Acute autoimmune sensorineural hearing loss associated with Crohn's disease

We report the sudden onset of bilateral hearing loss in a patient with Crohn's disease while the intestinal disease was quiescent. Antibodies directed against collagen type II were detected in the serum. Dramatic improvement of his hearing was observed under corticosteroid therapy. Diagnosis of autoimmune sensorineural hearing loss was established. This condition could be considered as an extraintestinal manifestation of Crohn's disease. Early diagnosis is mandated, as prompt and intensive treatment with corticosteroids and/or immunosuppressive drugs is effective and could prevent irreversible hearing loss.     

Effluent treatment by multi-media filtration, microfiltration and ultrafiltration: results of a pilot investigation at WWTP Hoek van Holland.

Upgrading of wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent as a part of the Dutch governmental policy to close the water cycle has increasing interest now. The Water Board Hoogheemraadschap van Delfland together with the project team of Witteveen + Bos Consulting Engineers, Delft University of Technology and Rossmark water treatment investigated the reuse possibilities of WWTP effluent in the region of Delfland. Therefore pilot research was carried out at WWTP Hoek van Holland applying different filtration techniques: multi-media filtration, micro- and ultrafiltration. The results show stable process performances of the different filtration techniques when proper pre-treatment was applied. For microfiltration the filtration characteristics were strongly influenced by particles which were not retained in the multi-media filter. For ultrafiltration the filtration characteristics were strongly influenced by organic components < 0.2 microm. The upgraded WWTP effluent could not be used directly as process water or for agriculture purposes, due to high concentrations of COD and salts in the WWTP effluent and filtrates. However WWTP effluent or floc filtrate could be applied directly as water for the washing of sea-sand.     

Haplotype sharing analysis in affected individuals from nuclear families with at least one affected offspring

In diseases with a complex mode of inheritance, families with multiple affected individuals are difficult to ascertain. The haplotype sharing statistic (HSS) uses (hidden) co-ancestry between affected individuals from a founder population. These affected individuals will likely not only share the same mutation(s), but also the surrounding haplotype. We show that this method gives a low false positive rate, but does not detect genes in the nuclear families of Problem 2A of the GAW data. We also give evidence based on simulations and empirical studies in real population based data that the HSS method has statistical power.     

Das Keilzinken von Holz—Dritte Mitteilung: Maschinentechnik und Wirtschaftlichkeit eines neuen Keilzinkenverfahrens

Zusammenfassung Maschinen herk?mmlicher Art sind für die Herstellung der neuen Keilzinkung nicht geeignet. Die baulichen Grundlagen für eine neue Maschine werden dargestellt. Die Ergebnisse von Untersuchungen im Laboratorium und im einj?hrigen Probebetrieb in einem Werk sind erfolgversprechend. Das Verfahren ist durch folgende Tatsachen gekennzeichnet: Kurze Zinkenl?nge, dadurch Einsparung von Holz, sehr geringe Zinkenspitzenbreite, dadurch sehr geringes Zinkenspiel, das Vorfr?sen oder Vors?gen von Zinkenprofilen entf?llt, stark verminderter Kraftverbrauch auf Grund geringer Schnittarbeit, doppelseitiger, kontrollierter und verlustarmer Leimauftrag, hohe Anfangsfestigkeit der neuen Keilzinkenverbindung bei Pressung ohne W?rmezufübrung, hohe Endfestigkeit.

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te> Finger-Jointing of Wood—Part III: Machine processing and economic aspects of a new finger jointing method te> te> Summary Conventional finger jointing equipment are inappropriate for the manufacture of the new finger-joint. The principles of design for a machine according to the new method have been developed. The results from laboratory tests as well as the experiences gained from tests in the industrial field are very promising. The method is determined by the following facts: Extremely short finger-length and thus wood savings, very little width of the fingertips and thus little pin-clearance, precutting or presawing of the profiles is eliminated, power consumption is considerably reduced because of little excised wood-volume, controlled glue application on both profiles and thus little waste of glue, high initial strength without additional heat when pressing the glued pieces, and finally high ultimate strength. te>

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Dieses Keilzinkverfahren wurde unter Leitung von Prof. Dr.-Ing. J. E. Marian, Universíty of California, Berkeley, USA, zusammen mit Civ. Ing. B. O. Ivansson, Civ. Ing. H. Str?m und den Verfassern an der K?nigl. Technischen Hochschule, Stockholm, Institut für Bautechnik, Leitung Prof. Dr.-Ing. H. Brosenius, entwickelt. Die Finanzierung erfolgte durch den staatl. technischen Forschungsrat, Stockholm. Die Verfasser danken den Mitarbeitern für eine vorbildliche Zusammenarbeit, Prof. Brosenius für die freizügige überlassung der Einrichtungen des Institutes und den Finanzierungsinstitutionen besonders Civ, Ing. N. Bergling von EFOR, Stockholm, für vielfach geleistete Hilfe.     

Mathematical analysis of a heterojunction, applied to the copper sulphide-cadmium sulphide solar cell

The mathematical analysis of the photoelectric effects in the heterojunction of CdS---Cu₂S combines the excitation-recombination-diffusion process in the copper sulfide, the interface recombination and the electron transport across the barrier in the cadmium sulphide. This leads to a current-voltage characteristic in which the parameters include, among other things, the height of the barrier or the discontinuity in the conduction band edge. The conductances of barrier, interface and semiconductor which are important parameters of the current-voltage characteristic, depend exponentially on this discontinuity. Problems bearing on the collecting and the inverse injecting of minority charge carriers are mentioned. The after-heat treatment, an essential step in the production of solar cells, is given a possible interpretation. According to this, the oxygen at the interface of cadmium sulphide is absorbed during the heat treatment and determines the band bending in the adjacent CdS. The optimum after-heat treatment of the cell, according to the theory, is that which leads to a transition from the conduction band of the CdS to that of the Cu₂S with practically no discontinuity.     

Effect of linseed oil on fatty acid composition of low- and very low density lipoproteins, cholesterol and its fractions in the blood serum of albino rats]

The authors studied the influence of linseed oil, and mixtures of linseed and sunflower oils, in varying ratios, on the levels of cholesterol, low- and very low-density lipoproteins, high-density cholesterol, free and esterified cholesterol, and on the fatty-acid composition of low- and very low-density lipoproteins. In experiments on Wistar white rats linseed oil decreased cholesterol concentration, and the levels of low- and very low-density lipoproteins, as well as affected the fatty-acid composition of lipoproteins.     

Prediction of the adherence, growth and release of microorganisms in production chains

The aim of this study was to develop a mathematical model that describes the bacterial contamination of food as a result of adherence, growth and release of bacteria in process equipment. The model developed can be applied to control the bacterial quality of food products produced in process chains in which the final contamination of the product is governed by growth and heat-induced destruction of bacteria. To set up the model, experiments were carried out with a plate heat exchanger using milk inoculated with Streptococcus thermophilus. The growth rate of S. thermophilus in milk could be described accurately by the modified expanded model of Ratkowsky. The observed increase in the concentration of S. thermophilus in milk at the outlet of the plate heat exchanger could be described quantitatively by the model. To predict the contamination of the product, the model was integrated into NIZO-PCS (Process Chain Simulator). The results of computer simulations were validated by a number of measurements in a cheese factory. It turned out that the agreement between the measured and calculated concentrations of S. thermophilus was sufficient for the model to be used for predictions in industrial production chains.     

STUDY OF THE PARAMETERS CONTROLLING THE ALTERNATING COPOLYMERIZATION OF METHYL METHACRYLATE AND STYRENE

The copolymerization of methyl methacrylate and styrene, in the presence of zinc chloride, was conducted in the aqueous phase. The zinc chloride acting as a complexing agent

Among the factors affecting the polymerization yield, we have; the level of complexing agents, the monomer ratio and the temperature

The polymers were characterized for their molecular weight (G.P.C.) and analyzed by N.MR, and D.T.A

A model taking into account the various parameters is proposed.     

An efficient system for active bovine pancreatic ribonuclease expression in Escherichia coli

Bovine pancreatic ribonuclease (RNase A) is a member of a homologous group of extensively studied proteins. It is a small, basic protein, containing 124 amino acid residues and four stabilizing disulfide bridges. Ribonuclease A catalyzes the hydrolysis of the phosphodiester bonds in ribonucleic acids. Since this degradation of RNA interferes with normal cell functions, the signal peptide of alkaline phosphatase (phoA, Escherichia coli) was cloned onto the gene coding for RNase A, directing the protein to the periplasm. Several expression systems have been evaluated which use T7, trc, or PR promoters to transcribe the RNase A gene. Also, variation in host strains was tested to optimize the protein yield. It was found that the PR system gave better expression than the two other systems. E. coli strain BL21 was shown to be the strain in which export to the periplasm was most effective and recombinant RNase A could be isolated from the periplasmic fraction of these cells. The system provides a stable yield of active recombinant bovine pancreatic RNase of about 45-50 mg/liter of cell culture.