Virus-associated haemophagocytic syndrome caused by rubella in an adult

Haemophagocytic syndrome is a systemic clinicopathological entity characterized by systemic proliferation of benign haemophagocytic histiocytes, fever, cytopenia, abnormal liver function and, frequently, coagulopathy and hepatosplenomegaly. Its occurrence has been documented in association with viral, bacterial, fungal and parasitic infections, a wide spectrum of malignant neoplasms, autoimmune diseases and drugs. We report a case of rubella virus-associated haemophagocytic syndrome in a previously healthy 29-year-old woman. Blood tests showed cytopenia, especially severe thrombocytopenia, liver dysfunction, hyperferritinaemia and hypercytokinaemia. Bone marrow examination showed many mature histiocytes with active haemophagocytosis. A skin biopsy from the rash revealed perivascular lymphohistiocytic infiltrates with haemophagocytic histiocytes in the upper and mid-dermis. The patient was treated with antibiotics and immunoglobulin, and by supportive measures including platelet transfusion, and recovered completely.     

A control method for improving ac input current waveform of current-type PWM rectifiers

Recently, PWM rectifiers which realize high-power factor and almost sinusoidal ac input current have been proposed and some of them have already been put into practice. In many cases the PWM rectifiers are of current type, that is, they have a smoothing reactor on the dc side. In such rectifiers, an LC filter has to be inserted on the ac side to reduce current harmonics due to the PWM operation. However, the LC filter may cause waveform distortion and transient oscillation of the ac side current. As a solution to this problem, a new control method is proposed introducing ac side current control by means of state feedback of the LC filter. In this case, both the dc output current and the ac input current controls should be achieved by the PWM operation of the rectifier. Furthermore, to obtain sufficient controllability regardless of the operating condition, the dc output and ac input current controls should be done independently. To meet these requirements, existing control methods for PWM rectifiers are not directly applicable. In this paper, a novel control circuit configuration and a method of generating a PWM pulse pattern suitable for the proposed control method are described in detail. From the viewpoint of stability, feedback coefficients and circuit parameters are investigated on the basis of root locus analysis. Some experimental results also are shown to confirm the effectiveness of the proposed control method and the validity of the analytical results. Improvement of the ac side current waveform and the stability of the transient response are demonstrated by these experimental results.     

Breakup of relatively low-concentrated O/W emulsion jets

The breakup of emulsion jets ejected downward into air from a nozzle has been investigated experimentally, and the breakup length of jets and the drop size for kerosene-water emulsions have been measured. The concentration of the dispersed phase was less than 50 wt%, so all experimental emulsions exhibited Newtonian flow. Photographic observation indicated that the emulsion jet resembled the jet of normal homogeneous liquids. The breakup length of the jet and the drop size from the jet are in good agreement with predictions from stability analysis for normal liquids.     

Preparation and thermal decomposition of hexa-ammonium tetraphosphate dihydrate(NH4)6P4O13·2H2O

Hexa-ammonium tetraphosphate dihydrate, (NH4)6P4O13·2H2O (HATP), was prepared by the hydrolysis of sodium cyclo-tetraphosphate with sodium hydroxide solution, followed by ion-exchange with ammonium. Thermal decomposition in static air was first carried out dynamically, at a heating rate of 5 K min-1 as used in thermal analysis (thermogravimetric-differential thermal analysis), and also isothermally. To examine the effect of humidity on the thermal decomposition, HATP was heated isothermally in streams of dry and humid air. The products were characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis and high-performance liquid chromatography–flow injection analysis. At 100°C, HATP was decomposed to mono- and triphosphates and to 2 mol diphosphate, and this was accelerated by humidity. Further degradation of the triphosphate to mono- and diphosphates took place slowly. The 2 mol diphosphate also decomposed slowly to 4 mol monophosphate. At temperatures above 150°C, the form I of ammonium polyphosphate (I-APP) was produced. I-APP was further hydrolysed by humidity to shorter-chain phosphates, such as mono-, di- and triphosphates. This revised version was published online in November 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Distribution of14C after oral administration of (U-14C)labeled methyl linoleate hydroperoxides and their secondary oxidation products in rats

To study the toxicity of low molecular weight (LMW) compounds formed during the autoxidation of oils,¹⁴C-labeled primary monomeric compounds (methyl linoleate hydroperoxides) and secondary oxidation products, i.e., polymer and LMW compounds prepared from autoxidized methyl [U-¹⁴C]linoleate hydroperoxides (MLHPO) were orally administered to rats, and their radioactive distributions in tissues and organs were compared. The polymeric fraction consisted mainly of dimers of MLHPO. For the LMW fraction, 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal, 8-hydroxy methyl octanoate and 10-formyl methyl-9-decenoate were identified as major constituents by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) after chemical reduction and derivatization. When LMW compounds were administered to rats,¹⁴CO₂ expiration and the excreted radioactivity in urine in 12 hr were significantly higher than those from polymer or MLHPO administration. Maximum¹⁴CO₂ expiration appeared 2–4 hr after the dose of LMW compounds. Radioactivity of the upper part of small intestines six hr after the dose of LMW compounds was higher than the values from administered polymer or MLHPO. The remaining radioactivity in the digestive contents and feces 12 hr after administration of LMW compounds was much lower than the values observed from administered polymer or MLHPO. Among internal organs, the liver contained the highest concentration of radioactivities from polymer, MLHPO and LMW fractions, and an especially higher level of radioactivity was found in liver six hr after the administration of LMW compounds. Six hours after the dose of LMW compounds, a relatively higher level of radioactivity also was detected in kidney, brain, heart and lung. These results show that the LMW compounds from MLHPO autoxidation are more easily absorbed in rat tissues than polymer and MLHPO.     

The physicochemical parameters determining the size of agglomerate prepared by the wet spherical agglomeration technique

Lactose samples of five different particle sizes from 31 to 261 μm dispersed in chloroform were agglomerated with a small amount of saturated aqueous lactose solution which acted as a bridging liquid to wet the particles preferentially. The effects of raw particle size and the amount of bridging liquid on the average size of resultant agglomerate were investigated.

The agglomerate size increased with decreasing size of lactose. This effect was enhanced by increasing the amount of bridging liquid for lactose less than 79 μm. A linear correlation on a log—log plot was observed between the agglomerate size and the saturation ratio of bridging liquid. The slope increased with decreasing particle size of lactose. The size distribution of agglomerates was also determined for the particle size of lactose and the amount of bridging liquid used. The physicochemical properties of the bridging liquid, i.e. contact angle and interfacial tension, were also taken into account for interpreting the agglomerate size. The correlation between the agglomerate size and the above parameters was represented quantitatively by eqn. (10) in the text. The parameter n, which varies directly with agglomerate size, increased with increasing saturation ratio, or with decreasing lactose particle size.     

Surface-modified kevlar fiber-reinforced polyethylene and ionomer

The surface of poly(p-phenylene terephthalamide) (PPTA) fiber was modified by the polymer reaction via the metalation reaction in demethyl sulfoxide to provide the fiber surface with several functional groups such as the n-octadecyl group, carboxymethyl group, and acrylonitrile. The discontinuous fibers thus modified could be isotropically dispersed in polyethylene and ionomer. The composite of ionomer and random-in-plane oriented discontinuous PPTA fibers with the surface modified by carboxymethyl groups was remarkably improved in its mechanical properties, and the fiber efficiency factors of about 0.4 for both strength and modulus are comparable to the values in the composite of unidirectionally oriented discontinuous PPTA fibers and ionomer. The heat resistance of ionomer was also greatly improved by the presence of this surface modified PPTA fibers, even with volume fractions as low as 2.2%.     

Influence of Loading Rate and Processing Atmosphere on Pullout of SiC Fibers from Pyrex Glass

The interfacial shear strength of SiC/glass composites fabricated either under vacuum or in argon gas by hot-pressing was estimated using a single-fiber pullout test as a function of the loading rate. The interfacial shear strength of the composite fabricated under vacuum depended insignificantly on the loading rate. On the contrary, for the composite fabricated in argon gas, loading rates strongly influenced the interfacial shear strength as well as the interfacial debonding behavior. The influence of loading rates on the interfacial shear strength in the latter composite could result from the presence of the Si-O bond, whose strength is affected by slow crack growth along the fiber-matrix interface. These results indicate that the fracture behavior of fiber-reinforced ceramics whose interfacial shear strength depends on the loading rate can differ widely under dynamic and static loading.     

On a class of recursive procedures and equivalent iterative ones

Summary H. Partsch and P. Pepper gave translations for a special class of recursive procedures into equivalent iterative ones, motivated by the well-known recursive solution for the Towers of Hanoi problem. By generalizing their translations towards two directions, we investigate a class of recursive algorithms and obtain their translations, thus giving a unified view for these algorithms. Some of the included algorithms are mutually recursive procedures for plotting space-filling curves such as the Hilbert curves, and a recursive procedure by C.T. Fike which produces all the permutations of n symbols. These algorithms are characterized by the property that the values of a parameter given to recursive procedure calls in a procedure are uniform in a certain sense.