Production of anti-erythrocyte antibodies by leukemic and nonleukemic B cells in chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients

We have assessed the specificity of antibodies from the leukemic B cells of five patients with both chronic lymphocytic leukemia and autoimmune hemolytic anemia (CLL-AHA). Leukemic cells from one patient displayed surface immunoglobulin with heavy and light chain isotypes identical to that of the patient's anti-red blood cell (RBC) antibodies, and the leukemic cells secreted antibodies in vitro with anti-RBC activity. However, in the remaining patients, the leukemic cells displayed surface immunoglobulin with light chain isotypes different from that of the patient's anti-RBC antibodies and secreted antibodies in vitro with no detectable anti-RBC activity. Thus, there are two distinct classes of CLL-AHA patients, differentiated by the presence or absence of an anti-RBC antibody-producing leukemic B cell clone. The apparent heterogeneity in the source of pathogenic anti-RBC antibodies may impact the treatment response of the two classes of CLL-AHA patients.     

A low-cost,high-performance pulse generator for ultrasound imaging

The design of a low-cost pulse generator for ultrasound imaging is presented. The pulser can provide 10 kW pulses with less than 0.7 Vpp ringing. Pulses ranging from 10 to 500 ns have been successfully generated     

过筛煤粉在铸铁件湿型砂铸造生产中的作用

正确选择煤粉,其性能要求同时具有低灰分、高挥发分和高膨胀指数,以及具有合适的筛分粒度这一关键因素,以确保所生产的铸件没有机械粘砂缺陷和表面质量问题.通过仔细选择、安全操作和加工处理,煤粉仍然是一个优良的、简易的、经济的有效解决方案.煤粉在储存、加工和运输过程中易于调节,然后经过进一步的安全处理,最终被铸造厂使用.尽管煤粉有诸多不足之处,对于最终用户来说,它仍然是经济合算的.而且现代加工和筛分方法确保它在最佳条件下使用.     

Thanks, but I'm used to better: A relative rank model of gratitude.

We argue that more help does not necessarily lead to more gratitude. Rather, gratitude depends on how a given instance of help compares with the help that a person is used to receiving. Participants read vignettes detailing an event in which 11 different friends either lent them varying amounts of money or spent varying amounts of time providing help. The amount of gratitude elicited by a given amount of help (e.g., a loan of ￡36 [about $56] or 49 min help) differed substantially depending on how this amount ranked among the help they were getting from their other friends. Comparison across four experimental conditions suggested that these judgments operated via the same general cognitive mechanisms used to judge other social events and psychophysical stimuli (as outlined by range frequency theory). Although more help does lead to more gratitude, people appear to be sensitive to how that help compares with what others are providing, and experienced gratitude depends on these relative judgments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

A 6.5-J flashlamp-pumped Ti:Al2O3 laser

A flashlamp-pumped Ti:A₂O₃ oscillator has delivered 6.5 J per pulse at 800 nm under long-pulse extraction conditions. The device was designed for efficient short-pulse (2-3 ns) amplification to the multijoule energy level. To date, a peak stored energy in excess of 5 J has been obtained and is available for short-pulse extraction studies. The design and resulting characterization of this laser are discussed. The results show that the energy available for short-pulse extraction is limited by the flashlamp pumping time     

Steve Irwin's Influence on Wildlife Conservation

The present study assesses audience involvement with popular television personality Steve Irwin, who died tragically at the peak of his career. A survey of 1,800 media consumers revealed that Irwin was perceived to be a hero and role model for wildlife conservation. News of his death spread quickly and globally, promoting interpersonal dialoguing and Internet searching. Those more highly involved with Irwin talked with more people and longer about his death, and, as hypothesized, were more likely to increase their support of wildlife conservation. The effects of involvement with Irwin spanned age groups, educational levels, ethnic groups, and gender. Implications of these findings on the international influence of popular celebrities are discussed.     

Object tracking with particle filtering in fluorescence microscopy images: application to the motion of neurofilaments in axons

Neurofilaments are long flexible cytoplasmic protein polymers that are transported rapidly but intermittently along the axonal processes of nerve cells. Current methods for studying this movement involve manual tracking of fluorescently tagged neurofilament polymers in videos acquired by time-lapse fluorescence microscopy. Here, we describe an automated tracking method that uses particle filtering to implement a recursive Bayesian estimation of the filament location in successive frames of video sequences. To increase the efficiency of this approach, we take advantage of the fact that neurofilament movement is confined within the boundaries of the axon. We use piecewise cubic spline interpolation to model the path of the axon and then we use this model to limit both the orientation and location of the neurofilament in the particle tracking algorithm. Based on these two spatial constraints, we develop a prior dynamic state model that generates significantly fewer particles than generic particle filtering, and we select an adequate observation model to produce a robust tracking method. We demonstrate the efficacy and efficiency of our method by performing tracking experiments on real time-lapse image sequences of neurofilament movement, and we show that the method performs well compared to manual tracking by an experienced user. This spatially constrained particle filtering approach should also be applicable to the movement of other axonally transported cargoes.     

A 44 GHz monolithic semiconductor dipole antenna

Monolithic semiconductor antennas integrated with a diode detector have been fabricated using silicon-on-sapphire technology. The performance of these antennas is analyzed on the basis of earlier theoretical work on imperfectly conducting/resistive cylindrical dipoles. The measured radiation patterns of semiconductor antennas are compared with those of the corresponding printed metal dipoles.