Fetus-in-fetu with malignant recurrence

Fetus-in-fetu is an unusual condition in which a vertebrate fetus is enclosed within the abdomen of another fetus. These occurrences are usually benign. This report describes an instance of malignant recurrence after resection of a fetus-in-fetu.     

Assessment of cocaine use with quantitative urinalysis and estimation of new uses

Qualitative urinalysis methods of monitoring cocaine use may over-detect frequency of use, possibly decreasing the ability of clinical trials to detect effective treatments. Quantitative urinalysis and newly developed criteria for identifying new cocaine use were evaluated as alternative measures of cocaine use. Urine specimens collected in a cocaine dosing study in non-treatment-seeking subjects (n = 5) and a cocaine treatment trial (n = 37) were analyzed for the cocaine metabolite, benzoylecgonine, with qualitative and quantitative methods. Pharmacokinetic criteria ('New Use' rules) were applied to quantitative data to identify occasions of new cocaine use. Results were compared to known cocaine administrations in the laboratory study and to self-reported drug use and qualitative urinalysis for subjects in the clinical trial. New Use criteria correctly identified cocaine administrations in the cocaine dosing study in all but a small number of specimens. In the clinical trial, quantitative urinalysis and estimated New Uses provided more information about patterns and frequency of use than qualitative urinalysis in the different treatment conditions in the clinical trial. Interpretation of quantitative urinalysis with New Use rules appears to be a useful method for monitoring treatment outcome and may be more accurate than traditional qualitative urinalysis in estimating frequency of cocaine use.     

L~∞（0，1）上一个WeakL~P（0，1）有关的格半范数

本文引进一个定义在Ｌ~∞（０，１）上格半范数ρｐ与一个熟知的格半范数ρ０关系，证明了在Ｌ~∞（０，１）中的序区间上，ρ０－拓扑与ρｐ－拓扑等价，从而证明了（Ｌ~∞（０，１），ρｐ）′的闭单位球是（Ｌ~∞（０，１），ρｐ）′的某个子集的弱－闭包，本文还证明了（Ｌ~∞（０，１），ρｐ）′可看作ＷｅａｋＬｐ（０，１）对偶空间的奇异部一个理想，而且这奇异部可由（Ｌ~∞（０，１），ρｐ）′与一算子族生成．（ｆ）ａｌｌ（ｌ．＼ｎ，ｏｏ（ｊ．）＝ｈｉｌｌｓｉｌｌ）ｔ￣．，ｉｆｆ￣＊（ｔ）ｒｅｓｐｅｃｔｉｖｅｌｙａｌｌ＇ｌ，Ｌ（ｑ，１）ｉｓｔｈｅｐｒｅｄｌｓｌａｌｏｆｔｙｒｅａｋＬＩ＇，ａｌｌｌｌｈ，ｒｌｌｏｌｌ－－ａｔ（，ｌｌｌｉ（＇ｌｌｌｅａｓｌｌｒｅａｌｇａ（ｌ￣ｓ，ａｒｅｐｒｅｓｅｌｌｔａ＇ｔｉｏｌｌｔｌｌｅｏｒｅｎｌｆｆ，ｒｅｌｅｌｌｌｅｌｌｔｓｉｌｌＳａｃ，ａｌｌ（ｌＳ，，．ｉｓｏｆ）ｔａｉｌｌｅ（ｌ．Ｈｏｗｅｖｅｒ，ｉｌｌ［２］，ｉｔｉｓｓｌｌｄｗｎｔｈａｔｔｉｌｅｒｅｐｒｅｓｅｌｌｔａｔｉｏｌｌｔｉｌｅｓｆ）ｒｅｌｌｌｏｆ）ｔａｉｌｌｅ（ｌｉｌｌ［．５］ｉｓｉｌｌ（ｔｏｒｒｅ（？ｔ．Ｉｎｔｈｉｓｎｏｔｅ，ｗｅｄｅ     

Breath and blood ethanol following use of a cough-cold preparation

All leaders in health care today are charged with the responsibility of transforming present practices into new and different ones that are needed for the future. The structural side of transforming is ultimately easier than the human side. However, the most frequent failures come from not concentrating sufficiently on the behavioral side of the change. Structural and psychological change must occur simultaneously and embrace each other for best results.     

Structural and electrophysiological analysis of annexin V mutants. Mutagenesis of human annexin V, an in vitro voltage-gated calcium channel, provides information about the structural features of the ion pathway, the voltage sensor and the ion selectivity filter

Annexin V binds to phospholipids in a calcium-dependent manner and exhibits calcium channel activity in vitro. We prepared a variety of mutants yielding information about the structure-function relationship of the ion channel activity. All mutants were characterized by X-ray crystallography, electron microscopy and electrophysiological measurements. Their structures are insignificantly changed whereas their electrophysiological properties are drastically different. Glu95, located in the central hydrophilic pore of the molecule, is crucial for the ion selectivity filter as its exchange leads to reduced calcium and increased sodium conductance. The removal of Glu17, located on the protein surface and far from the ion conduction pathway, leads to the appearance of a second conductance level of 9 pS in addition to the conductance level of about 30 pS in the wild-type molecule. This was also the case for Glu78, which is part of a weak calcium binding site. The exchange of Glu17 and Glu78 produced a mutant retaining only the smaller conductance level. We conclude that these two residues influence the angle between the two halves of the molecule, which determines the diameter of the ion conduction pathway, thereby leading to the occurrence of a second conductance level.     

Serum amyloid P component scintigraphy and turnover studies for diagnosis and quantitative monitoring of AA amyloidosis in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate aspects of the natural history of AA amyloidosis complicating juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA), and its response to therapy with chlorambucil. METHODS: Scintigraphy and 7-day turnover studies were performed in JRA patients with histologically proven (n = 35) or clinically suspected (n = 30) AA amyloidosis, following intravenous injection of 123I and 125I-labeled serum amyloid P component (SAP). Prospective monitoring studies were performed over 2-3 years in 20 patients with amyloidosis. All but 2 amyloidosis patients were treated with chlorambucil. RESULTS: Positive scanning results were obtained in all patients in whom imaging was performed within 12 years of positive biopsy findings of amyloid and in 5 patients with clinically suspected amyloidosis. Negative scanning results with normal SAP metabolism, indicating regression of amyloid, were obtained in 4 patients whose amyloidosis had been in full clinical remission for more than 12 years. Prospective monitoring studies in patients whose JRA-associated inflammatory activity was in remission demonstrated regression of amyloid in 8 patients and no substantial changes in 8 others; however, in 4 further patients with active inflammation, there was accumulation of amyloid. There was a very poor correlation between the amount of amyloid present at a particular site and the resultant organ dysfunction. CONCLUSION: Radiolabeled SAP scintigraphy and turnover studies are useful complementary tools in the diagnosis, screening, and quantitative monitoring of type AA amyloidosis in JRA. The amyloid deposits may progress and/or regress at different rates in different anatomic sites over short periods.     

Study of Desorption and Adsorption During Grain Aeration

One requirement in designing and operating and operating system is to minimize the moisture change in stored grain. Moisture transfer during the aeration process is generally believed to be caused by the partial pressure difference between water in grain and water in air (P₃-P₄). A mathematical model was developed for rough rice, which predicts the partial pressure difference under various grain and ambient conditions. Observations of moisture change over 10 aeration tests confirmed the good correlation between sorption phenomena and partial pressure differences. Studies indicated that air relative humidity, air temperature, grain temperature and grain moisture are significant factors influencing the partial pressure differences and, thus, affecting     

Preliminary studies using hybrid mediated electrochemical oxidation (HMEO) for the removal of persistent organic pollutants (POPs).

This study investigates the hybrid mediated electrochemical oxidation (HMEO) technology, which is a newly developed non thermal electrochemical oxidation process for organic destruction. A combination of ozone and ultrasonication processes to the mediated electrochemical oxidation (MEO) process is termed as hybrid mediated electrochemical oxidation. The electrochemical cell was developed in this laboratory. In the present study, several organic compounds, such as phenol, benzoquinone and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), were chosen as the model organic pollutants to be destructed by the hybrid process. The organic destruction was monitored based on the CO2 generation and total organic carbon (TOC) reduction. The HMEO process was found to be extremely effective in the destruction of all the target organics chosen in this study. The information obtained from this study will provide an insight in adopting this technique for dealing with more recalcitrant organics (POPs).     

On the behavior of microstructures with multiple length scales

The current study aims to provide fundamental insight into the behavior of microstructures containing grain sizes that span multiple length scales. A commercial 5083 Al alloy was selected as the material of interest to facilitate comparison with recently published data. The materials studied here were prepared via the thermal consolidation of powders that were cryomilled for different times (i.e., 0, 2, 4, and 8 hours). Following consolidation, the resultant microstructure was characterized by an equiaxed grain morphology with a size distribution centered around 200∼300 nm. Dispersed among the 200- to 300-nm grains were coarse-grained regions or ligaments with a grain size ranging from 600 nm to 2 μm. The occurrence of coarse-grained regions is rationalized on the basis of recrystallization or subgrain coarsening, whereas the occurrence of equiaxed fine regions is proposed to be a result of continuous grain growth. Two types of microstructures were selected for study, containing coarse-grained volumes of approximately 28 pct and 43 pct that corresponded to an ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of 566 MPa and 535 MPa, and a fracture strain of 3.2 pct and 3.5 pct, respectively. The observed ductility and the relevant toughening mechanisms were discussed in light of the presence of multiple length scales.