Toxicity-directed approach of polyester manufacturing industry wastewater provides useful information for conducting treatability studies

A broader characterization of industrial wastewaters, especially in respect to hazardous compounds and their potential toxicity, is often necessary in order to determine the best practical treatment (or pretreatment) technology available to reduce the discharge of harmful pollutants to the environment or publicly owned treatment works. Using a toxicity-directed approach, this paper sets the base for a rational treatability study of polyester resin manufacturing. Relevant physical and chemical characteristics were determined. Respirometry was used for toxicity reduction evaluation after physical and chemical effluent fractionation. Of all the procedures investigated, only air stripping was significantly effective in reducing wastewater toxicity. Air stripping in pH 7 reduced toxicity in 18.2%, while in pH 11 a toxicity reduction of 62.5% was observed. Results indicated that toxicants responsible for the most significant fraction of the effluent's instantaneous toxic effect to unadapted activated sludge were organic compounds poorly or not volatilized in acid conditions. These results led to useful directions for conducting treatability studies which will be grounded on actual effluent properties rather than empirical or based on the rare specific data on this kind of industrial wastewater.     

IL-13 is a key regulatory cytokine for Th2 cell-mediated pulmonary granuloma formation and IgE responses induced by Schistosoma mansoni eggs

Schistosoma mansoni egg-induced pulmonary granuloma formation is a cell-mediated inflammatory response associated with dominant Th2-type cytokine expression, tissue eosinophilia, and high levels of serum IgE. In the present study, we show that in vivo blockade of the Th2 cytokine IL-13, using soluble IL-13R alpha2-Fc fusion protein, significantly reduced the size of pulmonary granulomas in unsensitized as well as egg-sensitized mice. Blocking IL-13 also significantly reduced total serum IgE levels. Interestingly, however, IL-13 blockade did not affect the evolving egg-induced Th2-type cytokine response. IL-4, IL-5, as well as IL-13 responses were indistinguishable in control-Fc- and soluble IL-13R alpha2-Fc fusion protein-treated animals. The smaller granulomas were also phenotypically like the control Fc-treated mice, displaying a similar eosinophil content. Additional studies in IL-4-deficient mice demonstrated that IL-13 was produced, but at much lower levels than in wild-type mice, while IL-4 expression was completely independent of IL-13. Moreover, while granuloma formation was partially reduced in IL-4-deficient mice, blocking IL-13 in these animals almost completely abrogated granuloma development and the pulmonary eosinophilia, while it simultaneously increased IFN-gamma production. Together, these data demonstrate that IL-13 serves as an important mediator of Th2-mediated inflammation and plays a role in eliciting IgE responses triggered by schistosome eggs.     

Adult age differences in the functional neuroanatomy of verbal recognition memory

Adult age differences are frequently observed in the performance of memory tasks, but the changes in neural function mediating these differences are largely unknown. We used (H2)15O positron emission tomography (PET) to measure changes in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) during Encoding, Baseline, and Retrieval conditions of a recognition memory task. Twelve young adults (20-29 years) and 12 older adults (62-79 years) participated. During each task condition, participants made a two-choice manual response to each of 64 words. Analyses of the performance data yielded evidence of age-related slowing of encoding and retrieval processes, and an age-related decline in the accuracy of yes/no recognition (d'). The rCBF activation associated with both encoding and retrieval was greater for older adults than for young adults, but this pattern was more clearly evident for memory retrieval. For young adults, rCBF activation during retrieval occurred primarily in right prefrontal cortex, whereas older adults exhibited a more bilateral pattern of prefrontal activation. Regression analyses predicting reaction time in the memory task from regional PET counts confirmed that the neural system mediating memory retrieval is more widely distributed for older adults than for young adults. Both age groups exhibited some decrease in rCBF activation in the second half of the test session, relative to the first half. The practice-related decrease in rCBF activation was more prominent for young adults, suggesting that the older adults' recruitment of additional neural systems reflects a more continual allocation of attention to support task performance.     

The effect of die geometry on the microstructure of indirect squeeze cast and gravity die cast 7050 (Al-6.2Zn-2.3Cu-2.3Mg) wrought Al alloy

The indirect squeeze casting process has been used to cast a 7050 (Al-6.2Zn-2.3Cu-2.3Mg) wrought Al alloy to near-net shape with excellent die replication. Defects which occur with gravity casting, in particular (1) shrinkage pipe, (2) macro-porosity and (3) hot-tearing, are largely removed by squeeze casting, although regions of macro-porosity can re-appear when thick sections are fed through substantially thinner sections. Squeeze casting results in a considerable refinement of microstructure compared to gravity casting due to a marked decrease in solidification time. The decrease in solidification time is caused by intimate contact between the pressurised melt and the die, which leads to an increase in the heat transfer coefficient. Decreasing the section thickness also results in a refinement of the microstructure due to a reduction in solidification time. This revised version was published online in September 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

T classification and clivus margin as risk factors for determining locoregional control by radiotherapy of nasopharyngeal carcinoma

A sensitive and specific liquid chromatographic-mass spectrometric assay has been developed for the determination of 22-oxacalcitriol (OCT), which is a new analog of 1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3. The analyte was isolated from serum by two solid-phase extraction steps on a C18 cartridge and NH2 cartridge. The recovery of OCT through two extraction steps was more than 90%. A related substance (ED-94), i.e. OCT with the side-chain shortened by one carbon, was used as an internal standard. Extracts were chromatographed on a C18 reversed-phase column interfaced to the electrospray ionization source. The mass spectrometer was operated in the positive-ion mode of selected reaction monitoring. The chromatographic run-time for one injection was less than 6 min. The intra- and inter-assay coefficients of variation for the lowest concentration examined (30 pg ml[-1]) were 9.83 and 10.67, respectively. And the analytical recovery of OCT added to serum was quantitative. Assay linearity was obtained in the range of 20-640 pg ml(-1).     

Clinical evidence that the human monoclonal anti-idiotypic antibody 105AD7, delays tumor growth by stimulating anti-tumor T-cell responses

A human monoclonal anti-idiotypic antibody, 105AD7, which mimics a colorectal tumor associated antigen, 791Tgp72, has been developed. A Phase I trial in advanced colorectal cancer patients showed that 105AD7 therapy was nontoxic and that immunised patients had prolonged survival when compared to a contemporary group of patients treated in the same center. There is accumulating clinical evidence that 105AD7 delays tumor growth by stimulating anti-tumor T-cell responses. Stimulation of helper T-cells was exemplified in the phase I study as 105AD7 immunized patients showed antigen specific T-cell blastogenesis responses and enhanced IL-2 production. Further evidence was obtained from a new clinical study in which colorectal cancer patients were immunized prior to tumor resection. Immune infiltrating cells were analysed by immunohistochemistry and effector cell function was studied in immune cells from peripheral blood and tumor draining lymph nodes. Both activated CD4 and natural killer (NK) cells were observed at the tumor site, which is of interest as NK cells are rarely found in colorectal tumors. Effector studies confirmed that NK activity was enhanced in 3/6 patients. Increased autologous tumor killing was also found in 3/4 patients and accumulation of CD8RO cells following 105AD7 immunization also suggested that CD8 T cells were being stimulated.     

Nonlinear pharmacokinetics of efavirenz (DMP-266), a potent HIV-1 reverse transcriptase inhibitor, in rats and monkeys

PURPOSE: Our purpose was to evaluate the L-ascorbate level in human preovulatory follicular fluid and to quantify the blood/follicle gradient for vitamin C. The effect of smoking on the follicular L-ascorbate concentration was studied. The correlations were tested between follicular L-ascorbate and follicle size and oocyte maturity. METHODS: In 65 women undergoing in vitro fertilization, samples of follicular fluid and blood serum were collected. Biochemical analyses included L-ascorbate determinations by a colorimetric method and cotinine measurements by a radioimmunoassay. RESULTS: The average follicular fluid:serum ratio for L-ascorbate was 1:68. Ascorbate levels in follicular fluid and serum were significantly correlated. The follicular L-ascorbate level did not correlate with the follicle size and the oocyte maturity grade. Insignificantly lowered follicular L-ascorbate levels were observed in smokers. CONCLUSIONS: The extracellular compartment of the Graafian follicle is a site of an ascorbate accumulation. Exposure to tobacco smoke does not significantly diminish the intrafollicular pool of L-ascorbate.     

Initial calibration and alignment of low‐cost inertial navigation units for land vehicle applications

This work presents an efficient initial calibration and alignment algorithm for a 6‐degrees of freedom inertial measurement unit (IMU) to be used in land vehicle applications. Error models for the gyros and accelerometers are presented with a study of their perturbation in trajectory prediction. A full inertial error model is also presented to determine the sensors needed for full observability of the different perturbation parameters. Finally, dead‐reckoning experimental results are presented based on the initial alignment and calibration parameters obtained with the algorithms presented. The results show that the proposed algorithms provide accurate position and velocity information for an extended period of time using nonaided IMU. ©1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Comparison of the Nebraska collar, a new prototype cervical immobilization collar, with three standard models

This is a retrospective reassessment of the most important cytopathologic features of 23 FNA smears with a cytologic diagnosis of panniculitis (PN). Patients were sent by clinicians. Clinical diagnoses were as follows: 16 suspicious of PN; three cutaneous metastases of an extracutaneous primary neoplasm; four with no clinical diagnosis. Thirteen cases were subsequently submitted to histopathologic study. The following cytoarchitectural patterns were found to be very useful for the cytologic diagnosis of PN: adipocytes intermingled with foamy histiocytes, donut-like granulomas, aggregates of adipocytes intermingled with plump histiocytes, a granular basophilic background forming a lattice-like pattern, and well-formed granulomas with or without multinucleated giant cells. Inflammatory cells could be seen combined with any of these cytoarchitectural patterns. FNA does not pretend to replace excisional biopsy as the diagnostic procedure for these entities but it is a very useful diagnostic tool in certain cases: for confirming the recurrence of PN previously diagnosed by histology, for evaluating the onset of subcutaneous nodules in patients with a non-cutaneous malignant primary neoplasm, for evaluating cutaneous nodules with no clinical suspicion, and for confirming a clinical diagnosis of PN and differentiating it from other entities that mimic PN clinically.