

Non-parametric maximum-likelihood channel estimator and detector for OFDM in presence of interference

A maximum-likelihood channel estimator for the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing communication environments, in the presence of interference is discussed here. In a training-based scenario, the channel is estimated based on pilots that precede the transmission of the information. To reduce the number of estimation parameters, the channel is estimated iteratively in time-domain. Since interference from other users provide no useful information, parameters of the interference are neither estimated nor the effect of the interference neglected, instead interference along with Gaussian noise is perceived as non-Gaussian noise process. The algorithm assumes no a priori knowledge about the interfering channel and signal at the receiver, further no assumption on the statistical properties of the interferer is assumed, which makes this algorithm robust. The estimated channel information along with the estimated distribution are then utilised to equalise the subsequent data blocks. The strength of the algorithm is in its robustness to both synchronous and asynchronous interference, which is confirmed by the simulation results for both flat and multipath fading channels in presence of synchronous and asynchronous interference.     

Characterization of optoacoustic surgical devices

Describes a measurement technique specially developed to characterize optoacoustic sources. The technique provides a convenient baseline for a comparison of different surgical ultrasonic systems utilizing optoacoustic and ultrasonic transducers. In addition, it provides a well-defined tool to optimize the performance of a variety of designs. Attention is focused on the laser-assisted devices in which appropriately delivered light energy is converted into acoustic shock wave. A meaningful comparison of such devices with other therapeutic equipment designed for a direct interaction with tissue requires knowledge of energy needed for a successful surgical treatment. It is demonstrated that knowledge of the key shock wave parameters allows the total acoustic energy associated with the shock wave to be determined. The procedure developed to calculate this energy is discussed and it is shown that the value of this energy can be conveniently used as an indicator of efficacy of an optoacoustic converter in a clinical environment. The influence of the performance of the polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) hydrophone probes on the measurement results was also analyzed. It was determined that when appropriately selected, the wide-band PVDF probes are well suited for characterization of the optoacoustic devices in the frequency range 1-100 MHz. The characterization procedure developed is applicable to surgical ultrasonic systems including conventional and laser-assisted phacoemulsifiers     

Premature separation of centromere and aneuploidy: an indicator of high risk in unaffected individuals from familial breast cancer families?

OBJECTIVES: Injury is the leading cause of death in the male working population of Brazil. An important fraction of these deaths are work related. Very few cohort studies of steel workers, and none from developing countries, have reported on mortality from injuries. This paper analyses mortality from work and non-work related injuries among Brazilian steel workers. METHODS: Deaths during employment from 1 January 1977 to 30 November 1992 were analysed in a cohort of 21,816 male steel workers. Mortality rates specific for age and calendar year among the workers were compared with those of the male population of the state where the plant is located. Work related injuries were analysed by comparing the mortality rates for different subgroups of the cohort. RESULTS: The number of deaths (391) was less than half that expected based on death rates of the general population. Over 60% (242) of deaths were due to injuries. Mortality from most causes was substantially below that in the general population, but that from unintentional injury, was 50% above that of the general population. Standardised mortality ratios (SMRs) were highest for the youngest and the oldest employees and for labourers and clerical workers. Mortality from motor vehicle injury was twice that expected from population rates (SMR = 209, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 176-244). There was a 67% fall in the age adjusted mortality from occupational injuries in the study period. CONCLUSION: The healthy worker effect in this cohort was greater than that commonly found in studies of occupational groups in developed countries, probably because of a greater socioeconomic gap between employed and unemployed populations in Brazil, and unequal distribution of health care resources. Mortality was especially high for motor vehicle injuries. The fall in mortality from occupational injuries during the study period was probably due to improvement in safety standards, increased automation, and better medical care. There is a need to investigate risk factors for unintentional injuries among steel workers, especially those due to motor vehicle injuries. Prevention of occupational and nonoccupational injuries should be a main priority in Brazil.     

Aminopeptidases in cells of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of varying degrees of malignancy and in lymphogranulomatosis

26 cases of lymphoproliferative diseases were studied: 8 cases of reactive follicular hyperplasia (RFH), 11 cases of non-Hodgkin's malignant lymphomas (NML), 7 cases of lymphogranulomatosis (LGM). Only gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) was found in lymphoid cells of B- and T-dependent areas of lymph nodes with reactive changes as well as in tumor cells of NML and LGM. GGT activity was more pronounced in NML of high-grade malignancy (centroblast and immunoblast) as compared to lymphomas of lower grade of malignancy (lymphocytic, centroblast-centrocytic and in Lennert lymphoma). GGT activity in cells of Hodgkin and Berezovsky-Sterberg in some cases of LGM was high, in others low. Significant differences in GGT activity between RFH and follicular centroblast-centrocytic lymphoma were not found. Activity of aminopeptidase M was observed in histiocytes, fibroblasts, vessels and areas of connective tissue growth. Aminopeptidase A activity was observed in vessels only. Activity of dipeptidyl(amino)peptidase IV was observed in some lymphoid cells in RFH, NML and LGM. Thus, GGT activity may be considered as a differential-diagnostic marker in separating NML of high and low degree of malignancy and this may presume a different sensitivity to the therapy.     

A fully integrated low-IF CMOS GPS radio with on-chip analog image rejection

A fully integrated Global Positioning System (GPS) radio is presented. Low-IF architecture was used for a high level of integration and low power consumption. An on-chip analog image-reject filter provides 18 dB of image-noise rejection to prevent noise figure (NF) degradation. With image rejection performed in the analog radio, a single-path (nonquadrature) output was used. The integrated synthesizer only requires an off-chip phase-locked loop-filter to function. Implemented in a 0.35-/spl mu/m 2P4M CMOS process, the integrated radio has a chip area of 9.5 mm/sup 2/. The radio operates over a wide range of voltage and temperature, from 2.2 to 3.6 V and from -40/spl deg/C to +85/spl deg/C and consumes 27 mW from a 2.2-V supply. The receiver has 4 dB NF.