Vascular rejection post heart transplantation is associated with positive flow cytometric cross-matching

28 isolates of canine parvovirus type-2 (CPV-2) were obtained from dogs with hemorrhagic gastroenteritis in Italy. The antigenic structure of CPV-2 isolates was characterized, using four discriminating monoclonal antibodies. In addition, four vaccinal strains were examined. Similar to reports from Australia and the United Kingdom, a much higher prevalence of CPV-2a (25/28 isolates) was observed than the other variant type, CPV-2b (3/28 isolates). DNA fragments (2.2 kbp) of representative strains of CPV-2, CPV-2a and CPV-2b were amplified by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and the products were digested by the restriction enzymes (RE) RsaI, HpaII, HindIII and PvuII. The RvaI enzyme allows the differentiation of CPV-2 from CPV-2a and CPV-2b.     

Oxidation behaviours of carbon/carbon composite with multi-coatings of LaB6-Si/polycarbosilane/SiO2

The influence of multi-coatings of LaB₆-Si/polycarbosilane/SiO₂ on the oxidation behaviour of carbon/carbon composite materials was investigated in the temperature range from 500 to 1400 °C. The additives of LaB₆-Si offered lower oxidation rates and accelerated increases in oxidation rates at temperatures below 900 °C. The coating of polycarbosilane (PCS) improved the compatibility of the coating on the carbon/carbon composite and lowered the oxidation rates of the LaB₆-Si coated composite below the transition temperature. With the SiO₂ coating, the cracks of the LaB₆-Si/PCS coating was sealed and a good oxidation resistance of the LaB₆-Si/PCS/SiO₂ coated composite was found at temperatures up to 1300 °C.     

Left ventricular regional systolic motion in patients with right ventricular pressure overload

The highly reactive and cytotoxic hydroxyl radical (OH) was found by electrochemical detection to be produced in reactions involving hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and the nitric oxide (NO) donor diethylamine- NO complex. Using aromatic hydroxylation of salicylate as a specific indicator of OH, three salicylate hydroxylation products were identified; catechol, 2,3- and 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid. Four additional compounds were detected but not identified. The interactions of H2O2 and NO represent a biologically feasible reaction mechanism that can account for OH-induced damage in cellular environments where transition metal ions are unavailable for participation in the superoxide-mediated Fenton reaction. The ability of the NO/H2O2 complex to generate OH independently of iron or other transition metals provides a new focus for studies concerned with the origin of tissue-specific damage caused by oxygen-derived species.     

Postpartum depression

Depression following childbirth (postpartum depression) is a common psychiatric illness of women, postpartum. We review Japanese and English literature on postpartum depression. Problems with definition, study design and validity of the diagnosis prevented comprehensive understanding whether postpartum depression is a distinct subtype of endogenous depression. In general, postpartum depression seems to be the same illness as depression at other times in life. The biological and psycho-social pathogenetic factors, unique to the puerperal period, are not yet known. Clinicians caring for women and infants should learn to screen their patients for this multifactorial (genetic, temperamental, and environmental) disorder, and try to integrate a multidisciplinary (pharmaco-, psycho-, socio-, familial) approach.     

Wide gamut LCD using locally dimmable four‐primary‐color LED backlight

This paper proposes a wide gamut LCD using locally dimmable four‐primary‐color (4PC) LED backlight. Although the color gamut of LCDs has been improved in recent years, it is insufficient to reproduce all the colors in the real world. The objective of this paper is to propose a wide gamut LCD that reproduces all the colors in the real world while keeping the cost increases to a minimum. We evaluated the color gamut reproduced by LEDs of multiple primary colors and selected cyan as the optimal color to be added to the three primary colors to reproduce all the colors in the real world. Therefore, we designed an LED backlight consisting of an additional only‐cyan LED with three‐primary‐color LEDs and developed a prototype LCD with 4PC LED backlight. Furthermore, we developed a local dimming algorithm for the 4PC LED backlight. As a result, we confirmed that the prototype LCD with the 4PC LED backlight is able to cover almost all the colors in the real world and also able to display natural images with highly saturated colors by local dimming.     

AI-Li/SiCp composites and Ti-AI alloy powders and coatings prepared by a plasma spray atomization (PSA) technique

There has been increasing use of Al-Li alloys in the aerospace industry, due mainly to the low density and high elastic modulus of this material. However, the problem of low ductility and fracture toughness of this material has limited its present application to only weight- and stiffness-critical components. Development of Al-Li/ceramic composites is currently being investigated to enhance the service capabilities of this material. The Ti-Al alloy is also of interest to aerospace-type applications, engine components in particular, due to its attractive high-temperature properties. Preparation of fine powders by plasma melting of composite feedstock and coatings formed by plasma spraying was carried out to examine the effect of spray parameters on the microstructure and properties of these materials. Characterization of the powders and coatings was performed using the scanning electron microscope and image analyzer. Examination of the plasma-sprayed powders and coatings has shown that in the Al-Li/SiC composite there is melting of both materials to form a single composite particle. The SiC reinforcement was in the submicron range and contributed to additional strengthening of the composite body, which was formed by a cold isostatic press and consolidated by hot extrusion or hot forging processes. The plasma-sprayed Ti-Al powder showed four categories of microstructures: featureless, dendritic, cellular, and martensite-like.     

A novel spin-finishing method for antistatic modification of polyester fiber. Surface reaction onto amine-containing copoly(amide-ethers) blended with polyester fiber

Copoly(amide-ethers) containing two types of tertiary amine units were made as antistatic modifiers for poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) fibers. The filaments of the copolymers were melt-spun and reacted with three alkylating agents in order to quaternize the tertiary amine into a sulfo-betaine, a carbobetaine, and an ammonium ion. The apparent electric resistivity of the filaments was greatly reduced by this reaction, being in the range of 10⁶ to 10⁸ Ω/cm. However, because these quaternized copolymers incurred decomposition during blend spinning with PET, a blend PET fiber containing one type of copoly(amide-ether) was melt-spun and subjected to quaternization of the amino groups as well as to surface crosslinking with various alkylating and epoxy agents. The quaternized blend fibers obtained showed improved antistatic properties compared with the original blend fiber. Particularly, the fibers crosslinked with epoxy compounds were found to have the best antistatic properties that had ever been attained with this type of modification. The antistatic properties were retained even after dyeing, because both hydrophilic and ionic groups had been effectively immobilized on the surface. Since this quaternization and crosslinking could be conducted on-line with spinning and drawing within a short reaction time, this modification technique is called “spin-finishing method”, which should be superior to the conventional methods in terms of cost performance and productivity.     

Polymerization of propylene over metal oxides-supported TiCl3 catalysts

Summary Several metal oxides-supported TiCl₃ catalysts were prepared and propylene polymerization was conducted over them without cocatalysts. It was found that isotactic polymerization of propylene took place effectively over them.     

Polymerization of propylene over titanium exchanged Y-zeolite

Summary It was found that isotactic polymerization of propylene took place over titanium ion-exchanged Y-zeolite without organometallic compounds. The results obtained have led to the conclusions that Ti⁴⁺ species as well as Ti³⁺ species are active for the polymerization and that neither Ti-alkyl bonds nor Cl ligands are necessarily essential for polymerization of propylene.     

Radiation-induced polymerization of ethylene in pilot plant. III. Heavy-phase recycling process

Radiation-induced polymerization of ethylene using aqueous tert-butyl alcohol as medium was carried out in a large-scale pilot plant with a 50-liter central source-type reactor at a pressure of 105 to 395 kg/cm², temperature of 30° to 80°C, mean dose rate of 4.5 × 10⁴ to 1.9 × 10⁵ rads/hr, ethylene feed rate of 5.5 to 23.5 kg/hr, and medium feed rate of 21 to 102 l./hr. The space–time yield and molecular weight of the polymer were in the range of 4.7 to 16.8 g/l.-hr and 1.3 × 10⁴ to 8.9 × 10⁴, respectively. The space–time yield and molecular weight increased with mean residence time at 30°C, whereas at 80°C they became almost independent of the time. The space–time yield increased with pressure and dose rate, slightly decreased with temperature, and was maximum at ethylene molar fraction of 0.5. The polymer molecular weight increased with pressure and ethylene molar fraction, and decreased with dose rate and temperature. The total amount of deposited polymer on the reactor wall, source case wall, and scraping blades was usually less than 1 kg, which was negligibly small for the analysis of polymerization. Continuous discharge of the polymer slurry and production of fine-powder polyethylene were successfully carried out. In the central source-type reactor, a dose rate of 1.9 × 10⁵ rads/hr was obtained with a ⁶⁰Co source of ca. 12 kCi.