Fatal anaphylactic reaction to tetracycline in the postoperative period

A case of anaphylactic reaction in the form of acute cyanosis, hypotension with sudden and unexpected death of a patient in the post-operative period following the administration of tetracycline is described. There was no history of previous exposure to the drug.     

Visualization of phase objects by use of a differentiation filter

For the visualization of phase objects by use of a differentiation filter, the phase variation is changed into the intensity variation by differentiation, and then the differentiated image is integrated. In the method used in practice, the differentiated image has been recorded on a film, and then integrated by use of a filter. In this paper, however, the image differentiated by means of a filter is entered into a computer using a CCD camera and then integrated. As a result, the method provides rapid on-line processing. We have performed computer simulations and a detailed analysis of the differentiation filter and also provide the experimental results of three-dimensional image visualization.     

Production of nepheline/quartz ceramics from geopolymer mortars

This research has investigated the mechanical properties and microstructure of metakaolin derived geopolymer mortars containing 50% by weight of silica sand, after exposure to temperatures up to 1200 °C. The compressive strength, porosity and microstructure of the geopolymer mortar samples were not significantly affected by temperatures up to 800 °C. Nepheline (NaAlSiO₄) and carnegieite (NaAlSiO₄) form at 900 °C in the geopolymer phase and after exposure to 1000 °C the mortar samples were transformed into polycrystalline nepheline/quartz ceramics with relatively high compressive strength (～275 MPa) and high Vickers hardness (～350 HV). Between 1000 and 1200 °C the samples soften with gas evolution causing the formation of closed porosity that reduced sample density and limited the mechanical properties.     

All-optical nonlinear switching in GaAs-AlGaAs microring resonators

In this paper, we demonstrate all-optical nonlinear switching in compact GaAs-AlGaAs microring resonators at the 1.55-μm wavelength. Switching is accomplished in the pump-and-probe configuration in which the pump-and-probe signals are tuned to different resonance wavelengths of the microring. Refractive index change in the microring due to free carriers generated by two photon absorption is used to switch the probe beam in and out of resonance. Measured transient responses of the pump and probe through the microring show good agreement with theoretical predictions based on nonlinear pump-probe interaction due to two photon absorption     

Temporal order sensitivity of associative neural and behavioral changes in Hermissenda..

Hermissenda's neural and behavioral changes produced by light-rotation pairings were assessed as a function of the temporal relations between visual and vestibular stimulation. The results of in vitro simulations of conditioning indicated that simultaneous pairings (synchronous onsets and offsets of light and caudal hair cell stimulation) resulted in significantly greater cumulative depolarization of Type B photoreceptors than did either forward (light preceded hair cell stimulation) or backward (hair cell stimulation preceded light) pairings. Further experiments revealed that the attenuation of cumulative depolarization produced by the forward and backward pairings reflected the asynchrony of stimulus offsets that characterize these conditioning sequences, rather than their onsets. Analogous behavioral experiments revealed that intact animals trained with forward or backward pairings exhibited significantly less conditioning than those trained with simultaneous pairings. Strong parallels between the magnitude of cumulative depolarization from in vitro conditioning studies and the behavioral results for intact animals were also observed in experiments in which stimulus onset synchrony was held constant but offsets were made asynchronous, and vice versa. Thus Hermissenda exhibits a sensitivity to the temporal arrangement of light and rotation, and the results of behavioral conditioning can be predicted accurately from the outcome of in vitro conditioning of the isolated nervous system. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Synthesis of flexible polymeric shielding materials for soft gamma rays: Physicomechanical and attenuation characteristics of radiation crosslinked polydimethylsiloxane/Bi2O3 composites

Flexible lead‐free high energy radiation shielding material was developed through internal compounding. Polymer‐filler interaction, crosslinking density, specific gravity, physicomechanical characteristics, percentage attenuation, and thermal stability of the crosslinked composites were estimated. It was found that even at very high filler loading composites can be crosslinked; however, the crosslinking density was composition dependent and was highest in 10–50 wt% loading range at 100 kGy and 200 kGy. The Nielsen model was applied to understand the micromechanics of the system. Attenuation of gamma radiation from Am241 was not affected by the crosslinking density. Thermal stability of the composites was found to be significantly affected with bismuth oxide loading. POLYM. COMPOS., 37:756–762, 2016. © 2014 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Hydrogen peroxide sensing properties of PVA/TiO2/I2 nanocomposite‐based free standing membranes

The nanocomposite of titanium‐di‐oxide (TiO₂)/iodine (I₂) in polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) matrix has been explored to be used in hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) sensing applications for the first time. The proposed nanocomposite can be easily casted in the form of thin film on glass substrates as well as free standing membranes. These nanocomposite films and membranes exhibit reduced resistance values and easily observable colour changes in the presence of H₂O₂. The films also exhibit significant quenching in photoluminescence emission properties upon H₂O₂ exposure. These sensor responses have been attributed to redox reactions at nanocomposite films and H₂O₂ interface. This study indicates an easy to fabricate, flexible and environmental friendly sensing platform for H₂O₂. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 42257.     

Response of Different Genotypes of Faba Bean Plant to Drought Stress

Drought stress is one of the major abiotic stresses that are a threat to crop production worldwide. Drought stress impairs the plants growth and yield. Therefore, the aim of the present experiment was to select the tolerant genotype/s on the basis of moprpho-physiological and biochemical characteristics of 10 Vicia faba genotypes (Zafar 1, Zafar 2, Shebam, Makamora, Espan, Giza Blanka, Giza 3, C4, C5 and G853) under drought stress. We studied the effect of different levels of drought stress i.e., (i) normal irrigation (ii) mild stress (iii) moderate stress, and (iv) severe stress on plant height (PH) plant⁻¹, fresh weight (FW) and dry weight (DW) plant⁻¹, area leaf⁻¹, leaf relative water content (RWC), proline (Pro) content, total chlorophyll (Total Chl) content, electrolyte leakage (EL), malondialdehyde (MDA), hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) content, and activities of catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) of genotypes of faba bean. Drought stress reduced all growth parameters and Total Chl content of all genotypes. However, the deteriorating effect of drought stress on the growth performance of genotypes “C5” and “Zafar 1” were relatively low due to its better antioxidant enzymes activities (CAT, POD and SOD), and accumulation of Pro and Total Chl, and leaf RWC. In the study, genotype “C5” and “Zafar 1” were found to be relatively tolerant to drought stress and genotypes “G853” and “C4” were sensitive to drought stress.     

Production and properties of crude enterotoxin of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Pseudomonas aeruginosa CTM-3 was found to be the most potentially enteroxigenic strain out of the 12 isolates recovered from milk, as a high fluid length ratio, i.e. F/L (1.1) in rabbit gut and a strong permeability response in rabbit skin (38.5 mm² necrotic zone) was obtained with this culture. No clear-cut relationship between the two tests was observed. Six of the ethidium bromide (300 μg/ml) cured variants of this culture completely lost their ability to produce enterotoxin indicating the possible involvement of a plasmid in enterotoxin synthesis. The crude enterotoxin from P. aeruginosa CTM-3 was completely inactivated in 15 s at 72°C. However, it was fairly stable at pH values in the range 4.5–7.5. Both pepsin and trypsin inactivated the enterotoxin activity at a concentration of 40 μg/ml. Organic acids, formalin and hydrogen peroxide had no significant effect on the enterotoxin activity. The need for further investigations with purified preparations is emphasized.