Why adding rice hull ash can benefit beer clarification

Filter aids continue to play an important role in the beer brewing process. The majority of commercial products are either diatomite- or perlite based. However, rice hull ash, a by-product from the incineration of rice hulls, has been shown to be an effective filter aid in the filtration of raw sugar liquors. A research team from the Cuban Research Institute of Sugar Cane Derivatives (ICIDCA) has gone on to investigate its ability to clarify beer. The findings of their study are presented below.     

Morphology of peripheral airways in current smokers and ex-smokers

To investigate the effect of smoking status on pulmonary function and pathologic changes in the peripheral airways, we studied 97 patients who underwent thoracotomy for coin lesions. The patients were divided into 4 groups: nonsmokers (n = 9), current smokers (n = 51), and those who had ceased smoking for less than (n = 18) or more than (n = 19) 2 yr prior to surgery. We found that current smokers had evidence of air-flow obstruction with abnormal lung volumes when compared with nonsmokers. Ex-smokers had lung volumes similar to those of nonsmokers, but showed evidence of obstruction, with the FEV1/FVC between the values found for nonsmokers and current smokers. Examination of the small airways showed that the membranous bronchioles of current smokers and ex-smokers displayed only increased goblet cell metaplasia when compared with those in nonsmokers; the respiratory bronchioles of current and ex-smokers showed increases in intraluminal and airway wall inflammatory cells, wall fibrosis, and pigment deposition. We conclude that patients who currently smoke cigarettes have reduced lung function that is associated with abnormalities of airway structure. Although those who have stopped smoking have function that is closer to the nonsmoking group, there is no apparent difference in structural change between current and ex-smokers.     

Spectral self-interference microscopy for low-signal nanoscale axial imaging

A theoretical and numerical analysis of spectral self-interference microscopy (SSM) is presented with the goal of expanding the realm of SSM applications. In particular, this work is intended to enable SSM imaging in low-signal applications such as single-molecule studies. A comprehensive electromagnetic model for SSM is presented, allowing arbitrary forms of the excitation field, detection optics, and tensor sample response. An evanescently excited SSM system, analogous to total internal reflection microscopy, is proposed and investigated through Monte Carlo simulations. Nanometer-scale axial localization for single-emitter objects is demonstrated, even in low-signal environments. The capabilities of SSM in imaging more general objects are also considered--specifically, imaging arbitrary fluorophore distributions and two-emitter objects. A data-processing method is presented that makes SSM robust to noise and uncertainties in the detected spectral envelope.     

Laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomy

OBJECTIVE: To report our experience with laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomy (LAVH) and evaluate the advantages of LAVH. STUDY DESIGN: From January 1991 to August 1992, 176 LAVHs were performed at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, College of Medicine, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Korea. The indications for LAVH, based on the preoperative diagnosis, were uterine myomas, dysmenorrhea, chronic pelvic inflammatory disease or pelvic pain, dysfunctional uterine bleeding and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (in order of frequency). RESULTS: Patients had concomitant procedures, including incidental appendectomy, posterior wall repair, pelvic adhesiolysis and salpingo-oophorectomy. Bipolar forceps were used to compress and desiccate vessels. The Nd-YAG laser, scissors and/or unipolar electrode were used for tissue division, excision of adhesions and cutting. The intraoperative complications were bladder perforation, massive hemorrhage and inferior epigastric vessel injury (one case each). The postoperative complications were infection, voiding difficulty, febrile morbidity, pelvic abscess, incisional hernia, vaginal vault bleeding and peroneal nerve palsy (one case each). CONCLUSION: Hysterectomy can be safely performed vaginally assisted by operative laparoscopy by well-trained laparoscopists, resulting in reduced surgical morbidity, blood loss, postoperative discomfort, recovery time and hospitalization.     

Ocular chrysiasis correlated with gold concentrations in the crystalline lens during chrysotherapy

The eyes of 11 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who received extended chrysotherapy (mean cumulative dose greater than 7 grams during a mean 6-year period) were examined biomicroscopically. Minute reddish-purple particles were seen in the cornea (corneal chrysiasis) in 5 and in the lens (lens chrysiasis) in 4 patients. Particulate deposits were absent in 11 other RA patients who had not received gold treatment. Seven crystalline lenses from 5 gold-treated patients were removed surgically because of incidental cataract formation and analyzed for gold content using neutron activation analysis. Although the mean lens gold concentration was higher in these patients than in non-gold-treated controls without RA (0.0073 microgram/grams versus 0.001 microgram/grams), the absolute gold level was markedly lower than that found in 25 diverse tissue analyzed previously. This finding is compatible with the absence of clinical gold-related lens disease or visual impairment.     

The avocational pursuits of rehabilitants with traumatic quadriplegia

The pre- and post-disability avocational pursuits of 35 persons with traumatic quadriplegia were surveyed in terms of frequency of participation and enjoyment of activities. The patterns delineated suggested the need for improved avocational training programs, particularly in the cognitive and social spheres.