Cancer of the pyriform fossa: hyperfractionated radiotherapy as a primary treatment modality

In a unilateral ureteral obstruction model, a progressive accumulation of hyaluronan (HA) was observed in the renal papilla during the first 11 days of obstruction, after which the amount of HA decreased until the last day of observation, i.e. day 22. The initial accumulation of HA in the obstructed kidney probably reflects the attempts of the kidney to maintain osmotic balance. Consequently, when filtration ceases, HA synthesis decreases and the concentration of HA falls. In the papilla of the contralateral kidney, that had not been exposed to any mechanical damage, the HA content was found to vary in a similar way to that in the obstructed kidney. The explanation for this could be that the mesenchymal cells within the papilla increase their production of HA in order to meet the requirements of increased function necessary to also shoulder the function of the damaged kidney. In short similar variations in the HA content of the renal papilla was observed in both healthy and obstructed kidneys in a unilateral ureteral obstruction model.     

Transmission quality of north American cellular, personalcommunications, and public switched telephone networks

Future long distance, and especially international calls, will involve an increasing number of multilink circuits of cellular, personal communications, mobile satellite, and public switched telephone network (PSTN) type of connections incorporating a variety of speech coding devices. In particular, the rapid growth of cellular communications has highlighted the need to characterize the quality of switched networks when cellular terminals are attached at their termination nodes. At the same time, the nonlinear nature of low-rate parametric speech coding has rendered questionable analytical methods for estimating end-to-end voice quality of interconnected telecommunications networks. Instead, quantification of transmission performance appears to require direct subjective evaluation of the pertinent conditions of interest. In this paper the quality of interconnected North American digital cellular and future microcellular terminals with 16 kbit/s and 32 kbit/s DCME/PCME-based switched and private telephone networks is quantified. From these assessments it can be concluded that cellular networks employing the TIA IS-54 8 kbits/s VSELP algorithm may meet the end-to-end transmission planning criteria when interconnected with the switched network     

Detoxification of cyanide by immobilised fungi

Cyanide detoxification was studied by immobilisation of fungal mycelia that had been induced to form cyanide hydratase (formamide hydrolyase) which is able to hydrolyse cyanide to formamide. The fungal pathogens of cyanogenic plants, Stemphylium loti, Gloeocercospora sorghi and Fusarium moniliforme were immobilised using polyelectrolyte flocculating agents. The effect of immobilisation on the enzymic properties of S. loti and G. sorghi were investigated. The apparent K_m values increased from 21.0 mmol and 25.5 mmol KCN to 43.5 mmol and 71.0 mmol KCN, respectively. The pH profile for the two enzymes widened on immobilisation. The stoichiometry of 1:1 cyanide utilisation to formamide formation was retained on immobilisation, with complete conversion of 70 mmol KCN in 120 min by 0.12 g dry wt of S. loti and in 6 min by 0.13 g dry wt of G. sorghi. When the two fungi were stabilised by immobilisation, and tested in column reactors containing 1.2 g dry wt of S. loti and 1.3 g dry wt of G. sorghi, they completely converted cyanide (70 mmol; added continuously at 7.5 ml h^?1) into formamide for 2 days and 30 days, respectively. Stability was enhanced by inclusion of 1.0 mmol glucose in the 70 mmol KCN solution, by a further 10 h for S. loti and an extra 10 days for G. sorghi. Operational stabilities of immobilised G. sorghi (1.3 g dry wt) and F. moniliforme (1.0 g wet wt) in column reactors, with 100 % cyanide conversion, at varying flow rates was investigated. G. sorghi was stable for 15, 10 and 2 days whereas F. moniliforme was only stable for 48, 20 and 10 h at 30, 60 and 120 ml h^?1 flow rates respectively.     

Solvent effects in coal desulphurization by chlorinolysis near ambient temperature

The effects of solvent, temperature and reaction time on the desulphurization efficiency of the low-temperature chlorinolysis process were studied. Certain trends in sulphur reduction, chlorine uptake and extraction yield for coals undergoing slurry-phase chlorine treatment were established. Methanol-based solvent systems were found to display remarkable capabilities in coal chlorinolysis both in terms of selective sulphur extraction and high yields of coal extracts.     

Polybromodiphenyl ethers and decabromodiphenyl ethane in aquatic sediments from southern and eastern arkansas, United States

South-central Arkansas (AR) is home to major manufacturing facilities for brominated flame retardant chemicals (BFRs) in the U.S. Unintended release during production may have caused accumulation of the BFRs in the local environment. In this work, sediment cores were collected from six water bodies in AR, including three located close to the BFR manufacturing facilities in El Dorado and Magnolia, to investigate past and recent deposition histories. A total of 49 polybromodiphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE) were detected, with concentrations as high as 57?000 and 2400 ng/g dry weight for decabromodiphenyl ether (BDE209) and DBDPE, respectively. Log-log regression of BDE209 and DBDPE surface concentrations versus distance to known BFR manufacturing facilities fit the Gaussian Plume Dispersion model, and showed that, if the distance is shortened by half, concentrations of BDE209 and DBDPE would increase by 5-fold. The spatial distribution and temporal trend of the contamination indicate that the manufacturing of PBDEs and DBDPE is the primary source for these compounds in the environment of southern Arkansas. Interestingly, the occurrence of debromination of PBDEs in the sediments of a previously used wastewater sludge retention pond in Magnolia is indicated by the presence of congeners that had not been detected in any commercial PBDE mixtures and by increased fractions of lower brominated congeners relative to higher brominated congeners. Two unknown brominated compounds were detected in the sediments, and identified as nonabromodiphenyl ethanes.     

"God's Golden Acre for Children": pastoralism and sense of place in new suburban communities

This paper is based on an empirical case study of four suburbs in the Dublin city hinterland. It is argued that pastoral ideology plays an active role in constituting these new suburbs and helps to inculcate a sense of place. This sense of place in turn helps to cement social embeddedness which acts as a bulwark against isolation and alienation. Pastoral ideology is invoked by suburbanites even when the pastoral dimension of the suburb is under threat or has disappeared. The village or ‘main street’ acts as an important anchor for new suburban residents as does the surrounding ‘rural’ landscape and their own collective memories. However, the study reveals a gap between how some newer suburbs are represented and imagined, and how they are experienced in everyday life. This raises questions about the long-term viability of suburbs that lack a sense of place.     

Application of directly coupled HPLC NMR to separation and characterization of lipoproteins from human serum

Disorders in lipoprotein metabolism are critical in the etiology of several disease states such as coronary heart disease and atherosclerosis. Thus, there is considerable interest in the development of novel methods for the analysis of lipoprotein complexes. We report here a simple chromatographic method for the separation of high-density lipoprotein, low-density lipoprotein, and very low-density lipoprotein from intact serum or plasma. The separation was achieved using a hydroxyapatite column and elution with pH 7.4 phosphate buffer with 100-microL injections of whole plasma. Coelution of HDL with plasma proteins such as albumin occurred, and this clearly limits quantitation of that species by HPLC peak integration. We also show, for the first time, the application of directly coupled HPLC 1H NMR spectroscopy to confirm the identification of the three major lipoproteins. The full chromatographic run time was 90 min with stopped-flow 600-MHz NMR spectra of each lipoprotein being collected using 128 scans, in 7 min. The 1H NMR chemical shifts of lipid signals were identical to conventional NMR spectra of freshly prepared lipoprotein standards, confirming that the lipoproteins were not degraded by the HPLC separation and that their gross supramolecular organization was intact.     

The Diffusion and Impacts of Information and Communication Technology on Tourism in the Western Cape,South Africa

Two features of the globalising economy are its technological dynamism and its increasing service orientation. International tourism is an important element of the “new economy” of globalisation, as are new information and communication technologies. The relations between these two central elements of the reconfiguring world system have been under-theorised. Based on extensive primary fieldwork in Western Cape Province, South Africa, this paper explores the impact of new information and communication technologies on tourism development. It finds that, while these new technologies are extensively used in marketing and booking, in particular, foreign-owned websites have established a dominant command and control function, thereby replicating previous patterns of economic extraversion.     

Grain boundary diffusion and growth of titanium silicide layers on silicon

A kinetics study of titanium silicide formation is described. The results show that a fine grained precursor layer exist in between the well developed C-54 silicide layer and the unreacted titanium film. This layer is a mixture of C49-TiSiV₂ and unreacted titanium. The fact that no C54-TiSi₂ formed directly from the Ti-Si reaction suggests that the nucleation of C49-TiSi₂ is easier than that of C54-TiSi₂ under our annealing conditions. The silicide layer growth has a non-t^1/2 dependence and is much better described by a grain boundary diffusion limited model giving different kinetics. This indicates that grain boundary diffusion is the major atomic transportation mechanism. The growth rate depends on both the grain boundary diffusion coefficient and the silicide grain growth rate.