Changes in prostatic thickness and the location of ejaculatory ducts in autopsy prostates

OBJECTIVE: To measure prostatic thickness and the depth of ejaculatory ducts from the urethral surface to prevent ejaculatory duct damage during transurethral balloon laser thermotherapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In 47 prostates obtained at autopsy, the prostatic thickness and the depth of ejaculatory ducts from the urethral surface were measured in eight directions from the centre of the urethra. RESULTS: The depth of ejaculatory ducts was approximately 6 mm from the urethral surface regardless of prostatic weight. Increase in prostatic weight was associated with increase in the thickness in all directions except the posterior one; the thickness ranged from 9 to 20 mm. The posterior thickness at the level of the transition zone was 10 mm regardless of prostatic weight. CONCLUSION: When benign prostatic hypertrophy is treated transurethrally, using laser or microwave equipment, care should be taken to avoid heating the posterior region of the prostate.     

Plasma levels of pentosidine in diabetic patients: an advanced glycation end product

Nonenzymatic reactions between glucose and proteins yield advanced glycation end products (AGE) such as pentosidine. AGE accumulate in diabetic patients, alter the structure and function of tissue proteins, stimulate cellular response, and have thus been implicated in diabetic tissue damage. The present study was undertaken to assess the factors determining plasma total pentosidine level in diabetic patients and the possible relation between plasma pentosidine level and diabetic complications. In diabetic patients, including patients with renal failure, plasma pentosidine levels, assessed by HPLC assay, were correlated with serum creatinine (P < 0.0001). In patients with normal renal function, pentosidine levels were correlated with blood glucose control (hemoglobin Alc: P = 0.0028; fructoselysine: P = 0.0133), serum creatinine (P = 0.029), patient age (P = 0.0416), duration of diabetes (P = 0.0431), and total cholesterol (P = 0.0056) and LDL-cholesterol (P = 0.0208). Multiple regression analysis revealed an independent influence of hemoglobin Alc and serum creatinine on pentosidine levels (r2 = 0.216, P = 0.0026). Pentosidine levels were higher in patients with than in those without hypertension (P = 0.043) or ischemic heart diseases (P = 0.0061). No such differences were observed between patients with and without albuminuria or retinopathy. Multiple regression analysis revealed an independent influence of plasma pentosidine on the presence of hypertension (r2 = 0.129, P = 0.0382) and of plasma pentosidine and HDL-cholesterol on the presence of ischemic heart disease (r2 = 0.326, P = 0.0012). The present study demonstrated that plasma pentosidine level was significantly influenced by the quality of glycemic control and renal function. Pentosidine level was also correlated with hypertension and ischemic heart disease, and might be taken as a biomarker of diabetic cardiovascular risk.     

Recent advances in phosphorylation of food proteins: A review

Phosphorylation is a useful method for improving the functional properties of food proteins. In this article, various methods of phosphorylation are reviewed. Dry-heating phosphorylation, a method developed recently, is also introduced. Some characteristics of phosphate groups are involved, and the effects of phosphorylation on the structural changes, the functional properties, and the physiological functions in vitro of food proteins, are discussed. The types of phosphate linkages and the phosphopeptides from phosphorylated proteins are identified. The molten (partially unfolded) conformations of food proteins formed by phosphorylation are discussed. The phosphorylation of food proteins improved a number of functional properties, including heat stability, emulsifying properties, foaming properties, gelling properties, water absorption capacity, oil absorption capacity, and calcium phosphate-solubilizing ability. In vitro physiological function studies of protein (α-lactoalbumin) indicated that the digestibility (ovalbumin) was improved and the inflammatory response (α-lactoalbumin) was suppressed by phosphorylation. Experiments with animals are necessary to evaluate the toxicity and physiological functions of phosphorylated proteins.     

如何设计安全、有效的信号继电器

高档的通信设备曾一度只能在办公环境中才能使用,然而现在这种情况已经改变,家庭中已经普遍具备了互连能力,许多家用电子设备现在通过Ipv6和其他技术已经具备了上网能力。随着宽带通信应用的增加,调制解调器、各种DSL接入复用器以及其他类似设备的安装已经遍及办公室和家庭,消费者可以方便获得价廉的通信设备。对于设备制造商来说,这些装置必须满足安全标准,如IEC60950(InternationalElectrotechnicalCommission第三版),它要求在与数据通信线连接的设备上实现电话网络高压电路的隔离。一般情况下,人们采用传统的电磁通信继电器来开关内…     

Tunable wavelength-selective demultiplexer using a liquid-crystalfilter

The authors describe a new tunable wavelength-selective demultiplexer with a liquid crystal Fabry-Perot interferometer. The demultiplexer has six output ports, and, at each output port, any wavelength can be tunably selected within a range of 50 nm at a bandwidth of 0.5-0.6 nm. A simulated result shows that the loss of this demultiplexer is smaller than that of a conventional demultiplexer     

Preparation of a transparent alumina film doped with CdS and its nonlinear optical properties

We have examined the preparation of transparent alumina film and CdS-doped alumina film prepared by the sol-gel process using aqueous sol starting from AlCl₃. The resulting alumina films obtained by sol-gel transformation are transparent in the visible and near infrared up to 1000 °C. Homogeneous solution of alumina sol and Cd(CH₃COO)₂ was converted into gel film by dehydration. Then, on exposure to H₂S stream at 250–600 °C, a CdS-doped film was obtained. It shows relatively sharp blue-shifted visible absorption that is attributed to size quantization effect. Large nonlinear absorption and refractive index have been obtained, because high concentration of CdS particles can be achieved by using this method.     

Tunable light source using a liquid-crystal Fabry-Perot interferometer

A tunable light source with a liquid-crystal Fabry-Perot interferometer (LC-FPI) tuning element that emits a laser beam with a tuning range of 41 nm has been constructed. Incorporating a multiple quantum well (MQW) laser diode with a phase control (PC) section enables the selection of almost all external modes. Stable single-mode emission is obtained for the region, except where the slope of the lasing wavelength versus applied voltage to the liquid crystal is quite large.<>     

Novel photonic switch arrays consisting of vertically integrated multiple-quantum-well reflection modulators and phototransistors: excitation absorptive reflection switch

The authors report a novel photonic switch array, the exciton absorptive reflection switch (EARS), which operates as an optical three-terminal switch with a high contrast ratio and optical gain. The device consists of vertically integrated GaAs/AlGaAs multiple-quantum-well modulators and GaAs heterojunction phototransistors, which are optically isolated and electrically connected in series with distributed Bragg reflectors. 8*8 arrays of EARS with a contrast ratio of more than 20 dB and a high optical gain were demonstrated.<>     

Switchable-logic photonic switch array monolithically integratingMSMs, FETs, and MQW modulators

As a two-dimensional parallel digital processing device, we describe a switchable-logic photonic switch array that monolithically integrates metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) photodetectors, field-effect-transistor (FET) amplifiers, and multiple-quantum-well (MQW) modulators. All-optical positive and negative logic operations are demonstrated with controllable thresholds and a 3-dB bandwidth of 300 MHz. In this device, the logic mode is switched by changing the bias voltage polarity of the MSM photodetector     

Improvement of inverse heat conduction solution using Laplace transformation: Method of partial division of time

Any solution for an inverse heat conduction problem makes the estimation of surface temperature and surface heat flux worsen in the case where these values behave like a triangular shape change with time. In order to compensate for this defect, Monde and colleagues, who succeeded in obtaining analytical inverse solutions using the Laplace transform technique, introduce a new idea where these changes over the entire measurement time can be split into several parts depending on the behavior. Therefore, an approximate equation to trace the measured temperature change can be derived, resulting in good estimation of surface temperature and surface heat flux even in the case of the triangular shape change and sharp change. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 32(7): 630–638, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.10117