The role of CT and MR in imaging the complications of sickle cell disease

Sickle cell disease is the most common inherited haemoglobinopathy described. Complications of sickle cell disease (SCD) are due to chronic haemolysis of fragile red cells or secondary to vascular occlusion by sickled red cells with subsequent tissue infarction. Traditionally plain film radiography has been the mainstay in the assessment of patients with SCD, but increasingly magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and computed tomography (CT) are being used. In this review the imaging features of a range of complications of SCD are demonstrated with particular emphasis on CT and MR.     

SH3: high code density, low power

Hitachi's SH series microprocessors feature 32-bit RISC architecture with a 16-bit, fixed-length instruction set. We describe SH3, a pipelined implementation of the SH architecture with on-chip cache, MMU, and software-programmable power management. Its higher code density and corresponding improvement in instruction-fetch latency lead to higher performance than typical 32-bit RISC architectures achieve. These features, small die size, and low power consumption make SH3 an ideal microprocessor for portable computing systems or multimedia systems     

Quality assessment models for initial production process control based on stochastic differential equations

It is of great importance to assess an initial production process prior to the regular mass-production. For this purpose, many statistical methods have been proposed for practical use. In this paper, we propose two stochastic models for an assessment method of the initial production process control: a Markov process model and a Markov approximation model. These models are continuous state space models and formulated by applying mathematical techniques of stochastic differential equations. Based on each model, we derive several quantitative assessment measures for initial production process control.     

Investigation of immune response in rubber workers at high risk for cancer

The study was concerned with immune response in the workers engaged in rubber manufacture which is a cancer hazard. A group of healthy donors were in control. The study group was divided into those free from carcinogen-protein adducts (CPA) and those who revealed them and, therefore, are considered at high risk for cancer. CPAs containing benzidine, 2-naphtylamine or 3-oxyanthranyl acid were assayed in blood serum. B- and T-immunity inhibition was shown to be present in both study sub-groups. A significant difference in immune response indices was established between the CPA-free and CPA-containing groups of the rubber workers. The latter group had relatively higher levels of IgA, IgM and globulins of immunocomplexes, and revealed inhibition of formation of antibody-forming cells to ovine erythrocytes following injection of CPA-containing blood serum into mice as well as relatively higher suppression of T-cell immunity in the workers at high risk.     

Elevated symptom prevalence associated with ventilation type in office buildings

The California Healthy Building Study was designed to assess relations between ventilation system type and office worker symptoms in a set of U.S. buildings selected without regard to worker complaints. Twelve public office buildings in northern California meeting specific eligibility criteria were studied in the summer of 1990: three naturally ventilated, three mechanically ventilated (without air conditioning), and six air-conditioned buildings. Questionnaire data were collected from 880 workers in selected spaces within the study buildings. We adjusted effect estimates for various ventilation types for personal, job, and work place factors using logistic regression, and alternatively, using a mixed effects model (SAS/GLIMMIX) to adjust for correlated responses within study spaces. Higher adjusted prevalences of most symptom outcomes were associated with both mechanical and air-conditioned ventilation, relative to natural. With a conservative adjustment for problem building status, the highest adjusted prevalence odds ratios from logistic regression models were for dry or itchy skin [mechanical: odds ratio (OR) = 6.0, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.6-22; air-conditioned: OR = 6.0, 95% CI = 1.7-21] and lower respiratory symptoms (mechanical: OR = 2.9, 95% CI = 0.7-11; air-conditioned: OR = 4.0, 95% CI = 1.1-15). GLIMMIX estimates were similar, with slightly wider confidence intervals. Reporting bias was small. These findings of symptom increases within mechanically ventilated and air-conditioned U.S. buildings support previous findings available only from European buildings.     

Characterization of dp6troglycan-laminin interaction in peripheral nerve

Dystoroglycan is encoded by a single gene and cleaved into two proteins, alpha and beta-dystroglycan, by posttranslational processing. The 120kDa peripheral nerve isoform of alpha-dystroglycan binds laminin-2 comprised of the alpha 2, beta 1, and gamma 1 chains. In congenital muscular dystrophy and dy mice deficient in laminin alpha 2 chain, peripheral myelination is disturbed, suggesting a role for the dystroglycan- laminin interaction in peripheral myelinogenesis. To begin to test this hypothesis, we have characterized the dystroglycan-laminin interaction in peripheral nerve. We demonstrate that (1) alpha-dystroglycan is an extracellular peripheral membrane glycoprotein that links beta-dystroglycan in the Schwann cell outer membrane with laminin-2 in the endoneurial basal lamina, and (2) dystrophin homologues Dp116 and utrophin are cytoskeletal proteins of the Schwann cell cytoplasm. We also present data that suggest a role for glycosylation of alpha-dystroglycan in the interaction with laminin.     

Head-portion exposure to low-level X-rays reduces isolation-induced aggression of mouse, and involvement of the olfactory carnosine in modulation of the radiation effects

Social isolation has been widely described to induce a compulsive aggressive behavior. The aggressiveness due to isolation in mice has often been used as a means for the better understanding of disturbed behavior in human beings. In the course of a study of the behavioral effects, we have noticed that fighting injuries, usually observed among male ICR mice, tend to decrease in mice irradiated with low-dose X-rays. We, therefore, quantitatively examined the effects of low-dose X-irradiation on aggressive behavior using a resident-intruder paradigm in which a resident mouse attacks an intruder that entered its territory. Male ICR white Swiss mice became gradually calm, and showed remarkably quiet behavior 7-10 days after whole-head 5 or 15 cGy X-irradiation. Only exposure of the anterior part of the head (olfactory system including orbits) also induced the remarkable suppression of the aggressive behavior. The olfactory system has direct access to the limbic system, a central part of the brain concerned with emotion. The calm behavior induced by low-dose X-irradiation might be related to the changes in the olfactory function. We also obtained data on brain biochemistry giving further support for the above low-dose effects on mouse behavior. The carnosine content and its synthetase activity in the olfactory bulbs decreased significantly after only the anterior part of the head had been exposed. Higher doses (25-35 cGy), however, did not induce such effects. The results suggest that the depression of aggressive behavior is limited to animals irradiated with the smaller doses.