More information on infectious diseases provided by a national information system

The Infectious Diseases Information System (ISIS) was established to improve the exchange of information about infectious diseases among those combating these diseases. Information about infectious diseases is obtained from municipal health services by means of a data processing system elaborated by the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment. After adjustment to the new Act on Combating and Tracing of Infectious Diseases it will be introduced nation-wide in 1998. Information about pathogens is obtained from medical microbiological laboratories (MMLs) through automatic storage of positive and negative results in a central data bank. After a pilot project had shown that the data from one MML, Arnhem, were complete and reliable, the MMLs of Roermond and Tilburg were also connected. For feedback of information to medical microbiologists and infectious diseases specialists, but also to, for instance, GPs, data from the whole country are presented daily on a public Internet site (http:/(/)www.isis.rivm.nl).     

Parental relationships and early social experiences of activist male homosexuals and male heterosexuals.

Compared questionnaire data from a sample of 88 young activist male homosexuals and a control sample of 105 male heterosexuals on variables relating to parental relationships and early social experiences. Samples were similar with respect to age, father's occupation, and religion. Results indicate that the homosexuals came from families in which the mothers were more dominant and affectionate than the fathers. Masculine role behavior was not encouraged by either parent and positively evaluated masculine models were generally less available for homosexuals than for heterosexuals. As children, the homosexuals were shy, effeminate loners who interacted more with females-mothers, sisters, and friends-than males. As adolescents, the homosexuals engaged in less heterosexual sexual behavior than the heterosexuals. Results were compared with findings from previous studies in which different samples and methods were used. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of intraparticle total pressure change on pore mass transport

Influence of intraparticle total pressure change on pore mass transport is investigated in physical gas phase adsorption of a single component from an inert carrier medium. The Dusty Gas Model is applied to quantify pore mass transport, assuming local equilibrium between pore fluid and adsorbed phase. Calculated results for single pellet adsorption kinetics of cyclohexane on activated carbon and CO₂ on molecular sieve 5 Å are compared with experimental data. It is found that the total pressure drop in the pore system may be as much as 1% of the ambient total pressure. This results in a maximum viscous flow contribution of 13% for the cases studied. Since this contribution is obtained only under conditions of low overall transport rates of the adsorbed component, the assumption of isobaric conditions within the pore system of a porous adsorbent appears justified for most cases of practical calculations.     

Structural and functional changes of aquatic heterotrophic bacteria to thermal, heavy, and fly ash effluents

Heterotrophic bacterial populations were sampled at 9 sites around a fossil fuel power plant to assess the ecological impact of the resulting effluents on naturally occurring heterotrophic microbes. The total colony forming units (CFU) remained relatively high at all stations, ranging from 13,804 CFU ml⁻¹ in the heavy ash basin to 2630 CFU ml⁻¹ in an uninfluenced station, Adair Run—upstream. The percent of the total colony counts which were chromagenic was correlated with physico/chemical stresses and varied from a high of 59.0% at the reference New River station to 13.2% in the heavy ash basin. A Sequential Comparison procedure (SCI) produced diversity indices which ranged from 8.21 in upstream New River to 6.23 in the ash-influenced Adair Run station. Assimilation of [³H]glucose was used to assess the functional status of the organisms and was reduced 86.0% in the heavy ash basin and 65.5% in the fly ash basin. The structure and function of bacterial communities in the ash basins were significantly different from the same parameters of populations inhabiting reference environments; however, the basin effluents had a lesser effect on New River bacteria.     

Absolute quantification of monoclonal antibodies in biofluids by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

The development of a quantification method for monoclonal antibodies in serum has been accomplished by high-performance liquid chromatography multiple reactions monitoring mass spectrometry. A human monoclonal antibody (HmAb) was used as the model protein for method development and validation. A peptide from the CDR3-region of its heavy chain was selected and used for quantifying the entire mAb. This signature peptide served as a template for the internal standard. Prior to mass spectrometric analysis approximately 50% of the total serum protein content was removed by albumin depletion. The accuracy of the method ranged between 99 and 112% in cynomolgus monkey serum. The intra-assay coefficient of variation (CV) was lower than 4% at 4 microg/mL and 200 microg/mL HmAb (n = 3). The CV at 400 microg/mL corresponded to 9% (n = 3). In addition, the interassay variation was investigated in a male cynomolgus serum pool and in a female cynomolgus serum pool. The CV for the male cynomolgus pool at 4 microg/mL HmAb was 7% (n = 3). The CV obtained from the female pool was 8% (n = 3), at 4 microg/mL. The dynamic range of the method was 3 orders of magnitude. After albumin depletion of 25 microL of serum, a lowest limit of quantification of 2 microg/mL HmAb was reached in both human and cynomolgus monkey samples.     

Characteristics of picoliter droplet dried residues as standards for direct analysis techniques

The characteristics of dried residues of picodroplets of single-, two-, and three-element aqueous solutions, which qualify these as reference materials in the direct analysis of single particles, single cells, and other microscopic objects using, e.g., laser ablation inductively coupled plasma time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-TOF-MS) and micro-X-ray fluorescence (MXRF), were evaluated. Different single-, two-, and three-element solutions (0.01-1 g/L) were prepared in picoliter volume (around 130 pL) with a thermal inkjet printing technique. An achievable dosing precision of 4-15% was calculated by total reflection X-ray fluorescence (TXRF) determination of the transferred elemental mass of an array of 100 droplets. The size of the dried residues was determined by optical microscopy to be 5-20 microm in diameter depending on the concentration and the surface material. The elemental distribution of the dried residues was determined with synchrotron micro-X-ray fluorescence (SR-MXRF) analyses. The MXRF results show high uniformity for element deposition of every single droplet with an RSTD of 4-6% depending on the concentration of spotted solution. The shape and height profile of dried residues from picoliter droplets were studied using atomic force microscopy (AFM). It was found that these dry to give symmetrical spherical segments with maximum heights of 1.7 microm. The potential of this technique for direct LA-ICP-TOF-MS analysis is shown.     

Optical properties of internally mixed ammonium sulfate and soot particles--a study of individual aerosol particles and ambient aerosol populations

Optical parameters of simulated ambient individual ammonium sulfate and soot-mixed particles were calculated using the discrete-dipole approximation method with different model geometries. Knowledge of the mixing state and the approximation by a suited idealized geometry reduces the errors of the optical properties by +/-50% to +/-10%. The influence of the soot content and the mixing state on the optical properties of the total aerosol was estimated. For the total aerosol population, the size distribution and the absolute soot content had the largest influence. The exact geometry of the ammonium sulfate and soot-mixed particles can be neglected.