Psoriasiform id reaction in tinea corporis

A case of tinea corporis due to Microsporum canis followed by a scattered psoriasiform eruption is reported. The nature, clinical features and pathogenesis of the dermatophytid are discussed.     

Both early and committed haemopoietic progenitors are more frequent in peripheral blood than in bone marrow during mobilization induced by high-dose chemotherapy + G-CSF

The effect of progesterone and six other C21-deoxysteroids on renal sodium retention by male adrenalectomized rats was compared with the effect exerted by the natural corticoids aldosterone, 11-deoxycorticosterone, and corticosterone. Steroids were active in the following order: aldosterone > 11,19-oxidoprogesterone > 5 alpha H-3,20-pregnanedione > or = 5 beta H-3,20-pregnanedione > progesterone = 11-ketoprogesterone > 6,19-oxidoprogesterone = 11-keto-6,19-oxidoprogesterone > or = corticosterone. All C21-deoxysteroids, except 11,19-oxidoprogesterone, exhibited parabolic log dose-response functions, indicating an effect that opposes renal sodium retention at high doses. 11,19-Oxidoprogesterone and the natural corticoids exhibited normal, exponential, log dose-response curves. Diverse geometric parameters related to molecular planarity were calculated and their correlation with biopharmacological properties was attempted. The best linear regression was obtained for correlation of the concavity of log dose-response parabolas (second-order coefficients) of C21-deoxysteroids with the C3 = O/ring D angle of these molecules. A good linear regression could also be obtained for correlation of the affinity of C21-deoxysteroids, except 11,19-oxidoprogesterone, for purified type I mineralocorticoid receptors with those angles. The latter correlation deteriorated upon incorporation of the affinity data for the three natural corticoids, due to similar affinities of these hormones for type I mineralocorticoid receptors, but could be restored when the binding data for the unpurified, corticosterone-binding globulin-containing stage of the receptors were considered. In vivo binding data followed the same trend as that for unpurified receptors.     

FATIGUE CRACK TIP STRAINS IN 7075-T6 ALUMINUM ALLOY

Abstract— The plastic enclave surrounding a fatigue crack in a 7075-T6 aluminum alloy specimen is studied using moiré interferometry. Two distinct plastic zones are identified from inspection of moiré interferometric fringe patterns. The sizes and shapes of the monotonic and the cyclic plastic zones are correlated with previous theoretical and experimental results. Live load strain distributions in the plastic enclave are computed from high sensitivity (0.417 micron per fringe) full-field in-plane displacement contour maps. Comparison with theoretical and experimental strain distributions are included.     

Effect of amines in anionic polymerization of caprolactam

The effect of various amines in anionic polymerization of caprolactam has been investigated. Experiments have been carried out below the polymer melting point. The results are discussed and explained on the basis of imide–amine interaction.     

On the origin of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and the xylenes in virgin olive oil-further results

Investigations into the sources of contamination of virgin olive oil by gasoline components were concluded. Olives on the tree contained volatile aromatic hydrocarbons at concentrations exceeding those corresponding to the equilibrium with the environment. Present knowledge indicates that up to 10 g/kg of benzene and 250 g/kg for the sum of benzene, toluene, and the C₂-benzenes must be considered as possible background concentrations. Aside from the oil mills, the rooms for intermediate storage of the olives were found to be an important source of contamination by gasoline vapours, since they often contain vehicles and other gasoline-driven engines. Parking of a small, hot grass mower into a similar room released an amount of gasoline that was sufficient to contaminate the oil in olives above the proposed limit by a factor of 100. Recommendations are derived for the producers to avoid contamination of olive oil with gasoline components.     

Context-dependent awareness support in open collaboration environments

The widespread adoption of online services for performing work, home and leisure tasks enables users to operate in the ubiquitous environment provided by the Internet by managing a possibly high number of parallel (private and shared) activity contexts. The provision of awareness information is a key factor for keeping users up-to-date with what happens around them; e.g., with the operations performed by their collaborators. However, the delivery of notifications describing the occurred events can interrupt the users’ activities, with a possible disruptive effect on their emotional and attentional states. As a possible solution to the trade-off between informing and interrupting users, we defined two context-dependent notification management policies which support the selection of the notifications to be delivered on the basis of the user’s current activities, at different granularity levels: general collaboration context versus task carried out. These policies are offered by the COntext depeNdent awaReness informAtion Delivery (CONRAD) framework. We tested such policies with users by applying them in a collaboration environment that includes a set of largely used Web 2.0 services. The experiments show that our policies reduce the levels of workload on users while supporting an up-to-the-moment understanding of the interaction with their shared contexts. The present paper presents the CONRAD framework and the techniques underlying the proposed notification policies.     

Virtuality as a basis for problem solving?

This paper is an attempt to develop a paradigm in problem solving where the notion of virtuality plays a central role. Following a brief discussion on virtual simulation, the paper attempts to identify a notion of virtuality based on the identification of the self (man or computer) with the problem solver. It is shown that such an identification/distinction possibly violates some general principle of the problem environment.To deal with this violation, a new problem is generated and a new virtualization act is required, in order to attain a correspondence between virtuality and reality. A better understanding of this approach requires a combination of analog and digital reasoning: the analog being related to the environment in which the problem solving is required, and the digital to the problem solver's mental activities.We will briefly analyze the recursive approach to problem solving and suggest a possible problem solving methodology based on virtuality. The paper concludes with comments on the relation between etnology and virtual reality.     

Assessment of activated sludge viability with flow cytometry

The aim of the study was to evaluate the applicability of fluorescent dyes and multiparameter flow cytometry for the rapid and direct viability/activity assessment of activated sludge samples taken from wastewater treatment plants. Viability and activity of the biomass were estimated respectively through cellular membrane integrity, staining with SYBR Green I and Propidium Iodide, and through fluorogenic dyes capable of detecting enzymatic activity, as FDA and BCECF-AM. A procedure has been developed to disaggregate sludge flocs before dyes staining and cytometric analysis. The developed procedure allows a high recovery of bacteria with good accuracy and repeatability, and minimize the damage of the cells suspension obtained from the disaggregation of the flocs. These measurements were applied to estimate the two main parameters required to define the biological activated sludge process: the endogenous decay rate and the specific growth rate in exponential phase with high F/M ratio. Oxygen utilization rate measurements (OUR) were conducted to conventionally monitor the activity of the biomass. The preliminary data are encouraging and support the possibility to investigate bacteria dynamics on wastewater treatment plants.