Simulation of three-dimensional micromagnetic structures in magnetically uniaxial films with in-plane anisotropy. Dynamics and structural reconstructions

Transition processes in nonequilibrium micromagnetic structures that represent regions of various types of asymmetrical vortex domain walls with closely spaced transition structural elements, including vertical Bloch lines (VBLs), singular points, and clusters consisting of VBLs and singular points, have been studied by the method of three-dimensional numerical simulation of the magnetization behavior. The realization of various scenarios of dynamic behavior, including the annihilation of transition elements accompanied by the liberation of energy and the initiation of wave processes, has been shown to be possible. The simulation was performed for the case of magnetically uniaxial ferromagnetic films with an easy axis parallel to their surface with exact allowance for the inhomogeneous exchange, magnetoanisotropic, and magnetostatic interactions.     

Superconductivity of nanostructured Pb7Bi3 films doped by Ce

By means of electrochemical deposition from electrolytes, containing salts of Pb and Bi (0.03 mol/l and 0.02 mol/l respectively) thin films of intermetallic Pb7Bi3 have been fabricated. The superconducting transition temperature of the films was measured to be around 7.8 K. The deposition of the films with thickness of 50-100 nm was performed via passing rectangular current pulses with given amplitude and length. It was shown that adding salt of Ce into the electrolyte leads to a significant growth of the Tc for the deposited films reaching its maximum at the salt concentration of 0.06 mol/I. X-ray analysis data revealed the single phase of Pb7Bi3 films with hexagonal structure (SG) having a textures parallel to (101) plane. The morphology of the film surface is characterized by nanocluster structure with typical grain size around 70-80 nm. For the films, fabricated with adding salt of Ce, together with the intermetallic phase of Pb7Bi3, the second phase containing Bi is detected. At the same time, the typical grain size is reduced to 20-30 nm. Additionally, the suppression of the superconductivity in the grown films is investigated. The influence of the composition and structure on the superconducting critical temperature is discussed for both types of the fabricated films.     

Operation of a glass-melting furnace with a heat-insulated melting tank

The operating advantages of a glass-melting furnace with a thermally insulated melting tank are considered. A scheme of thermal insulation is presented. The efficiency of the heat insulation of the melting tank in the production of glass with decreased light transmission is noted. Translated from Steklo i Keramika, No. 2, pp. 8–9, February, 2000.     

Identification of the thermophysical characteristics of materials

From a unified methodological standpoint, the coefficient of the inverse problem of determining the thermophysical characteristics of a material from temperature measurements at its depth in the approximation of a semi-infinite body, single-layer and two-layer (with a layer of an ideal conductor) plate of finite thickness has been solved. The proposed technique does not employ operations of the smoothing of experimental data and allows one to remove the restrictions on the choice of the heating regime of the specimen of the material and to expand the range of measurements by the Fourier number.     

Isolation, characterization, and distribution of a 24-kDa proteoglycan in the urine of cachectic cancer and AIDS patients

Substantial weight loss in individuals with AIDS or cancer is associated with a poor prognosis and increased mortality. We have isolated and partially characterized a proteoglycan (named azaftig) from the urine of a cancer patient experiencing weight loss. Furthermore, we have raised a polyclonal antibody to azaftig in rabbits and developed a procedure to measure the level of this proteoglycan in urine by Western blot. We report the presence of azaftig in the urine of cancer and AIDS patients experiencing weight loss, but not in the control or weight-stable subjects. The azaftig-like immunoreactivity was present in 69.2% (9/13) of patients with weight loss, but only in 27.0% (3/11) of weight-stable cancer or AIDS patients and none of the control subjects (n = 8).     

Incidence of tardive dyskinesia in early stages of low-dose treatment with typical neuroleptics in older patients

OBJECTIVE: The authors studied the risk of tardive dyskinesia for older patients in the early stages of treatment with typical neuroleptics. METHOD: They examined the cumulative incidence of tardive dyskinesia 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months after the institution of neuroleptic therapy among 307 psychiatric outpatients over age 45. The patients' median dose was 68.4 mg/day of chlorpromazine equivalent. RESULTS: In the patients who had never received neuroleptics at baseline (N = 87), the mean cumulative incidence of tardive dyskinesia was 3.4% and 5.9% at 1 and 3 months, respectively. There was no significant difference in the 12-month cumulative incidence of tardive dyskinesia among patients who had been neuroleptic-naive at baseline (22.3%) and the 89 patients who had received neuroleptics before baseline for 1-30 days (24.6%); however, the 131 patients who had received neuroleptics before baseline for more than 30 days tended to have a greater cumulative 12-month incidence of tardive dyskinesia (36.9%). CONCLUSIONS: The risk of tardive dyskinesia in older outpatients is high, even with relatively short treatment with low doses of conventional neuroleptics.     

Extraperitoneal cyst of the right spermatic cord

Student placements in operating theatres are being discontinued in some hospitals. Here, the author explores the reasons for this and highlights what nursing students can achieve during a placement in theatre.     

Rejection of cardiac allografts by T cells expressing a restricted repertoire of T-cell receptor V beta genes

We have recently shown that T cells infiltrating cardiac allografts early in graft rejection use a limited T-cell receptor (TCR) V beta repertoire. In this study we tested whether this limited repertoire of V beta genes is important for graft rejection. A cell line, AL2-L3, was established from LEW lymphocytes infiltrating ACI heart allografts 2 days after transplantation. This cell line is composed of CD4+ T cells that primarily recognize the class II RTI.B major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecule expressed by the donor graft. This cell line precipitated acute rejection of donor hearts with a median survival time (MST) of 10.5 days following adoptive transfer to sublethally irradiated LEW recipients. This rate of graft rejection was significantly (P < 0.0007) accelerated when compared with a MST of 60 days for allografts in irradiated control recipients. The AL2-L3-mediated acceleration of graft rejection was donor specific as WF third-party heart allografts were rejected with a delayed tempo (MST = 28.5 days). The V beta repertoire of this cell line was primarily restricted to the expression of V beta 4, 15 and 19 genes. The nucleotide sequence analysis of the beta-chain cDNAs from this cell line demonstrated that the restricted use of the V gene repertoire was not shared with the N, D and J regions. A wide variety of CDR3 loops and J beta genes were used in association with selected V beta genes. These data provide evidence for the role a restricted repertoire of V beta genes plays in cardiac allograft rejection in this model. The restricted usage of the V beta repertoire in an early T-cell response to allografts may provide the opportunity to therapeutically disrupt the rejection reaction by targeting selected T-cell populations for elimination at the time of organ transplantation.