Mutant p53 expression: a marker of diminished survival in well-differentiated soft tissue sarcoma

The aim of this study was to assess the translational value of the quantitative assay of mutant p53 protein expression as both a prognostic indicator and a tool to determine appropriate therapy in a group of relatively innocuous and morphologically similar soft tissue sarcomas (STSs). Using a quantitative ELISA, we analyzed mutant p53 protein expression in 47 well-differentiated (grade I) STSs from patients treated in our Department of Surgical Oncology. Sixteen of 47 tumors expressed up to 42.6 ng mutant p53 protein/mg total protein. After a mean follow-up of 112 months, 63% of the patients with mutant p53+ tumors but only 16% of the patients with mutant p53- tumors had died (P < 0.01). Mutant p53 expression of >/=4.5 ng predicted even greater reduction in survival. These data show that mutant p53 expression identifies biologically aggressive grade I STSs. This molecular marker should have translational value as a tool to select those patients likely to benefit from aggressive multimodal therapy and intense surveillance.     

Monitoring the injured brain in intensive care: present and future

The methods of monitoring the injured brain in intensive care have relied mainly on intermittent measurement. There is now increasing clinical interest in newer continuous forms of bedside monitoring that can help direct therapy earlier and more precisely. This article reviews continuous methods of monitoring cerebral perfusion, oxygenation, brain chemistry and function.     

The effect of heat setting on the structure and mechanical properties of poly(ethylene terephthalate) fiber. II. The elastic modulus and its dependence on structure

The effects of temperature, time of heat setting, and rate of cooling on the elastic modulus of free-and taut-annealed poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) fibers were determined at different time scales using Instron, Rheovibron, and pulse propagation meter. The correlation of the elastic modulus with structure is critically examined in terms of the widely used simple one-phase and two-phase models for fiber modulus. It is concluded that these simple models are not universally applicable.     

Theoretical analysis of the Fresnel lens as a function of design parameters

The author has studied the theoretical performance of the Fresnel lens as a function of the design parameters—i.e. the radius to the centre of the steps, the focal distance from the back of the lens to the plane of the image with the object (i.e. the sun) at infinity, the thickness of the lens plate, the step width and the refractive index of the material (with respect to air)—used in its fabrication. Numerical calculations have also been carried out for a Fresnel lens of perspex sheet.     

Solubility of calcium sulphate dihydrate in hydrochloric acid solutions

Solubilities of CaSO₄, 2H₂O in hydrochloric acid solutions of concentration up to normal have been studied for temperatures from 20° to 70°. Results are discussed in relation to the Debye-Huckel theory.     

Fault Anticipator for Substation Equipment

Following an inordinate number of in-service failures of 230-kV current transformers, a need was perceived for some sort of early failure warning device for equipment in substations. The development and evaluation of an inexpensive partial discharge detection system for continuous on-line monitoring of substation equipment is described in this paper. The source of partial discharge activity, which nearly always precedes failure in high voltage equipment for times from minutes to months, may be unequivocally identified in a noisy substation environment, with no false alarms. Possible personnel hazard and damage to other equipment caused by an explosive failure can be avoided with appropriate operator action upon an alarm.     

A simple method of photomask yield optimization by defect inspection

The quality of the photomask set decides to a large extent the quality and quantity of the device that will be produced. In order to ensure the quality of the photomasks, several sophisticated instruments are commercially available. However, in a research type of environment, the cost of such equipment can be prohibitive. In this paper, we propose a simple method of multiple master mask preparation with subsequent matching of defective die locations to optimize the master mask set. The advantage here is that a very good master mask set can be chosen so that minimum number of dies on the photomask set itself contribute to low wafer yield. The method is based on manual inspection of individual dies on photomasks and can be practically used for a complexity of up to 500 components.     

Amorphous semiconductors: Structural models

The structure of amorphous semiconductors has become the subject of intense study in recent years. In this paper, the models, that have been constructed and applied to represent the structures, have been briefly reviewed. Details of the construction of continuous random network (CRN) models have been presented and a comparative study of the microcrystallite model and the random network model has been made in the light of their recent applications.     

Cost function analysis of a 3-state reparable system

This paper presents the cost function analysis of a system with 3 states: good, degraded and failed. The system suffers from two types of failure: partial and catastrophic. The partial and catastrophic failures bring the system to degraded and failed state respectively. There is only one server, which is always available. The failure and repair times for the system follow exponential and general distributions respectively. Laplace transforms of various probability states are obtained along with steady-state behaviour of the system. A numerical example has also been discussed to highlight the important results.