Effect of primaquine on the elimination of sexual forms of Plasmodium falciparum in vivo]

A study was made on 49 patients, carriers of sexual forms of Plasmodium falciparum, verified through thick smear tests, who received 45 and 90 mg of primaquine base in different schedules selected at random. None of the employed schedules proved better than the traditional one of 45 mg base in a unique dose, although the schedule of 45 mg on the first and third days showed a slight reduction of the time of elimination of the parasitemia. Thus, further studies are recommended. No other factors showed an influence on the time of elimination of the parasitemia.     

Flexural strength–ductility performance of flanged beam sections cast of high‐strength concrete

Flanged sections are often used for long‐span concrete beams to maximize their structural efficiency. However, although for the same sectional area a flanged section could render a higher flexural strength, it would also lead to a lower flexural ductility, especially when heavily reinforced. Thus, when evaluating the flexural performance of a beam section, both the flexural strength and ductility need to be considered. In this study, the post‐peak flexural behaviour of flanged sections is evaluated by means of an analytical method that uses the actual stress–strain curves of the materials and takes into account strain reversal of the tension reinforcement. From the numerical results, the flexural strength–ductility performance of flanged sections is investigated by plotting the strength and ductility that could be simultaneously achieved in the form of design graphs. It is found that (1) at the same overall dimensions and with the same amount of reinforcement provided, a flanged section has lower flexural ductility than a rectangular section; (2) at the same overall dimensions, a flanged section has inferior strength–ductility performance compared to a rectangular section; and (3) at the same sectional area, a flanged section has better strength–ductility performance compared to a rectangular section. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

平板封头与筒体连接区的疲劳分析

采用有限元分析软件ANSYS,对平板封头与筒体连接区进行有限元分析,并基于计算结果对该连接区进行疲劳分析,使机械设备疲劳计算更精确更经济。     

活性炭工艺去除水中典型药品的效能与机理

药品和个人护理品（PPCPs）因其潜在的环境和健康风险受到了广泛关注。实验选取8种典型药品为对象,采用中试规模的活性炭工艺研究了其去除效果和影响因素。结果表明,活性炭工艺对安替比林、达舒平、舒必利、磺胺甲口恶唑、泰妙菌素和氧苄胺嘧啶等的去除率为50%～90%,对林肯霉素和氨糖美辛的去除率均小于35%。典型药品的去除率受到滤速、有机物和pH等因素的影响,其中,氨糖美辛、林肯霉素和泰妙菌素等的去除率受滤速影响较大;磺胺甲口恶唑的去除率受pH影响较大。有机物对典型药品去除率的影响既有促进作用,又有抑制作用。典型药品的物化性质对其去除行为有重要影响,这有利于从分子水平上认识活性炭工艺对典型药品的去除机理。     

A mini review on chemical fixation of CO 2 : Absorption and catalytic conversion into cyclic carbonates

In this article, we present our research results on chemical fixation of CO₂ using organobismuth compounds. We fabricated bismuth biphenoate complex, Zn-Mg-Al composite oxides, and SBA-15 or Al-SBA-15 immobilized hydroxyl ionic liquid for CO₂ cycloaddition onto epoxides. The hypervalent bismuth compounds show good ability for association and dissociation with CO₂. The bismuth biphenolate complexes are catalytically effective for the cycloaddition reaction. The heterogeneous catalysts, viz. Zn-Mg-Al oxides and SBA-15 or Al-SBA-15 immobilized ionic liquid, are efficient for the synthesis of cyclic carbonate from CO₂ and epoxide. It is found that the presence of a trace amount of water can improve the catalytic activity of the immobilized ionic liquid.     

AN ENVIRONMENTAL RATIONALE: STRATEGIES TO RECONCILE THE GRADUATED INTEREST OF NORTHWESTERN CHINA’S ECO-MODERNIZATION PROGRAMS

From 1980 to 2010, the Chinese government introduced a set of environmental programs across northwestern China, including Three-North Shelterbelt Program, Suspended Village Migration, 1236 Yellow River Irrigation Program, Natural Forest Protection Program, Sloping Land Conversion Program, and Converting Pastures to Grasslands Program. Focusing on the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, this paper explores the overlaps and frictions between China’s large environmental programs, and reveals some of the limitations of these programs in the eco-modernization framework by studying the graduated interest under agricultural comprehensive development and scenarios in three case studies. Compared with the insights from eco-modernization, the conservation refugee and eco-refugee binary framework could review complex interaction and overlapping histories from these coexisting programs, so that resources could be distributed better and alternative ways of greening work of northwestern china could be explored.     

Norms for change in episodic memory as a prerequisite for the diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

The new diagnostic criteria for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) from the International Working Group on Mild Cognitive Impairment (Winblad et al., 2004, p. 243) list “evidence of decline over time in objective cognitive tasks” as one diagnostic sign, implying the repeated neuropsychological testing. This study aimed to compare different assessment methods of longitudinal change based on the performances of 366 cognitively healthy participants (237 men, 129 women) examined with a German version of the California Verbal Learning Test (Delis, Kramer, Kaplan, & Ober, 1987) at baseline and 2 years later. Age, education, gender, and baseline performance were taken into account. Results revealed marked practice effects after 2 years. Normal ranges for change that controls for practice effects and regression to the mean proved to be superior to other reliable change indexes. This new method allows for more valid interpretation of change in neuropsychological functioning and thus diagnosis of MCI. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Acute respiratory distress syndrome: CT abnormalities at long-term follow-up

Photochemical thrombotic ischemia model was used to study the possible roles of excision repair cross-complementing group 6 (ERCC6), a DNA repair gene, in the neuroprotection of dextromethorphan (DM), a NMDA antagonist, in ischemic brain injury. The results showed that no obvious ERCC6 mRNA expression was found in the perifocal area of irradiated cerebral cortex before 24 h postischemia. Then, the number of ERCC6 mRNA positive cells gradually enhanced, and attained a peak value at 72 h after light irradiation, which followed a declined tendency at 7-day postlesion. These results suggest that DNA repair gene ERCC6 mRNA expression in the perifocal area may be involved in the pathophysiological processes following the photochemical thrombotic cerebral ischemia. By the administration of DM, we observed that it can significantly upregulate the expression of ERCC6 mRNA in the perifocal area at 48 h after ischemic event. The neuroprotective mechanisms of DM may be related to the upregulation of DNA repair gene ERCC6 mRNA.     

Sources of error in the pre-analytical phase of blood gas analysis

Analysis of blood gases and blood pH yield important information in many situations of clinical emergencies. We report on a patient in whom pre-analytic errors in blood gas and blood pH measurements resulted in unnecessary further investigations. We therefore studied various pre-analytic sources of error in blood pH and blood gas analysis. Delay in sample processing for more than one hour resulted in an increase of pO2 and pCO2 and a decrease of pH. Excess sodium heparin solution as an anticoagulant (> or = 10% of total volume) led to a significant decrease of pH and pCO2 and to an increase of pO2. Air bubbles (10% of total volume) left in the syringe for 10 min significantly increased pO2. For accurate estimations of pO2, pCO2 and pH, it is necessary to keep the heparin solution below 10% of total volume, to expel all air bubbles from the syringe and to process the blood sample within one hour. Instructions to medical staff on handling blood samples for blood gas analysis should include these possible sources of errors.     

Comparative concentration of serum free amino acids in patients with incipient and manifest organic neuropsychiatric disorders of vascular origin

The authors conducted a study of the quantitative content of amino acids in the blood serum of patients with initial and expressed organic neuro-psychic disorders of a vascular genesis and in a group of normals of the same age. In patients with initial organic syndromes the content of cystin-cystein and treonine in the blood serum increased. In patients with expressed organic syndromes the content of cystin-cystein increased, while the content of arginine acid and leicyn-isoleicyn decreased as compared to the control group of elderly people. A comparative study of the two groups of patients with organic psychopathology of a vascular origin demonstrated that in vascular dementia there are more severe changes in the content of amino acids in the blood serum.