Cytomegalovirus prostatitis. Case report and review of the literature

We report the case of a patient undergoing chemotherapy for multiple myeloma discovered to have cytomegalovirus prostatitis. The findings of a hypoechoic prostatic lesion on ultrasound and a slightly elevated prostatic specific antigen of 4.6 ng/ml prompted a prostate biopsy. Cytopathologic examination and immunohistochemical staining demonstrated cytomegalovirus within the prostate. This virus is a common pathogen in the immunosuppressed patient, but its presence in the male genital tract is relatively rare. No previous reports of biopsy-proven cytomegalovirus prostatitis appear in the literature. The relationship of cytomegalovirus to the prostate is discussed in detail.     

Structural basis of the 70-kilodalton heat shock cognate protein ATP hydrolytic activity. II. Structure of the active site with ADP or ATP bound to wild type and mutant ATPase fragment

The ATPase fragment of the bovine 70-kDa heat shock cognate protein is an attractive construct in which to study its mechanism of ATP hydrolysis. The three-dimensional structure suggests several residues that might participate in the ATPase reaction. Four acidic residues (Asp-10, Glu-175, Asp-199, and Asp-206) have been individually mutated to both the cognate amine (asparagine/glutamine) and to serine, and the effects of the mutations on the kinetics of the ATPase activity (Wilbanks, S. M., DeLuca-Flaherty, C., and McKay, D. B. (1994) J. Biol. Chem. 269, 12893-12898) and the structure of the mutant ATPase fragments have been determined, typically to approximately 2.4 A resolution. Additionally, the structures of the wild type protein complexed with MgADP and Pi, MgAMPPNP (5'-adenylyl-beta, gamma-imidodiphosphate) and CaAMPPNP have been refined to 2.1, 2.4, and 2.4 A, respectively. Combined, these structures provide models for the prehydrolysis, MgATP-bound state and the post-hydrolysis, MgADP-bound state of the ATPase fragment. These models suggest a pathway for the hydrolytic reaction in which 1) the gamma phosphate of bound ATP reorients to form a beta, gamma-bidentate phosphate complex with the Mg2+ ion, allowing 2) in-line nucleophilic attack on the gamma phosphate by a H2O molecule or OH- ion, with 3) subsequent release of inorganic phosphate.     

Response to methadone maintenance and counseling in antisocial patients with and without major depression

This study compared the treatment response of four groups of psychiatrically diverse opiate-dependent, methadone maintenance patients receiving drug counseling. The four groups were patients with no other nonsubstance abuse axis I psychiatric diagnoses (OP only; N = 65), patients with lifetime major depression (DEP; N = 60), patients with both antisocial personality disorder and lifetime major depression (APD + DEP; N = 35), and patients with only APD (APD only; N = 24). Patients were assessed at intake, during treatment, and 7 months after treatment admission. No statistically significant differences were found among the groups in treatment retention/attendance. Few significant group differences were revealed during-treatment urine screens, except that barbiturate use was more common for the APD only group. The APD only group also had significantly more positive urine screens for benzodiazepines than the other three groups at 7-month follow-up. All groups reported considerable improvement in problem level at 7 months compared with admission status. The APD only group reported fewer gains in legal and employment problems than the other groups but reported greater improvement in the drug area. Thus, there was some limited support for a prior finding, based on individual psychotherapy, that the treatment response of APD only patients was inferior to that of APD + DEP patients or non-APD patients.     

Wind conditions around The Rock of Gibraltar

Full-scale data from two sources, structural damage to the East Side Water Catchment and a survey of turbulence on the approach flightpath to the airfield at Gibraltar, are compared with the results of wind-tunnel tests on a scale model of the Rock. The comparisons show that wind-tunnel simulation of the flow around large sharp-edged topographical features is practical at scale factors as high as $\text{1}\text{5000}$ for conditions of strong wind and neutral stability. The Rock is shown to behave as one half of a narrow-delta lifting body on an infinite ground plane.     

Semantic involvement in reading aloud: Evidence from a nonword training study.

The current research uses a novel methodology to examine the role of semantics in reading aloud. Participants were trained to read aloud 2 sets of novel words (i.e., nonwords such as bink): some with meanings (semantic) and some without (nonsemantic). A comparison of reading aloud performance between these 2 sets of novel words was used to provide an indicator of the importance of semantic information in reading aloud. In Experiment 1, in contrast to expectations, reading aloud performance was not better for novel words in the semantic condition. In Experiment 2, the training of novel words was modified to reflect more realistic steps of lexical acquisition: Reading aloud performance became faster and more accurate for novel words in the semantic condition, but only for novel words with inconsistent pronunciations. This semantic advantage for inconsistent novel words was again observed when a subset of participants from Experiment 2 was retested 6-12 months later (in Experiment 3). These findings provide support for a limited but significant role for semantics in the reading aloud process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of Particle Size on the Performance of an N95 Filtering Facepiece Respirator and a Surgical Mask at Various Breathing Conditions

The effect of aerosol particle size on the performance of an N95 filtering facepiece respirator (FFR) and a surgical mask (SM) was evaluated under different breathing conditions, including breathing frequency and mean inspiratory flow (MIF) rate. The FFR and SM were sealed on a manikin headform and challenged with charge-equilibrated NaCl aerosol. Filter penetration (P _filter) was determined as the ratio of aerosol concentrations inside and outside the FFR/SM size-selectively (28 channels) within a range of 20 to 500 nm. In addition, the same models of the FFR and SM were donned, but not sealed, on an advanced manikin headform covered with skin-like material. Total inward leakage (TIL), which represents the total particle penetration, was measured under conditions identical to the filter penetration experiment. Testing was conducted at four mean MIFs (15, 30, 55, and 85 L/min) combined with five breathing frequencies (10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 breaths/min). The results show that SM produced much higher P _filter and TIL values, and thus provide little protection against aerosols in the size range tested. P _filter was significantly affected by particle size and breathing flow rate (p < 0.05) for the tested FFR and SM. Surprisingly, for both devices, P _filter as a function of the particle size exhibited more than one peak under all tested breathing conditions. The effect of breathing frequency on P _filter was generally less pronounced, especially for lower MIFs. For the FFR and SM, TIL increased with increasing particle size up to about 50 nm; for particles above 50 nm, the total penetration was not significantly affected by particle size and breathing frequency; however, the effect of MIF remained significant.

Copyright 2013 American Association for Aerosol Research     

External mass transport processes during the adsorption of dyes onto bagasse pith

The kinetics of the adsorption of four dyestuffs onto bagasse pith has been studied. Two basic dyes, Basic Blue 69 and Basic Red 22, and two acid dyes, Acid Blue 25 and Acid Red 114, were used in an agitated batch adsorber. The effect of agitation, initial dye concentration, pith mass, pith particle size and dye solution temperature were investigated. A model is proposed to determine the external mass transfer coefficients, k_f, for the systems and these are correlated with the system variable by the following equation: k_f = A(variable)^B.