Necrotizing infundibulo-hypophysitis: a unique syndrome of diabetes insipidus and hypopituitarism

Clinical, radiological, histological, and anatomical features in 2 patients with necrotizing infundibulo-hypophysitis are reported. The patients presented with a combination of diabetes insipidus and hypopituitarism. Each was found to have a sellar mass lesion with an abnormally thickened enlarged pituitary stalk that intensively enhanced on contrast magnetic resonance imaging. They were suspected to have pituitary tumors with suprasellar extension. However, tissue obtained at transphenoidal surgery revealed necrosis, fibrosis, and chronic inflammation; there was no evidence of infiltrative, infective, or neoplastic disease processes. Postoperatively, they continued to have diabetes insipidus and hypopituitarism despite radiological improvement and steroid therapy. Several clinical and anatomical features distinguish these 2 cases from classical lymphocytic hypophysitis, the most common entity in the differential diagnosis. Specifically, diabetes insipidus has not been observed preoperatively in 30 cases of lymphocytic hypophysitis, but was present in the 2 cases reported. Histological evidence of tissue necrosis present in these 2 cases is not a feature of lymphocytic hypophysitis. Pituitary stalk involvement on magnetic resonance imaging or computed tomographic scan present in these 2 cases is highly unusual in lymphocytic hypophysitis. Finally, 29 of 30 cases of lymphocytic hypophysitis were females, whereas the 2 cases reported are men. On the basis of these disparate findings, we suggest that these 2 cases represent a unique syndrome, which may be recognized clinically and radiologically.     

Self-monitors in conversation: What do they monitor?

164 undergraduates were administered M. Snyder's Self-Monitoring Scale and then engaged in 10-min conversations in which their same-sex partners were similar or opposite to them in self-monitoring. Conversations were videotaped, and computer techniques were used to extract content-free patterns of speech and gaze. The pace of speaking, pausing, and interrupting suggested that high self-monitors were more facile speakers than low self-monitors. Contrary to expectations, low and high self-monitors conversed easily together, and low self-monitors changed more when placed with highs than highs changed when placed with lows. Patterns of gaze were similar for low and high self-monitors, and mutual gaze among all pairs was the result of random matching of individual gazes. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting self-efficacy and performance during skill acquisition.

Ss completed 7 trials of a complex computer task that simulated the job of an air traffic controller. Performance was calculated by combining points for the number of planes landed minus penalty points. Throughout the trials, Ss completed questionnaires assessing their self-efficacy goals, expected performance, and the degree to which certain judgments required more or less cognitive processing. The results show that during skill acquisition people report reductions in their cognitive processing for working on the task and for making self-efficacy judgments. Also, on early trials, self-efficacy is a better predictor of performance than are expected score or goals, whereas the reverse is true for later trials. The discussion focuses on understanding motivational processes during skill acquisition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Networked multimedia: the Medusa environment

The Medusa project at Olivetti Research aims to provide a networked multimedia environment in which many streams of multimedia data, perhaps thousands, are active simultaneously. Medusa uses a peer-to-peer architecture to control networked multimedia devices. In the software model presented to the applications programmer, active objects called modules represent cameras, displays, format converters, and so on. Data flows from module to module through connections between them, with proxy modules to restrict access for security reasons. The Medusa project is based on hardware that is a collection of asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) direct peripherals, including cameras, audio systems, multimedia storage servers, LCD displays, and televisions, as well as ATM networked workstations     

High holding voltage cascoded LVTSCR structures for 5.5-V tolerant ESD protection clamps

This paper presents a new design concept for the control of the holding voltage of LVTSCR ESD protection structures by realizing a negative feedback in the p emitter. The negative feedback is implemented by the creation of a voltage drop using embedded circuit elements. The final clamp voltage is tuned to exceed the power supply level, thus eliminating the potential for latchup. The design is validated by ESD pulse measurements performed on test structures with cascoded, triggered LVTSCRs for 5.5-V tolerant I/O pins in an 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS process. The results of the first part of the study were used to propose another design for the LVTSCR with a high holding voltage based on emitter area reduction. The proposed device is validated using three-dimensional simulations and experimental analysis.     

DYNAMIC SOLIDS MIXING BETWEEN COAL AND LIMESTONE IN A GAS-SOLID FLUIDIZED BED

Dynamic characteristics of solids mixing between coal and limestone were studied. Experiments were carried out in a 0.203 m diameter cold fluidized bed with coal and limestone of different sizes as the fluidized particles. Experimental parameters examined included operation time, air flow rate, bed height, initial bed setup, relative particle size and relative amount of the two particles. The coal concentration profile was analyzed through bed sectioning, and a mixing index was used to describe the profile. The observed results were presented graphically and in correlation forms. The steady state results were also compared with those available in the literature.     

Mixing and combustion in a shallow coal-limestone fluidized bed combustor

A model based on the Monte Carlo approach was developed to simulate the mixing and combustion behavior of a shallow coal-limestone fluidized bed combustor. The model involved the coupling of two sub-models: a combustion sub-model based on the two-phase concept of fluidization and a mixing sub-model based on our previously developed dynamic mixing model. The combustion sub-model considered both the volatile and char combustion. It assumed that the combustor consisted of three distinct phases, i.e., jet, bubble and emulsion, with combustion occurring only in the emulsion phase. The mixing sub-model considered the upward or downward movement of a coal particle in the bed as being governed by certain probability laws; these laws were, in turn, affected by the bubbling hydrodynamics. In all, the combustor simulation model took into consideration the effects of coal feed rate, coal size distribution, limestone size, air flow rate and combustor temperature on the combustor behavior. The simulation results included the dynamic response of coal concentration profile, coal size distribution, coal particle elutriation rate as well as the mixing status between the coal and limestone particles.     

Cyclophilin A Is Not Acetylated at Lysine-82 and Lysine-125 in Resting and Stimulated Platelets

Cyclophilin A (CyPA) is widely expressed by all prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Upon activation, CyPA can be released into the extracellular space to engage in a variety of functions, such as interaction with the CD147 receptor, that contribute to the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases. CyPA was recently found to undergo acetylation at K82 and K125, two lysine residues conserved in most species, and these modifications are required for secretion of CyPA in response to cell activation in vascular smooth muscle cells. Herein we addressed whether acetylation at these sites is also required for the release of CyPA from platelets based on the potential for local delivery of CyPA that may exacerbate cardiovascular disease events. Western blot analyses confirmed the presence of CyPA in human and mouse platelets. Thrombin stimulation resulted in CyPA release from platelets; however, no acetylation was observed—neither in cell lysates nor in supernatants of both untreated and activated platelets, nor after immunoprecipitation of CyPA from platelets. Shotgun proteomics detected two CyPA peptide precursors in the recombinant protein, acetylated at K28, but again, no acetylation was found in CyPA derived from resting or stimulated platelets. Our findings suggest that acetylation of CyPA is not a major protein modification in platelets and that CyPA acetylation is not required for its secretion from platelets.