Pulmonary infiltrates in neutropenic patients with acute leukemia during chemotherapy: outcome and prognostic factors

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To determine predictors of mortality from pulmonary infiltrates in neutropenic patients with acute leukemia during chemotherapy, and the significance of those factors related to the underlying malignancy and its therapy as well as of those related to the severity of the illness associated with pulmonary infiltrates. DESIGN: A historical cohort study. SETTING: A university teaching hospital and tertiary referral center. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Overall, 53 patients with neutropenia during chemotherapy and with first episodes of pulmonary infiltrates during a 4-year period were studied. Prognostic analysis included 38 variables. Multivariate analyses were performed by logistic regression. RESULTS: The survival rate from pneumonia was 57% (30/53). The following eight parameters were significantly associated with death in univariate analysis: comorbidity present; development of "late" pulmonary infiltrates (> or = 14 days after hospital admission); heart rate > or = 100 beats/min; a ratio heart rate/systolic blood pressure (HR/SBP) > or = 1.2; urea nitrogen > 7 mmol/L; radiographic score > or = 3; neutropenia < 1.0x10(9)/L at the treatment end point; and failed complete remission. In a multivariate model including only parameters available at diagnosis of pulmonary infiltrates, the presence of a ratio HR/SBP > or = 1.2 and of a radiographic score > or = 3 remained independently associated with death. In a second model also including the evolutionary parameter neutropenia < or = 1.0x10(9)/L at the treatment end point, both parameters remained significant together with neutropenia <1.0x 10(9)/L at the treatment end point. The presence of a ratio HR/SBP > or = 1.2 was a strong marker of early death. CONCLUSION: Both therapy- and malignancy-associated neutropenia as well as the severity of illness associated with pulmonary infiltrates are independent prognostic factors. Patients with a ratio HR/SBP > or = 1.2 at diagnosis of pulmonary infiltrates suffer from potentially reversible acute illness, are at risk for early death and, therefore, may be appropriate candidates for treatment in an ICU.     

Fovea center detection based on the retina anatomy and mathematical morphology

In this work, we present a new fovea center detection method for color eye fundus images. This method is based on known anatomical constraints on the relative locations of retina structures, and mathematical morphology. The detection of this anatomical feature is a prerequisite for the computer aided diagnosis of several retinal diseases, such as Diabetic Macular Edema. The proposed method is adaptive to local illumination changes, and it is robust to local disturbances introduced by pathologies in digital color eye fundus images (e.g. exudates). Our experimental results using the DRIVE image database indicate that our method is able to detect the fovea center in 37 out of 37 images (i.e. with a success rate of 100%). Using the DIARETDB1 database, our method was able to detect the fovea center in 92.13% of all tested cases (i.e. in 82 out of 89 images). These results indicate that our approach potentially can achieve a better performance than comparable methods proposed in the literature.     

The metabolism of fenazox in tomato plants

Results from investigations on the metabolism of 14C-Fenazox show that in 6-8 weeks old tomato-plants (sort "Harzfeuer") the agent undergoes a biotransformation. After chromatographic separation the structure of the biotransformation products was elucidated by comparison to authentic test substances, by derivatization as well as by means of physico-chemical methods. With that, the following metabolites were identified: non-transformed Fenazox, o-hydroxyazobenzene, o-hydroxyaniline, and p-hydroxyaniline. Probably, the agent is first transformed enzymatically or non-enzymatically into o-hydroxyazobenzene, then follows a reductive cleavage into o-hydroxyaniline and aniline. In its turn, the latter is transformed into o-hydroxy- and p-hydroxyaniline. Experiments in the field of transformation kinetics indicated that the concentration of the applied Fenazox rapidly decreases and that the first transformation product o-hydroxyazobenzene in the beginning increases and then again decreases in its concentration. With increasing application time it comes to an increase of the non-extractable residues.     

Magnetization and torque measurements on rotating niobium cylinders and ellipsoids

The magnetization and torque of niobium samples of different shapes rotating in a magnetic field are studied with emphasis on the behavior near the upper critical field H _c2. The observed rotational magnetization is free of hysteresis and is found to represent a good approximation to the thermodynamic equilibrium magnetization of the samples if pinning is not too strong and the frequency of rotation is sufficiently low. The viscous contribution to the torque exhibits a step at H _c2whose dependence on sample geometry is in good agreement with predictions derived under the simple assumption of a homogeneous arrangement of parallel straight vortices in the rotating sample.     

The influence of the extraction voltage on the energetic electron population of an electron cyclotron resonance ion source plasma

An influence of the extraction voltage on the high energy slope of bremsstrahlung radiation spectra has been reported in ECRIS experiments, which is not well understood so far. In order to provide more detailed data on this effect, we have measured bremsstrahlung radiation spectra accompanying especially the evolution of highly charge ions (i.e., by monitoring the Ar(14+) charge state) as the extraction voltage is changed from 0 to 20 kV, in dedicated experiments at the Frankfurt 14 GHz-ECRIS.     

Cracking in and around the thermally grown oxide in thermal barrier coatings: A comparison of isothermal and cyclic oxidation

In the present paper the time and temperature dependent evolution of the microstructure of TBC systems and especially of post-experimentally determined physical defects in and around the TGO for both isothermal and cyclic exposure conditions are investigated. Specimens with APS- as well as with PVD-topcoats have been oxidised between 950 and 1100°C up to a maximum duration of 5000 h followed by extensive scanning electron microscopy and subsequent interactive image analysis to measure the maximum crack lengths in and around the TGO. These cracks are additionally classified with respect to their local orientation in the TGO or its vicinity. The results of isothermal and cyclic test conditions show a number of similarities in results e.g. an unsystematic occurrence of inwardly growing, “cauliflower like” oxide or the most frequently occurring type of cracks in APS systems. Nevertheless substantial differences concerning the final failure, microstructure, crack growth behaviour and finally life time of the component between isothermal and cyclic test conditions exist. Some indications were found, that for this particular bond coat occurance of inwardly growing oxide intrusions increases the adherence of the TGO.     

CVD growth and characterization of 3C-SiC thin films

Cubic silicon carbide (3C-SiC) thin films were grown on (100) and (111) Si substrates by CVD technique using hexamethyldisilane (HMDS) as the source material in a resistance heated furnace. HMDS was used as the single source for both Si and C though propane was available for the preliminary carbonization. For selective epitaxial growth, patterned Si (100) substrates were used. The effect of different growth parameters such as substrate orientation, growth temperature, precursor concentration, etc on growth was examined to improve the film quality. The surface morphology, microstructure and crystallinity of grown films were studied using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).     

Differences between organic and schizophrenic groups on the Halstead-Reitan battery: A reply to Watson.

Questions C. G. Watson's (see PA, Vol 52:Issue 3) attempt to explain apparent inconsistencies in findings between his and the present authors' studies in terms of sample differences. Despite Watson's reanalysis of his data by matched pairs, he fails adequately to control for differences in chronicity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An Adaptive Role for DNA Double-Strand Breaks in Hippocampus-Dependent Learning and Memory

DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), classified as the most harmful type of DNA damage based on the complexity of repair, lead to apoptosis or tumorigenesis. In aging, DNA damage increases and DNA repair decreases. This is exacerbated in disease, as post-mortem tissue from patients diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or Alzheimer’s disease (AD) show increased DSBs. A novel role for DSBs in immediate early gene (IEG) expression, learning, and memory has been suggested. Inducing neuronal activity leads to increases in DSBs and upregulation of IEGs, while increasing DSBs and inhibiting DSB repair impairs long-term memory and alters IEG expression. Consistent with this pattern, mice carrying dominant AD mutations have increased baseline DSBs, and impaired DSB repair is observed. These data suggest an adaptive role for DSBs in the central nervous system and dysregulation of DSBs and/or repair might drive age-related cognitive decline (ACD), MCI, and AD. In this review, we discuss the adaptive role of DSBs in hippocampus-dependent learning, memory, and IEG expression. We summarize IEGs, the history of DSBs, and DSBs in synaptic plasticity, aging, and AD. DSBs likely have adaptive functions in the brain, and even subtle alterations in their formation and repair could alter IEGs, learning, and memory.     

Photorhabdus luminescens TccC3 Toxin Targets the Dynamic Population of F-Actin and Impairs Cell Cortex Integrity

Due to its essential role in cellular processes, actin is a common target for bacterial toxins. One such toxin, TccC3, is an effector domain of the ABC-toxin produced by entomopathogenic bacteria of Photorhabdus spp. Unlike other actin-targeting toxins, TccC3 uniquely ADP-ribosylates actin at Thr-148, resulting in the formation of actin aggregates and inhibition of phagocytosis. It has been shown that the fully modified F-actin is resistant to depolymerization by cofilin and gelsolin, but their effects on partially modified actin were not explored. We found that only F-actin unprotected by tropomyosin is the physiological TccC3 substrate. Yet, ADP-ribosylated G-actin can be produced upon cofilin-accelerated F-actin depolymerization, which was only mildly inhibited in partially modified actin. The affinity of TccC3-ADP-ribosylated G-actin for profilin and thymosin-β4 was weakened moderately but sufficiently to potentiate spontaneous polymerization in their presence. Interestingly, the Arp2/3-mediated nucleation was also potentiated by T148-ADP-ribosylation. Notably, even partially modified actin showed reduced bundling by plastins and α-actinin. In agreement with the role of these and other tandem calponin-homology domain actin organizers in the assembly of the cortical actin network, TccC3 induced intense membrane blebbing in cultured cells. Overall, our data suggest that TccC3 imposes a complex action on the cytoskeleton by affecting F-actin nucleation, recycling, and interaction with actin-binding proteins involved in the integration of actin filaments with each other and cellular elements.