Presence of the nematode Physaloptera sibirica Petrow and Gorbunow 1931, parasite of carnivores, in the lerot Eliomys quercinus L. in the Alps

Radiolabelled sarcoma cells injected into the tail veins of normal rats were held up almost exclusively in the lung, and were not observed to pass through into the systemic circulation. Intramuscularly injected tumour cells were retained at the site of injection. Radioactivity was lost from both sites though more rapidly from the lung than from muscular tissue and was probably the result of tumour-cell death. Alveolar macrophages did not take part in the destruction of tumour cells in the lung. There was an increased rate of radiolabel loss from the lungs of hyperimmune, post-excision and tumour-bearing rats, as compared with normal rats. The destruction was immunologically specific; it was detected earlier, was more comprehensive in the hyperimmune and post-excision animals than in tumour-bearing animals, and correlated with the ability of the hyperimmune and post-excision animals to reject larger numbers of intravenous unlabelled tumour cells, than the tumour-bearing rats.     

Thermodynamics of dissipative materials with entropic elasticity

Polymer solutions and melts can both dissipate mechanical energy in flow, as well as accumulate elastic energy. If the assumption is made that elastic energy can be accumulated only through a decrease of conformational entropy, the general thermodynamic theory for non-linear viscoelastic materials simplifies considerably. In particular, though no generality is lost as far as the constitutive equation for stress is concerned, the energy equation, which allows in principle a calculation of temperature distributions arising from frictional heating and heat removal, reduces to the usual form which is valid for viscous materials.     

Polyphosphazene membrane separations—Review

The further growth of the success of membrane based operations in unusual areas depends on the development of new membranes with tunable properties and or capable to withstand severe thermal, chemical and mechanical environments. Poly(organophosphazene)s (POPs) may give an important contribution for the preparation of such new membranes. In this paper the applications of POP materials in ultrafiltration (UF), nanofiltration (NF), pervaporation (PV), vapor permeation (VP) and gas separation (GS) are reviewed, and some perspectives for future developments are outlined. Interesting results obtained with POP UF membranes indicate that they might be applied in the treatment of organic solvents or aggressive streams or also for the construction of membrane contactors. However, the versatile and tunable properties of POPs can be fully exploited in membranes whose transport and separation mechanisms rely on differences in solubility and mobility of the feed species to be separated (i.e., NI, PV, VP, and GS). POP based NF membranes have been used for water potabilization and the separation of organic dies fromi-PrOH. The research work carried out in industrial and academic laboratories, sponsored also by the US Department of Energy, has probably passed the turning point for the production of commercial PV and VP POP membranes for the separation of organies and or water from liquid and gaseous streams. Good results were obtained in the separation of acidic species (SO₃, H₂S, CO₂) from permanent gases with dense POP membranes. In perspective, the availability of new hybrid POP-inorganic materials makes it possible to bridge the gap between polymer and ceramic membranes, whose appealing capabilities are still to be explored. The outstanding versatile properties of POP can also be used for the fixation of catalytic centres on suitable membranes for the preparation of catalytic membrane reactors.     

Psoriasiform id reaction in tinea corporis

A case of tinea corporis due to Microsporum canis followed by a scattered psoriasiform eruption is reported. The nature, clinical features and pathogenesis of the dermatophytid are discussed.     

Both early and committed haemopoietic progenitors are more frequent in peripheral blood than in bone marrow during mobilization induced by high-dose chemotherapy + G-CSF

The effect of progesterone and six other C21-deoxysteroids on renal sodium retention by male adrenalectomized rats was compared with the effect exerted by the natural corticoids aldosterone, 11-deoxycorticosterone, and corticosterone. Steroids were active in the following order: aldosterone > 11,19-oxidoprogesterone > 5 alpha H-3,20-pregnanedione > or = 5 beta H-3,20-pregnanedione > progesterone = 11-ketoprogesterone > 6,19-oxidoprogesterone = 11-keto-6,19-oxidoprogesterone > or = corticosterone. All C21-deoxysteroids, except 11,19-oxidoprogesterone, exhibited parabolic log dose-response functions, indicating an effect that opposes renal sodium retention at high doses. 11,19-Oxidoprogesterone and the natural corticoids exhibited normal, exponential, log dose-response curves. Diverse geometric parameters related to molecular planarity were calculated and their correlation with biopharmacological properties was attempted. The best linear regression was obtained for correlation of the concavity of log dose-response parabolas (second-order coefficients) of C21-deoxysteroids with the C3 = O/ring D angle of these molecules. A good linear regression could also be obtained for correlation of the affinity of C21-deoxysteroids, except 11,19-oxidoprogesterone, for purified type I mineralocorticoid receptors with those angles. The latter correlation deteriorated upon incorporation of the affinity data for the three natural corticoids, due to similar affinities of these hormones for type I mineralocorticoid receptors, but could be restored when the binding data for the unpurified, corticosterone-binding globulin-containing stage of the receptors were considered. In vivo binding data followed the same trend as that for unpurified receptors.     

Surface Runoff and Drought Assessment Using Global Water Resources Datasets - from Oum Er Rbia Basin to the Moroccan Country Scale

Water Resources Management - Precipitation and surface runoff vary strongly in space and time across Morocco. The country’s water management is primarily governed at the basin level,...     

Epoxy coatings containing clays and organoclays: Effect of the filler and its water content on the UV-curing process

UV-cured coatings were prepared by photoinitiated cationic ring-opening polymerisation of epoxides in the presence of natural montmorillonite and different organically modified clays (5 wt%). The curing was monitored by FTIR in real time while irradiating the formulations by UV light. Significant changes of both the rate of curing and the final conversion were found. Only in the presence of a suitable montmorillonite and after a suitable pre-treatment, the process showed the same polymerisation rate, guaranteed a higher conversion than the neat epoxide and the formation of intercalated nanostructured coatings.     

Diffusion-relaxation coupling in polymers which show two-stage sorption phenomena

The diffusion behaviour of swollen polymer films in interval sorption experiments cannot be explained satisfactorily by the available models for diffusion into polymeric materials, and compels us to accept that the state of the swollen polymer should be characterized not only by the state variables such as temperature and pressure but also by a ‘degree of swelling’. The concept of activity parameter as an internal state variable is introduced as an yardstick for the degree of swelling and the rate of evolution of this has been related directly to the concept of relaxation time. Assuming a simple empirical constitutive rate equation for the physical process involved, asymptotic as well as the complete solution of the proposed mathematical model are developed and the results agree well with the available experimental data on two-stage sorption.