Pulmonary sequestration: the setting sun sign

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) has become a topic of increasing public concern. Several conditions have been described in patients who are afraid that they have acquired AIDS, including depression, somatization disorders, hypochondriasis, adjustment disorders and various psychoses. This paper presents a case study of a young man with persistent fear of having AIDS. In spite of negative HIV test results, the patient still insisted that he suffered from AIDS. The psychiatric diagnosis was major depressive disorder with delusion of having AIDS. The patient was treated with fluoxetine 40 mg qd and sulpiride 400 mg qn. After two weeks on medication, his fear of AIDS subsided and he improved remarkably. The most important intervention in patients with delusion of having AIDS is to identify and treat the underlying psychopathology. The following case is representative of our experience.     

Formation of part families to design cells with alternative routing considerations

A heuristic algorithm for the formation of part families to design cells with consideration to alternative routing of parts is presented. Most of the existing algorithms in cellular manufacturing systems utilize fixed routings for parts. Consideration of alternative routings in the design of cells is important for improving operational aspects of cellular manufacturing systems. An example problem solved is included in the paper.     

Fixed-point error analysis of discrete Wigner-Ville distribution

The Wigner-Ville distribution (WVD) has been a powerful signal processing tool for time-frequency signal analysis. Consequently, many algorithms have been proposed in the literature for computing the WVD in real-time applications. However, Boashash (1987) has proposed and showed that the evaluation of the analytic signal using the time-domain approach, and involving the Hilbert transformer, is the most efficient algorithm for real-time applications. A fixed-point error analysis of this algorithm has been carried out. The theoretical noise-to-signal ratio (NSR) is derived and verified through simulation. The results indicate that for this algorithm, the NSR increases by 0.5 bit/stage, whereas for the other algorithms, it increases by 1 bit/stage     

Biodegradation of nitrate esters. II. Degradation of nitrocellulose by a fungus isolated from a double-base propellant

An organism found to be growing on moist double-base propellant, containing nitrocellulose (NC) and nitroglycerine aerobically degraded NC in submerged cultivation. This organism, which was subsequently identified as Penicillium corylophilum Dierckx, was able to degrade the NC (13.17%N) when it was present as the sole nitrogen source, in conjunction with either starch or xylan as a carbon source. It was found that 20% of the NC was utilized in a 3-day period. Also, NC degradation was studied utilizing Fusarium solani IFO 31093, a denitrifying fungus, in combination with P. corylophilum; however, no increased utilization was observed. Evidence for the degradation includes a decrease in the NC weight, an increase in the biomass weight, the presence of celluloytic and denitrifying enzymes, and other appropriate growth parameters. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Alumina supported copper nanoparticles for aziridination and cyclopropanation reactions

Alumina supported copper (Cu–Al₂O₃) nanoparticles were prepared and applied for the aziridination of olefins employing [N-(p-tolylsulfonyl)imino]phenyliodinane (PhI = NTs) as nitrene source to afford the corresponding 3-membered cyclic compounds in moderate to excellent yields. Cyclopropanation of several olefins was also carried out by using Cu–Al₂O₃ nanoparticles and ethyl diazoacetate as a carbene source. The catalyst was recovered by simple centrifugation and reused for four cycles.     

Comparative inhibitory properties of some Indian medicinal plant extracts against photosensitization-induced lipid damage

The protective activities of Emblica officinalis, Terminalia bellerica and Terminalia chebula ethanol extracts against photosensitization-induced oxidation of rat liver mitochondrial lipid were assessed. All the extracts could effectively prevent lipid peroxidation, as assessed by measuring thiobarbituric acid-reactive substrates, lipid hydroperoxide, conjugated diene and 4-hydroxynonenal. The E. officinalis extract was the most potent, revealing its superior ability to scavenge ¹O₂. The extracts also afforded excellent protection against iron-mediated lipid peroxidation that might also be useful in reducing photo-induced iron toxicity. The activities of the extracts were primarily due to their constituent phenolics.     

Measurement of the current transient in Ta2O5 films

Current vs. time (I−t) measurements were performed on Ta₂O₅-based devices. Charge build-up at the Ta₂O₅/SiO₂ interface was used to explain the transient. The interfacial charge density was calculated from the I−t curve and the maximum was found to be 398 nC cm^-2 and 317 nC cm^-2 for Al/Ta₂O₅/Si and Al/Ta₂O₅/SiO₂/Si capacitors respectively. The value for MTOS was comparable with the value obtained by quasi-static measurements.     

Noise-margin limitations on gallium-arsenide VLSI

Two factors which limit the complexity of GaAs MESFET VLSI circuits are considered. Power dissipation sets an upper complexity limit for a given logic circuit implementation and thermal design. Uniformity of device characteristics and the circuit configuration determines the electrical functional yield. Projection of VLSI complexity based on these factors indicates that logic chips of 15000 gates are feasible with the most promising static circuits if a maximum power dissipation of 5 W per chip is assumed. While lower power per gate and therefore more gates per chip can be obtained by using a popular E/D FET circuit, yields are shown to be small when practical device parameter tolerances are applied. Further improvements in materials, devices, and circuits will be needed to extend circuit complexity to the range currently dominated by silicon     

Quasi-static and high frequency C-V measurements on Al/Ta2O5/SiO2/Si

Quasi-static and high frequency capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements of Al/Ta₂O₅/SiO₂/Si (MTOS) capacitors are analysed. Space charge build-up at the Ta₂O₅-SiO₂ interface and the frequency response of these charges are explained. It is also found that the leakage current is not the sole contributor to the discrepancies observed in quasi-static measurements, as suggested in the literature. An estimate of the interface charge is also presented.     

A continuous photocatalysis system in the degradation of herbicide

The performance of both batch and continuous photo-catalytic reactors was studied to evaluate their capabilities in removing the sulfonyl urea herbicide of metsulfuron methyl (MM). It was found in a batch reactor that the addition of a small amount of powder activated carbon (PAC) significantly increased the rate of degradation of MM. The continuous photo-catalytic system resulted in 57% of MM removal. When a small dose of activated carbon was added in the photo-catalytic system, MM removal increased to 78–86% MM removal for retention times between of 5.25–21 min (corresponding to withdrawal rates of 10–40 mLmin⁻¹). In this study, the pseudo first order rate constants of a continuous photo-catalytic system revealed that shorter retention times were associated with lower rate constants. Solid phase micro extraction/gas chromatography (SPME/GC) results showed that high concentrations of MM were broken down to small volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by photo-catalytic oxidation. PAC adsorbed the photo-products and increased the degradation of MM.