Factors limiting the domestic density of Triatoma infestans in north-west Argentina: a longitudinal study

Reported are the environmental and demographic risk factors associated with the domestic infestation and density of Triatoma infestans in three heavily infested rural villages in Santiago del Estero Province, Argentina. In a one-factor unadjusted analysis, the number of T. infestans captured per person-hour was associated significantly and negatively with the use of domestic insecticides by householders, type of thatch used in the roofs and the age of the house; and positively with the following: degree of cracking of the indoor walls and presence of hens nesting indoors. In one model, using multiple linear regression and a backward stepwise elimination procedure, most of the variation in the overall abundance of T. infestans was explained by insecticide use and the presence of hens nesting indoors; in another model using the same procedure it was explained by insecticide use, bug density in 1988 and previous spraying with deltamethrin in 1985. Variations in bug density per capture stratum (household goods, beds, walls and roof) were explained by the bug density in other strata and by one or two of the following risk factors: hens nesting indoors, type of roof, presence of cracks in the walls and number of people living in the house. Bug density might be locally controlled by the availability of refuges in the roofs and walls, by the presence of hens nesting indoors and by the use of domestic insecticides. Certain local materials, such as a grass known as simbol, could be successfully used in rural housing improvement programmes aimed at reducing the availability of refuges for insects in the roof.     

Effects of long-term testosterone, gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist, and pimozide treatments on gonadotropin II levels and ovarian development in juvenile female striped bass (Morone saxatilis)

The ability of the juvenile female reproductive axis to respond to hormonal stimulation was investigated in a Perciform fish, the striped bass (Morone saxatilis) using various combinations of testosterone (T), GnRH agonist (GnRHa), and pimozide. A long-term treatment with T alone, or T in combination with GnRHa, increased pituitary gonadotropin II (GtH II) levels 2- and 3-fold, respectively, suggesting that T and GnRHa each stimulate GtH II accumulation. Release of the accumulated GtH II could be induced only by high doses of GnRHa in combination with T, indicating that GtH II synthesis and release require different levels of GnRH stimulation. The addition of the dopamine antagonist pimozide did not affect pituitary and plasma GtH II levels but, in response to an additional acute GnRHa challenge, inhibited the release of GtH II. Although ovarian development was slightly stimulated by a combined T and GnRHa treatment, vitellogenesis was generally not initiated. The present study demonstrated that the juvenile striped bass pituitary is responsive to hormonal stimulation, resulting in elevated levels of GtH II in the pituitary and plasma. However, increased plasma levels of GtH II did not result in precocious puberty, suggesting that additional factors are required for the initiation of ovarian development in this teleost.     

Basophilic blast crisis in chronic myeloid leukemia

Acute nonoliguric renal failure developed in a 13-year-old girl, 1 month after the institution of isoniazid therapy because of a positive tuberculin test at school screening. A renal biopsy demonstrated severe crescentic glomerulonephritis with focal interstitial changes. Discontinuation of isoniazid and a short course of steroids and cyclophosphamide therapy were followed by complete recovery. Whereas isoniazid has been shown to induce a lupus-like syndrome and antihistone antinuclear antibodies, our patient displayed none of the clinical or immunological features that are characteristic of drug-induced lupus. Furthermore, none of the identifiable causes for crescentic glomerulonephritis was evident in this girl. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report suggesting a possible association of crescentic glomerulonephritis to isoniazid treatment.     

Lightning return stroke current identification via field measurements

 An inverse procedure is presented for identifying and reconstructing the waveform of the lightning return stroke current. It is based only on the acquisition of the electromagnetic field radiated by the discharge channel in various locations on the ground and at various frequencies, and requires no information about the channel base current. The fundamental idea is shown to come from an electrostatic problem in which the linear charge density of a vertical thin wire is determined starting from the measured field. Three versions of this procedure have been developed: in the first, the identification is carried out by means of the measurement of the electric field at various distances from the lightning channel at a given frequency; in the second, only two sensors for the electric field are necessary, but various sampling frequencies; in the third, only one observation point is needed, for the measurement of both the electric and the magnetic field. A simulated validation of all the approaches is provided as well as a detailed analysis of their numerical accuracy. Received: 4 April 2001/Accepted: 30 April 2001     

A new FEM approach for field and torque simulation of electrostatic microactuators

A novel finite-element method (FEM) floating-conductor formulation for the numerical electromagnetic analysis of electrostatic microactuators is presented and discussed in this paper. It is based on the assumption that the moving part of the microdevice can be modeled as a perfect conductor and leads to a considerable reduction of the mesh size, as the region occupied by the moving part does not need to be discretized at all. It is also shown that the developed formulation can be easily coupled with the well-known method of equivalent charges for the computation of the driving torque acting upon the rotor of the microdevice. This coupling is performed directly in terms of variables involved in the solution process of the final algebraic system and it allows acquiring torque information without any postprocessing operation. The proposed approach has been applied to the analysis of an electrostatic micromotor with radial field. When compared to simulations obtained with a commercial FEM electromagnetic code using a classical high-permittivity formulation, this method proves to be accurate and exhibits an overall reduction of preprocessing, processing and postprocessing time.     

The isothermal section of the La–Si–Mg system at 500 C

The isothermal section of the La–Si–Mg system at 500 ^°C was constructed in the whole concentration range by means of the SEM-EDXS and XRPD characterization of about forty alloys prepared by induction melting and then annealed. Phase equilibria are characterized by the following ternary phases: τ₁-La_2+xSi₂Mg_1−x (0≤x≤0.35,tP10-Mo₂FeB₂), τ₂-LaSi₂Mg₂ (tP5-CeSi₂Mg₂), τ₃-LaSi₂Mg (structure still unknown) and τ₄-La₆SiMg₂₃ (cF120-Zr₆SiZn₂₃). The high temperature binary phase LaMg₂ (cF24-MgCu₂) has been found to be stabilized at 500 ^°C probably by a small amount of Si. Phases in binary subsystems do not generally form extended ternary solid solutions except for (La_1−xMg_x)₃Si₂ (0≤x≤0.167,tP10-U₃Si₂). Crystal structures of phases τ₁-La_2+xSi₂Mg_1−x and (La_1−xMg_x)₃Si₂ are correlated, the former being a substitution derivative of the latter.