Highly attenuated modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) as an effective recombinant vector: a murine tumor model

Until recently, the majority of HLA class I typing has been performed by serology. Expensive commercial typing trays are frequently used for testing non-Caucasian subjects and new strategies using DNA-based methods have been adopted for improving clinical histocompatibility testing results and adapted as supplements in proficiency testing. A double-blind comparison of the typing of HLA-B specificities in 40 samples was carried out between serology and two polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods, PCR amplification with sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSP) and PCR amplification and subsequent hybridization with sequence-specific oligonucleotide probes (PCR-SSOP). The results demonstrated 22.5% misassignments of HLA-B antigens by serology. There was complete concordance between the results obtained with the two PCR based typing methods. A second panel of 20 donor samples with incomplete or ambiguous serologic results was analyzed by PCR-SSP and SSOP Both PCR methods identified correctly the HLA-B antigens. Our results suggest that more accurate typing results can be achieved by complementing serologic testing with DNA-based typing techniques. The level of resolution for HLA-B antigen assignment can be obtained by this combination of serology and limited DNA-based typing is equivalent to the HLA-B specificities defined by the WHO-HLA Committee. This level of resolution cannot routinely be achieved in clinical histocompatibility testing or in proficiency testing using serologic reagents only.     

Effect of diuretics on sodium and chloride permeability in the rat papillary collecting duct

Consecutive male (n=100) and female (n=100) DSM-IV schizophrenics newly registered for treatment in a large psychiatric hospital were examined with regard to age at onset of the first psychotic symptom. Age at onset of the first psychotic symptom did not differ between the sexes regardless of whether schizophrenia was diagnosed by DSM-IV or by several alternative systems. Age at onset defined by other criteria, namely age at first contact with a physician, and age at first admission for psychiatric care, also did not show any differences between the sexes. Survival analysis of subjects having a documented date of birth revealed a female preponderance at younger ages. A higher positive symptom score predicted older age at onset of the first psychotic symptom in the total sample. These findings call into question the universality of the traditional view of a younger age at onset of schizophrenia among males. Tentative neurodevelopmental and cultural explanations are presented to explain why there is no sex difference in age at onset of schizophrenia in India.     

A Microcomputer-based Control System for a Three-Joint Robot Arm

This detailed investigation of the operating system and control program for a small model robot teaches lessons that the student can later apply in industry.     

Ultraviolet radiation-induced production of superoxide radicals by selected antibiotics

The ability of certain drugs and chemicals to induce cutaneous phototoxicity and DNA damage has been attributed to free radical formation during photolysis. In this context we have observed that the synergistic action of commonly used antibiotics and ultraviolet radiation (UVR) exhibited strong superoxide radical (O2-) generation potential in the following order: benzylpenicillin > amphotericin > ampicillin > nystatin > spectinomycin > gentamicin. Commercially available penicillin, nystatin, ampicillin and gentamicin also generated O2- under similar conditions. The results suggest that due precaution are necessary to avoid UVR after the intake of photoreactive drugs.