Adenoid cystic carcinoma of the lacrimal gland in a six-year-old girl

A 6-year-old white female was found to have an adenoid cystic carcinoma originating in a lacrimal gland. Eighteen months following diagnosis, the tumor recurred. Conservative surgery has been the sole mode of therapy. To date, after four operations and quadrimenstral imaging surveillance, there is no sign of disease progression. Our purpose is to record the unusual occurrence of an adenoid cystic carcinoma of the lacrimal gland in a child. An interim report, 32 months after diagnosis, is presented.     

A device to measure the cross-sectional area of soft connectivetissues

A device has been designed and fabricated to measure the cross-sectional area of soft connective tissues ex vivo. It consists of two displacement transducers; one sensing tissue thickness and the other sensing width. Outputs are recorded (via an analog to digital interface) using a personal computer. Numerical integration of a thickness versus width plot computes cross-sectional area. This plot also provides a quality check of acquired data. This device has been successfully used in biomechanical studies of rabbit patellar tendons, rat medial collateral ligaments, and dissected specimens of human fascia.     

The use of angiostatic steroids to inhibit cartilage destruction in an in vivo model of granuloma-mediated cartilage degradation

Angiogenesis is an important component of the development of chronic inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. It is known that clinically used anti-rheumatic drugs exert, in part, effects on the angiogenic response. Little work, however, has investigated the potential of experimental angiostatic therapies in chronic inflammatory disease models. The effect of one such angiostatic treatment, cortisone combined with heparin, was tested in an in vivo model of granuloma-mediated cartilage degradation. Angiostatic treatment significantly retarded the growth of granulomatous tissue, mononuclear cell influx into the granuloma, and the degradation of juxtaposed cartilage. This correlated with a decrease in the vascularity of the granulomatous tissue. Modulation of this component of pathogenesis of "angiogenesis-dependent disease" may be useful as a new therapeutic approach.     

Grafting of enzymes on collagen films using Woodward''s reagent "K" and a water-soluble carbodiimide derivative

Two new methods of activation were developed to graft enzymes on collegen films. They involved chemical modifications of surface groups of collagen either by Woodward's reagent "K" or by EDC, a water-soluble derivative of carbodiimide. EDC was a better coupling agent and a detailed study was conducted with this agent. It could be used either in a global method of activation and coupling, or in a two-step procedure of activation of collagen, followed by spontaneous coupling of enzyme. All enzymes tested were successfully bound: malate dehydrogenase, lactate dehydrogenase, aspartate aminotransferase, urease, creatine kinase, hexokinase. The influence on the yield of grafted enzyme, of pretreatment of films, time and temperature of EDC activation, concentration of EDC and enzyme, protecting agents was studied. Stability of enzyme activity on storage was greatly increased after grafting. A co-grafted dual system creatine kinase/heoxkinase, was achieved which exhibited a good efficiency. A striking renaturing process at 0-4degreesC after thermal denaturation, was observed with hexokinase.     

Water treatment with silicofluorides and lead toxicity

Toxic metals like lead, manganese, copper and cadmium damage neurons and deregulate neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine (which are essential to normal impulse control and learning). Earlier studies show that — controlling for socio‐economic and demographic factors — environmental pollution with lead is a highly significant risk factor in predicting higher rates of crime, attention deficit disorder or hyperactivity, and learning disabilities. Exposure and uptake of lead has been associated with industrial pollution, leaded paint and plumbing systems in old housing, lead residues in soil, dietary habits (such as shortages of calcium and iron), and demographic factors (such as poverty, stress, and minority ethnicity). We report here on an additional “risk co‐factor” making lead and other toxic metals in the environment more dangerous to local residents: the use of silicofluorides as agents in water treatment. The two chemicals in question — fluosilicic acid and sodium silicofluoride — are toxins that, despite claims to the contrary, do not dissociate completely and change water chemistry when used under normal water treatment practices. As a result, water treatment with siliconfluorides apparently functions to increase the cellular uptake of lead. Data from lead screening of over 280,000 children in Massachusetts indicates that silicofluoride usage is associated with significant increases in average lead in children's blood as well as percentage of children with blood lead in excess of 10μg/dL. Consistent with the hypothesized role of silicofluorides as enhancing uptake of lead whatever the source of exposure, children are especially at risk for higher blood lead in those communities with more old housing or lead in excess of 15 ppb in first draw water samples where silicofluorides are also in use. Preliminary findings from county‐level data in Georgia confirm that silicofluoride usage is associated with higher levels of lead in children's blood. In both Massachusetts and Georgia, moreover, behaviors associated with lead nurotoxicity are more frequent in communities using silicofluorides than in comparable localities that do not use these chemicals. Because there has been insufficient animal or human testing of silicofluoride treated water, further study of the effect of silicofluorides is needed to clarify the extent to which these chemicals are risk co‐factors for lead uptake and the hazardous effects it produces.     

Validation of a new blood-mimicking fluid for use in Doppler flow test objects

PM28A is a major intrinsic protein of the spinach leaf plasma membrane and the major phosphoprotein. Phosphorylation of PM28A is dependent in vivo on the apoplastic water potential and in vitro on submicromolar concentrations of Ca2+. Here, we demonstrate that PM28A is an aquaporin and that its water channel activity is regulated by phosphorylation. Wild-type and mutant forms of PM28A, in which putative phosphorylation sites had been knocked out, were expressed in Xenopus oocytes, and the resulting increase in osmotic water permeability was measured in the presence or absence of an inhibitor of protein kinases (K252a) or of an inhibitor of protein phosphatases (okadaic acid). The results indicate that the water channel activity of PM28A is regulated by phosphorylation of two serine residues, Ser-115 in the first cytoplasmic loop and Ser-274 in the C-terminal region. Labeling of spinach leaves with 32P-orthophosphate and subsequent sequencing of PM28A-derived peptides demonstrated that Ser-274 is phosphorylated in vivo, whereas phosphorylation of Ser-115, a residue conserved among all plant plasma membrane aquaporins, could not be demonstrated. This identifies Ser-274 of PM28A as the amino acid residue being phosphorylated in vivo in response to increasing apoplastic water potential and dephosphorylated in response to decreasing water potential. Taken together, our results suggest an active role for PM28A in maintaining cellular water balance.     

FULL CONTAINMENT SPRAY DRYING

ABSTRACT

Aspects of safety, environmental protection, and powder quality will continue to influence advances within spray dryer design and operation, and the concept of full containment spray drying offers a means to meet future industrial requirements. Process air recycle and powder containment within the drying chamber leads to no process air discharge to atmosphere, provides a more favorable operator environment around the spray dryer installation, reduces regions within the dryer layout where potential explosive powder/air mixtures can exist, improves yields, reduces powder losses, and provides easier cleaning operations with reduced wash water requirements.