Vapor Phase Beckmann Rearrangement of Cyclohexanone Oxime over Different Ferrierite Zeolite Catalysts

Ferrierite zeolite catalysts prepared using different procedures have been tested for their activity for vapor phase Beckmann rearrangement of cyclohexanone oxime to -caprolactam. We report here the results of a study seeking the influence of temperature, nitrogen feed rate, oxime concentration and solvents on the catalyst performance. At low concentration of oxime (2.5 wt%), using acetonitrile as solvent the maximum in the conversion of oxime and selectivity to -caprolactam has been obtained. The presence of weak, medium and strong acid sites as indicated by temperature-programmed desorption of NH₃ corroborates well with the catalytic activities of various ferrierites shown here. Solvent polarity is found to significantly affect the conversion of cyclohexanone oxime.     

Determination of bacterial activity by use of an evanescent-wave fiber-optic sensor

A novel technique based on fiber-optic evanescent-wave spectroscopy is proposed for the detection of bacterial activity in human saliva. The sensor determines th e specific concentration of Streptococcus mutans in saliva, which is a major causative factor in dental caries. In this design, one prepares the fiber-optic bacterial sensor by replacing a portion of the cladding region of a multimode fiber with a dye-encapsulated xerogel, using the solgel technique. The exponential decay of the evanescent wave at the core-cladding interface of a multimode fiber is utilized for the determination of bacterial activity in saliva. The acidogenic profile of Streptococcus mutans is estimated by use of evanescent-waveabsorption spectra at various levels of bacterial activity.     

A specification model for context-based collaborative applications

This paper presents a model for building context-based systems in pervasive computing environments from high level specifications. A pervasive computing environment is viewed as a collaboration space consisting of mobile users, system services, and sensors and resources embedded in the physical environment. The approach presented here is developed for building collaborative activities in which users and environment services cooperate towards some shared objectives and tasks. The specification model allows expression of policies related to context-based discovery and secure access of resources, and role-based interactions among users and environmental services. Using several examples we illustrate the capabilities of our specification model for expressing various kinds of context-based requirements for resource access and user interactions.     

The Future Re-Visited

The future of telecommunications is to reach mass population in all regions of the world with services that will benefit humankind leading to the betterment of its and all life in our planet. Telecommunications and its services have to and will become part of life as is breathing to mankind. This future is by far not achieved and for some time to come whatever we develop there is always a next step to it. After all, that keeps our world going.Currently we are again at that stage of work on future generation communications where these words have not yet achieved a consensus. In this paper let us look at the crystal ball and try to materialize at least in words what we see in it [1–20].We first define fourth generation (4G) communication system and beyond 3G (B3G). Then we look at the requirements for future generation communications from the perspective of the users, the operators, and the service providers. Next the technologies that should and are being developed to materialize the future generation are discussed. A dip is also taken into the ongoing standardization or pre-standardization efforts. At first the introduction section tries to raise questions on the “future”.Prof. Dr. Ramjee Prasad, while being a father always there for his children, is also a visionary and a leader in the field of telecommunications. It is with pride and honour that I write in this paper, on the occasion of 60th birthday of my father, my thoughts of the future of telecommunications. I owe to him and my mother the knowledge that I present and the future that I have written of. It is from the spark that they had put in me that this vision of future was created thus the title “the future re-visited”. Disclaimer: This paper reflects opinion of the author not of NTT DoCoMo or DoCoMo Euro-Labs. Anand Raghawa Prasad Senior Member IEEE, project manager network level security model group, DoCoMo Euro-Labs, Munich, Germany was born in Ranchi, India. He received his Ph.D. degree in the field of WLANs: protocols, security and deployment and MSc (Ir.) degree in the field of Self Similarity in ATM Network Traffic from Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands, in 2003 and 1996, respectively. From 1996 to 1998 he worked as research engineer and later project leader in Uniden Corporation, Tokyo, Japan. From 1998 to 2000, he was distinguished member of technical staff and worked as systems architect for IEEE 802.11 based WLANs (WaveLAN and ORiNOCO) in Lucent Technologies, Nieuwegein, The Netherlands. Subsequently, he was technical director at Genista Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, and technical advisor of PCOM:I3, Aalborg, Denmark. He was a voting member of IEEE 802.11 and he is an active participant of 3GPP. In addition to his publications in journals, international conferences and chapters in books, he has 20$+$ patent applications in the field of wireless communications and has co-edited a book titled “WLAN Systems and Wireless IP for Next Generation Communications” and co-authored a book on “Wireless LANs and Wireless IP: Security, Mobility, QoS and Mobile Network Integration” both published by Artech House in 2002 and 2005 respectively. He is writing a book on “Security in Wireless Networks and Mobile Platforms” to be published in August 2006. He has participated in organizing of various International Conferences including VTC, PIMRC and WPMC. He was a guest editor of a special issue on “Security for Next Generation Communications” of the Springer Journal on Wireless Personal Communications and he is a guest editor of a special issue on “Seamless Handover in Next Generation Wireless/Mobile Communications” of Wireless Personal Communications.     

Progression of atypical ductal hyperplasia/carcinoma in situ of the pancreas to invasive adenocarcinoma

Heterochromatin protein 1 (HP1) of Drosophila and its homologs in vertebrates are key components of constitutive heterochromatin. Here we provide cytological evidence for the presence of heterochromatin within a euchromatic chromosome arm by immunolocalization of HP1 to the site of a silenced transgene repeat array. The amount of HP1 associated with arrays in polytene chromosomes is correlated with the array size. Inverted transposons within an array or increased proximity of an array to blocks of naturally occurring heterochromatin may increase transgene silencing without increasing HP1 labeling. Less dense anti-HP1 labeling is found at transposon arrays in which there is no transgene silencing. The results indicate that HP1 targets the chromatin of transposon insertions and binds more densely at a site with repeated sequences susceptible to heterochromatin formation.     

Morphological studies of late-stage spinodal decomposition in polystyrene–cyclohexanol system

We studied the late-stage spinodal decomposition of the polystyrene–cyclohexanol system in relation to membrane formation. Phase separation was effected by the removal of thermal energy from the homogeneous polymer solution. The ultimate morphology of the phase-separated systems has been studied using electron microscopy and has been found to be strongly affected by the quenching time. A shift from a highly interconnected open-cell structure to a closed-cell structure has been observed, indicating the transition of the spinodal decomposition from early to late stages. The cell growth in the late stage has been quantitatively analyzed and a power-law relationship between the cell size and quenching time has been found. The resulting exponent of 0.61 is consistent with literature values from light-scattering measurements, as well as from theoretical derivations. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Isolation of the third capsule-associated gene, CAP60, required for virulence in Cryptococcus neoformans

A polysaccharide capsule is one of the most important virulence factors for the pathogenic fungus Cryptococcus neoformans. We previously characterized two capsule-associated genes, CAP59 and CAP64. To further dissect the molecular mechanism of capsule synthesis, 16 acapsular mutants induced by 4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide were obtained. The acapsular phenotype of one of these mutants was complemented. The cloned gene was designated CAP60, and deletion of this newly described capsule-associated gene resulted in an acapsular phenotype. The proposed 67-kDa Cap60p contains 592 amino acids and appears to have a putative transmembrane domain close to the N terminus. DNA sequence analysis revealed that CAP60 has similarity to CAP59 at the center portion of its coding regions. Contour-clamped homogeneous electric field blot analysis suggested that these two genes are on the same chromosome. CAP60 and CAP59, however, could not be functionally substituted for each other by direct complementation or by domain swap experiments. In addition, CAP60 is closely linked to a gene which is similar to a cellulose growth-specific gene of Agaricus bisporus, CEL1. Immunogold electron microscopy studies of the epitope-tagged CAP60 gene revealed that Cap60p was primarily localized to the nuclear membrane. Animal model studies indicated that CAP60 is essential for virulence. Thus, CAP60 is required for both capsule formation and virulence.     

POEMS syndrome in a patient with diabetic ketoacidosis: case report and review

This article summarise the main data in the literature on the role of bacteriological contamination of the dialysate fluid in inflammatory reactions in hemodialysis. Pyrogenic substances of small molecular weight from Gram-negative bacteria grown in dialysate can pass across intact dialyzer membrane to stimulate cytokine production by peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Cellulosic hemodialysis membranes are more permeable to endotoxins than synthetic membranes. Polysulfone membranes and polyamide membranes are able to adsorb bacterial toxins on the dialysate side. The diffusive transfer of bacterial products across dialysis membrane from dialysate fluid was demonstrated. Transmembrane passage of cytokine-inducing bacterial products across reprocessed dialyzers is greater than across new dialyzers. Bacteriological contamination of the dialysate fluid is a problem which must be considered with much more care by nephrologists, especially as LAL test is unable to detect all the bacterial products which can contaminate the dialysate fluid.     

Absence of normal activation of the left anterior fusiform gyrus during naming in left temporal lobe epilepsy

Patients with left temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) often have impaired naming. We studied 13 patients with left TLE and 10 healthy control subjects with [(15)O]H2O PET during visual confrontation naming. Statistical mapping detected multiple regions of significant cerebral blood flow increases within individuals. The left fusiform gyrus was activated in nine healthy subjects, but only in two patients with TLE (a significant difference, p < 0.001). Other activation sites were more variable in healthy subjects and those with TLE. Impaired naming ability may be associated with a lack of increased cerebral blood flow in the left fusiform gyrus in TLE.