Chromosome analysis in patients with sarcoidosis

Chromosome analysis of lymphocytes from the peripheral blood of 20 patients with sarcoidosis and 10 healthy controls showed a significantly greater number of hypomodal cells among the patients. Two patients receiving systemic treatment with glucocorticoids had many chromosomal aberrations.     

Multichannel Strain and Temperature Measurement System for Structural Elements

he paper describes a 32-channel system for studying full-scale structures developed with the use of the state-of-the-art components. It provides continuous long-term measurement of strains and temperatures up to + 350°C and accumulation and storage of measurement data. The system was used to record the elastic strains and temperatures of a welded joint of the hot collector to the PGV-1000 steam generator nozzle in the period between the preventive maintenances. The measurement results reveal a complex pattern of strain and temperature distribution different from the axisymmetric one.     

Results of transition zone biopsy in black and white men with suspected prostate cancer

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether biopsy-detectable transition zone tumors are more common in black than in white men with suspected Stage T1c and T2 prostate cancer. METHODS: We performed a prospective study of transition zone prostate biopsy (TZ biopsy) in 1 78 black and 261 white men who had not undergone previous prostate biopsy and in 61 black and 65 white men who had undergone one benign sextant peripheral zone prostate biopsy (PZ biopsy). RESULTS: The mean age of the 239 black and 326 white study patients was 68.6+/-7.4 and 67.2+/-7.2 years, respectively (P = 0.02), the mean prostate-specific antigen (PSA) was 8.4+/-7.4 and 6.4+/-5.4 ng/mL, respectively (P = 0.003), and the mean PSA density was 0.20+/-0.23 and 0.16+/-0.16 ng/mL/mL, respectively (P = 0.006). Overall, cancer was diagnosed by TZ biopsy only in 7 black men (3%) and in no white men (0%) (P = 0.003). However, cancer detection with a TZ biopsy only was not significantly different in the black and white men when controlled for age, PSA, or PSA density (P>0.90). A TZ biopsy only detected cancer in 1% of patients who had not undergone prior PZ biopsy and in 2% of patients who had undergone prior PZ biopsy. Of the seven cancers detected with TZ biopsy, six (86%) had a Gleason score of 2 to 6. CONCLUSIONS: Prostate cancer detection with a TZ biopsy only is not common and when controlled for confounding variables is the same in black and white men. The preferential use of TZ biopsies in black men is not warranted, and the low diagnostic yield argues against routine use of the biopsy technique in men of either race.     

Estimation of aggressiveness of seawater corrosion using indicators of microbiological activity of fouling communities formed on metals

Based on the quantitative characteristics of the fermentative activity of microorganisms that compose fouling communities formed on metals, the corrosion aggressiveness of seawater in the South China Sea and Sea of Japan was estimated. The regression relationship between the characteristics of the activity and main physical and chemical factors of the marine environment and the rate of corrosion in metal samples were established.     

Method of Physical Modeling and Its Potentialities

Based on the theory of modeling with the use of several models, it has been shown that all the known methods of investigation of this type satisfy the same requirements. The possibility of determining the sought results characterizing one phenomenon or another from the measured quantities of a phenomenon that has no common parameters with the phenomenon being investigated has been substantiated. Examples of the practical use of modeling are given.