An introduction to programming for students in sciences

It is widely recognized that students in biology, the earth sciences, chemistry and the natural sciences need some basic knowledge of programming in order to find out what they can and should expect from the use of computing media. Often, however, their curricula does not include any courses in computer science. It is possible to tackle this educational problem by introducing elements of computer science into the mathematics and/or statistics courses which do appear in their curricula. In this paper we suggest a method for integrating the teaching of the two different topics, for example, programming with calculus or statistics. The suggested approach has been extensively tested in mathematics courses for earth sciences, chemistry and pharmaceutical chemistry students at the University of Genova, Italy. We also believe that our approach provides some useful suggestions towards the solution of similar educational problems in the higher level courses of secondary schools.     

The management of diabetes in the elderly

It appears inevitable that with increased longevity, the management of the elderly diabetic will place even greater demands on hospital services. It seems reasonable to adopt a more liberal attitude to the regulation of control of diabetes in the elderly than in younger patients. However, the view that diabetes in the elderly is always mild can be dangerously misleading. A significant number of elderly diabetics develop ketoacidosis or other serious forms of metabolic disturbance, and in these patients the mortality is high. Cardiovascular disease and peripheral vascular disease are major problems in the elderly, the former being the main cause of death. For best results, it is desirable that management of diabetes not be isolated from management of other, coexisting disorders, but rather that it be considered as part of the overall patient problem. As Malins pointed out, we should think in terms of diabetics rather than diabetes.     

Linkage group V in the Syrian hamster: cardiomyopathy and lethal gray

It was shown that the cm and Lg genes, which are relatively closely linked, are not linked with markers in any of the four established linkage groups in the Syrian hamster. Therefore, the linkage between these two genes constitutes a new linkage group, LGV.     

A case study of defects due to process marginalities in deep sub-micron technology

The difficulties in identifying the precise defect location and real leakage path is increasing as the integrated circuit design and process have become more and more complicated in and below deep sub-micron technology node. Most of the defects causing chip leakage are detectable with only one of the failure analysis (FA) tools such as liquid crystal detection (LCD) or photon emission microscope (PEM). However, due to process marginalities some defects are often not detectable with only one FA tool [Hung-Sung Lin, Wen-Tung Chang, Chun-Lin Chen, Tsui-Hua Huang, Vivian Chiang, Chun-Ming Chen. A study of asymmetrical behaviour in advanced nano SRAM devices. In: 13th IPFA proceedings; July 2006. p. 63–6; Kruseman Bram, Majhi Ananta, Hora Camelia, Eichenberger Stefan, Meirlevede Johan. Systematic defects in deep sub-micron technologies. ITC international test conference, 2004. p. 290–9.]. This paper present an example of an abnormal power consumption process related defect which could only be detected with more advanced FA tools.     

白洋淀流域降水特性分析

选取白洋淀流域6个雨量站1959年-2009年日降水量资料,并以此为基础运用滑动平均法、Mann-Kendall非参数秩次检验法及小波分析法对该流域降水特性演变规律进行了分析。结果表明:在流域内,年降水量呈下降趋势且主要由年降水日数显著下降引起;年内各月降水量的不均匀程度呈减小趋势;不同量级降水频率波动较小,但呈现小强度降水比例增加、较大强度降水比例减少的结构变化;暴雨雨量和暴雨强度有较明显的下降趋势,降水潜力下降;年降水量存在4类尺度的周期变化规律,其中16a变化为主周期。     

The depolarization near-field scanning optical microscope: comparison of experiment and theory

The depolarization near-field scanning optical microscope allows for sub-wavelength optical resolution with uncoated optical fibre tips. We show by a simple thought experiment, by numerical solution of the Maxwell equations for a realistic geometry, and by direct experiments, that this novel apparatus images gradients of the dielectric function of a sample in the direction of the incident electric field vector. The near-field images obtained from experiment and theory agree well.     

An in vitro tissue culture bilayer model to examine early events in Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection

A tissue culture bilayer system that mimics some aspects of early alveolar infection by Mycobacterium tuberculosis was developed. This model incorporates human lung epithelial type II pneumocyte (A549) (upper chamber) and endothelial cell (lower chamber) layers separated by a microporous membrane. This construction makes it possible to observe and quantify the passage of bacteria through the two layers, to observe the interaction of the bacteria with the various cell types, and to examine the basic mechanisms of immune cell recruitment to the site of infection. After 10(7) organisms were added to the upper chamber we microscopically observed large numbers of bacteria attached to and within the pneumocytes and we determined by viable-cell counting that a small percentage of the inoculum (0.02 to 0.43%) passed through the bilayer into the lower chamber. When peripheral blood mononuclear cells were added to the lower chamber, microscopic examination indicated a migration of the mononuclear cells through the bilayer to the apical surface, where they were seen associated with the mycobacteria on the pneumocytes. The added complexity of the bilayer system offers an opportunity to define more precisely the roles of the various lung cell types in the pathogenesis of early tuberculosis.     

Stereochemical influence on the stability of radio-metal complexes in vivo. Synthesis and evaluation of the four stereoisomers of 2-(p-nitrobenzyl)-trans-CyDTPA

Distinct differences in in vivo stability of the two diastereomeric C-Functionalized CyDTPA chelating agents, (CHX-A DTPA and CHX-B DTPA, both racemates), as recently reported prompted further investigation as to why differences in configuration produced striking effects on the in vivo stability of their yttrium complexes. To this end, the four individual component stereoisomers of CHX-A and CHX-B were synthesized and ability to bind yttrium was investigated both in vitro and in vivo.