Heart transplantation in Finland 1985-1995

BACKGROUND: Clearance of large molecules from the interstitial space is an important function of lymphatics and is affected by local pathologic changes. OBJECTIVE: To determine if the clearance rate of interstitially injected albumin is correlated to tumour characteristics and outcome in women with invasive breast cancer. METHOD: In a consecutive series of women coming to biopsy for suspected breast cancer, technetium-tagged albumin was injected into the tissue adjacent to the palpable mass. The isotope disappearance rate was measured over two hours. Also assessed were the maximum vessel density (MVD-using Factor VIII polyclonal antisera), the proliferation rate (using Ki-67 antisera), node status, tumour size, histologic and nuclear grade, mitotic rate, and p53 and c-erbB-2 oncoproteins. All patients were followed until relapse and for a minimum of 10 years. RESULTS: In multivariate analysis, an association between relapse-free survival and isotope clearance rate was suggested (p = 0.024). The best outcome was seen in patients with the least isotope clearance. Node status, size, histologic and nuclear grade, and mitotic rate correlated with survival. MVD did not correlate with survival and was inversely related to the isotope clearance rate. Tumour proliferation rate, and the c-erbB-2 and p53 oncoproteins did not relate to outcome. CONCLUSION: The role of lymphatics in breast cancer is difficult to study. Measurement of interstitial clearance may be a useful technique and could be a prognostic factor.     

Influence of structure on the antioxidant activity of indolinic nitroxide radicals

An in vitro study was carried out to verify whether the chain length of a substituent on an indolinic nitroxide could influence its antioxidant activity in different biological environments subjected to oxidative stress. Three distinct indolinic nitroxides were synthesized and compared with vitamin E and Trolox (a hydrophilic analogue of vitamin E), where the only difference between the nitroxides was the length of the hydrocarbon chain in the 2-position of indole, namely 2 (C2), 10 (C10), and 18 (C18) carbons. All the nitroxides were effective in preventing oxidation of bovine serum albumin, but to different extents, with the longer chain derivatives being more efficient. However, the C2 compound was the most efficient in preventing lipid peroxidation in microsomal membranes. The C2 and C18 compounds, Trolox, and vitamin E protected microsomal protein oxidation to the same extent at the highest concentration used (13 microM). The nitroxide with a C10 chain was less effective in this system. The influence of these compounds on the enzymatic activity of two mitochondrial proteins subjected to oxidative stress was also studied by means of oxygraph measurements. Mitochondrial rotenone-sensitive NADH oxidase and succinate oxidase responded differently to BuOOH-induced radical chemistry, and the compounds under study also protected the activity of the two enzymes but to different extents. The results clearly demonstrate that indolinic nitroxides are very efficient antioxidants, protecting both lipids and proteins from peroxidation. The indole structure influences the antioxidant efficacy in biological systems.     

Solution for M/G/1 queues

M/G/1 type queueing systems are frequently found in the performance evaluation of communication systems. The authors develop a new solution method for these queues: their results are an alternative to both standard forms of exact analysis, and to diffusion approximations, while offering comparable computational complexity to the latter     

A Metallographic Study of the High-Temperature Decomposition of Austenite in Alloy Steels Containing Mo and Cr

Optical and electron microscopy have been used to study the complex microstructures developed during the isothermal decomposition of austenite above 550°C in Fe-4Mo-0.2C and Fe-10Cr-0.4C alloy steels. As the transformation temperature is decreased, the decomposition products change from the disordered growth of nodular alloy pearlites to blocky ferrite structures containing fine dispersions of alloy carbide, and finally to acicular ferrite structures also containing alloy carbide. The branched M₆C and M₂₃C₆ of the high-temperature pearlite is replaced by Mo₂C and M₇C₃ with a fibrous or lath morphology in the lower temperature structures. The decomposition microstructures are explained in terms of a model which takes account of the growth of particular alloy carbides at the interfaces of ferrite allotriomorphs, where the growth mechanism, and hence the morphology, is sensitive to transformation temperature.     

Inefficiency of lactation in primiparous rats: the costs of first reproduction

To investigate the energetic costs of lactation in a female mammal in relation to previous reproductive history, we compared the performance of adult female Long-Evans rats that had previously bred (multiparous) with young females that had not previously given birth (primiparous). All litters were standardized to 10 +/- 1 young. We compared maternal production (growth of pups), body mass, and energy intake (food consumption) of mothers, as well as their energy expenditure (resting oxygen consumption). The mass of litters at birth and the growth of pups during lactation did not differ according to reproductive history of the mothers. The body mass of primiparous mothers was less than that of multiparous mothers, and primiparous mothers showed an increase in mass during early lactation. To accomplish the essentially identical production of offspring under these circumstances, the primiparous mothers consumed and expended more energy than the multiparous mothers. This remarkable performance of first-time mothers results in an overall efficiency of energy allocation to reproduction amounting to only 25%, compared with 38% in multiparous mothers. The energetic inefficiency of primiparous female lactation results largely from the excessive expenditures associated with physiological and behavioral performances of first-time reproduction, together with a small component of additional expenditure due to further growth by the primiparous mothers. We suggest that this inefficiency probably contributes to the observed low reproductive success of novice breeders; furthermore, active restraint of fecundity may be an evolutionary response to the constraints of the energetic inefficiency of primiparous breeding by female mammals.     

Ethnic differences in the length of the menstrual cycle during the postmenarcheal period

In 1989, 125 African-American and 123 European-American girls aged 12-14 years were enrolled in a 2-year study in which they maintained a menstrual calendar, recording the date and amount of menstrual bleeding. Weight, exercise, and stress during the previous week were recorded at the start of each menstrual cycle. Although only minor ethnic differences were observed in expected cycle length (29.3 vs. 28.8 days for European-American and African-American girls, respectively), more prominent differences were observed in the between-subjects standard deviation of cycle length (2.9 vs. 2.2 days, respectively) and in the odds of having a cycle longer than 45 days (odds ratio=1.86, 95% confidence interval 1.17-2.97) for European-American compared with African-American girls. Low weight for height and high levels of exercise increased the probability of having a cycle longer than 45 days and decreased expected cycle length of 13- to 45-day cycles. Additional investigation of potential ethnic differences in menstrual cycle characteristics is warranted.     

Sensor explication: knowledge-based robotic plan execution throughlogical objects

Complex robot tasks are usually described as high level goals, with no details on how to achieve them. However, details must be provided to generate primitive commands to control a real robot. A sensor explication concept that makes details explicit from general commands is presented. We show how the transformation from high-level goals to primitive commands can be performed at execution time and we propose an architecture based on reconfigurable objects that contain domain knowledge and knowledge about the sensors and actuators available. Our approach is based on two premises: 1) plan execution is an information gathering process where determining what information is relevant is a great part of the process; and 2) plan execution requires that many details are made explicit. We show how our approach is used in solving the task of moving a robot to and through an unknown, and possibly narrow, doorway; where sonic range data is used to find the doorway, walls, and obstacles. We illustrate the difficulty of such a task using data from a large number of experiments we conducted with a real mobile robot. The laboratory results illustrate how the proper application of knowledge in the integration and utilization of sensors and actuators increases the robustness of plan execution.     

Short-pulse, eye-safe Nd:YAG laser using cavity-dumping

A short-pulse 1.444-μm laser based on Nd:YAG technology has been demonstrated. The 1.444-μm is eye-safe. With the cavity-dump technique, a pulse of 50 m× and 14 ns was obtained. The beam quality was excellent with an M² of 1.6 by the use of a telescopic resonator. Silicon-window polarizers were used to suppress the 1.06-μm radiation but showed 1.444-μm absorption as well     

Mesopore development in PAN-ACF resulting from non-metal additives

The narrow pore-size distribution of activated carbon fibres (ACF) limits their application in the fields concerning larger molecules, such as liquid adsorption and catalyst support. On the addition of carbon particles and organic materials to polyacrylonitrile fibres, and after stabilizing and activating, the mesoporosity in the resultant ACF has been obviously increased. Among these additives, carbon black gives the best effect. With 1 wt% carbon black I in precursor and on activating at 880°C for 30 min, a mesoporosity of 48.2% (total pore volume 0.704 ml g-1, mesopore volume 0.340 ml g-1) has been obtained. The mechanism of mesopore formation is also discussed. This revised version was published online in November 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.