Technologies towards patterned optical foils applied to transflective LCDs

Abstract— For better front‐of‐screen performance for transflective LCDs, a technology with extra free optimization parameters for the optical stack is needed. Thin wet coatable retarders which enable adjustment of the optical activity on the (sub)pixel level have been developed. Isotropic domains have been created in nematic retardation films by thermal patterning or photopatterning. Employing such a patterned retarder in a transflective LCD leads to an LCD that is lighter and thinner with good reflectivity, high transmission, and low chromaticity at all gray levels and wide viewing angles. The patterned thin‐film technology has been proven to be versatile and applicable in various LCD designs.     

Seroprevalence survey of Egyptian tourism workers for hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, human immunodeficiency virus, and Treponema pallidum infections: association of hepatitis C virus infections with specific regions of Egypt

Blood samples from 740 Egyptian Nationals working in the tourism industry at two sites in the South Sinai governorate were screened for markers of infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and Treponema pallidum. Study subjects included 467 individuals from a rural seashore tourist village and 273 persons at two hotels in a well-established resort town. Subjects' ages ranged from 15 to 70 years; 99.3% were male. The prevalence of serologic markers for currently asymptomatic or past HBV infection alone was 20.7% (n = 153), of markers for past or chronic HCV infection alone was 7.4% (n = 55), and of markers for both HBV and HCV was 6.9% (n = 51). Of the 204 individuals positive for anti-HBV core antibody, 12 (5.9%) were also positive for hepatitis B surface antigen. Two individuals (0.3%) had a serologic market suggestive of an active syphilitic infection. No subject was found to be HIV-seropositive. History of prior injections and number of injections were associated with infection with HCV. Primary residence in the Nile delta and valley areas where schistosomiasis is highly endemic, was also a statistically significant risk factor for HCV, but not HBV infection.     

The diagnostic value of symptoms and signs in childhood abdominal pain

Amiodarone is a benzofuran derivative with a chemical structure similar to thyroxine. Originally introduced to treat angina pectoris, amiodarone was found to have antiarrhythmic properties, and in 1985, was approved in the United States for treatment of life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias. It is now used for various ventricular and supraventricular arrhythmias refractory to conventional first-line medications, and as a result, side effects have been observed with increased frequency. The most severe and potentially life-threatening of these side effects is the development of pulmonary toxicity. Typically, amiodarone pulmonary toxicity (APT) is manifested by acute pneumonitis and chronic fibrosis. Amiodarone-associated hemoptysis (AAH) is a rare occurrence. The authors describe a case of AAH successfully treated with cessation of drug and steroid therapy.     

Effect of topical steroids on nasal nitric oxide production in children with perennial allergic rhinitis: a pilot study

It has been hypothesized that concentrations of exhaled nitric oxide (NO) may be related to the extent of cytokine-mediated airway inflammation. Recent findings indicate the nasal airways as an important site of NO production. Our objective was to evaluate whether children with allergic rhinitis show different nasal NO levels when compared with normal healthy subjects and the effect of topical steroids and anti-histamine therapy. We have measured the concentration of NO drawn from the nose of 21 children (5-17 years old) affected by perennial allergic rhinitis (house dust mite) out of therapy for at least 3 weeks. Thirteen children were then treated with nasal beclomethasone dipropionate (BDP) (400 micrograms daily) and eight subjects with nasal anti-histamine levocabastine (200 micrograms daily). Measurements were performed before and after 10 days of treatment. As a control group we evaluated 21 healthy children aged 5-15 years. To measure NO we used a chemiluminescence analyser. Before treatment the whole group of children with allergic rhinitis showed a mean (+/- SEM) nasal NO concentration of 267 +/- 18 ppb, significantly higher (P < 0.01) than the control group (186 +/- 15 ppb). The group of children treated with BDP showed, after 10 days of therapy, a significant (P < 0.05) decrease of nasal NO concentration (271 +/- 21 ppb vs. 212 +/- 20 ppb). Indeed, in the group treated with levocabastine, nasal NO concentrations did not present a significant difference (P not significant) compared with baseline (261 +/- 33 ppb and 252 +/- 31 ppb, respectively). These data suggest that (1) children with allergic rhinitis have higher levels of nasal NO than non-atopic controls and (2) intranasal steroid therapy significantly reduces nasal NO production in children with allergic rhinitis. We speculate that the allergic inflammatory response may influence the nasal NO levels and that NO measurements may be a useful marker of nasal inflammation.     

Early diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis

On the basis of own observations of courses the author adopts a definite attitude to the early symptomatology of the rheumatoid arthritis. During the first weeks of the rheumatoid arthritis the following symptoms are found: articular syndromes, more frequently in form of obstinate polyarthralgias, mono-oligoarthritis, accompanied by morning rigidity and accelerated BSR as well as impairment of the general condition. In the majority of the patients only the tentative diagnosis rheumatoid arthritis may be made. After a one to three months' course of the disease the diagnosis becomes more probable. It is above all based on constancy and symmetry, characteristic localisation of the articular process, morning rigidity, radiologically paraarticular loosening of the structure and morphological symptoms of an acute and subacute synovialitis. 6 to 12 months after the beginning of the disease a clinical picture forms which allows to make the diagnosis of a certain or classical rheumatoid arthritis in accordance with the criteria of the ARA. The occurrence of a high activity of multiple affection of the joints (permanent symmetrical polyarthritis including the small joints of the hands and feet), distinctive morning rigidity, high fever and much accelerated BSR, beginning with the first weeks of the disease, speaks for the possibility of the development of an arthrovisceral form of the course of rheumatoid arthritis.     

Immunocytochemical evaluation of protein kinase C translocation to the inner nuclear matrix in 3T3 mouse fibroblasts after IGF-I treatment

The complex pathway which links the agonist-cell membrane receptor binding to the response at the genome level involves, among other elements, protein kinase C (PKC). Agonists acting at the cell membrane can affect an autonomous nuclear polyphosphoinositide signaling system inducing an activation of nuclear phosphoinositidase activity and a subsequent translocation of PKC to the nuclear region. The fine localization of PKC has been investigated by means of electron microscopy quantitative immunogold labeling in 3T3 mouse fibroblasts, mitogenically stimulated by IGF-I. The enzyme, which in untreated cells is present in the cytoplasm, except for the organelles, and in the nucleoplasm, after IGF-I treatment is reduced in the cytoplasm and almost doubled in the nucleus. The PKC isoform translocated to the nucleus is the alpha isozyme, which is found not only associated with the nuclear envelope but mainly with the interchromatin domains. By using in situ matrix preparations, PKC appears to be retained at the nuclear matrix level, both at the nuclear lamina and at the inner nuclear matrix, suggesting a direct involvement in the phosphorylation of nuclear proteins which are responsible for the regulation of DNA replication.     

Characterization of a potent and specific class of antisense oligonucleotide inhibitor of human protein kinase C-alpha expression

The use of antisense oligonucleotides to inhibit the expression of targeted mRNA sequences is becoming increasingly commonplace. Although effective, the most widely used oligonucleotide modification (phosphorothioate) has some limitations. In previous studies we have described a 20-mer phosphorothioate oligodeoxynucleotide inhibitor of human protein kinase C-alpha expression. In an effort to identify improved antisense inhibitors of protein kinase C expression, a series of 2' modifications have been incorporated into the protein kinase C-alpha targeting oligonucleotide, and the effects on oligonucleotide biophysical characteristics and pharmacology evaluated. The incorporation of 2'-O-(2-methoxy)ethyl chemistry resulted in a number of significant improvements in oligonucleotide characteristics. These include an increase in hybridization affinity toward a complementary RNA (1.5 degrees C per modification) and an increase in resistance toward both 3'-exonuclease and intracellular nucleases. These improvements result in a substantial increase in oligonucleotide potency (>20-fold after 72 h). The most active compound identified was used to examine the role played by protein kinase C-alpha in mediating the phorbol ester-induced changes in c-fos, c-jun, and junB expression in A549 lung epithelial cells. Depletion of protein kinase C-alpha protein expression by this oligonucleotide lead to a reduction in c-jun expression but not c-fos or junB. These results demonstrate that 2'-O-(2-methoxy)ethyl-modified antisense oligonucleotides are 1) effective inhibitors of protein kinase C-alpha expression, and 2) represent a class of antisense oligonucleotide which are much more effective inhibitors of gene expression than the widely used phosphorothioate antisense oligodeoxynucleotides.