Scarring trachoma is associated with polymorphism in the tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) gene promoter and with elevated TNF-alpha levels in tear fluid

Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) may play a central role in the disease pathogenesis which occurs as a consequence of chlamydial infection. To investigate the importance of TNF-alpha gene promoter polymorphisms and TNF-alpha levels in tear fluid in scarring trachoma, a large matched-pair case-control study was performed in The Gambia. The -308A allele was present in a higher proportion of patients (28.4%) than controls (18.4%), with an increasing association for homozygotes (chi2 for trend, P = 0.032; allele frequency, 0.163 in patients and 0.099 in controls; chi2, P = 0.025). For the -238A allele, the association was similar but not significant. The disease association was highly significant when the number of either -308A or -238A sites in an individual was considered (P = 0.003). TNF-alpha promoter alleles are tightly linked to some HLA class I and II alleles, but multivariate analysis confirmed that the disease associations were independent of HLA, although a class I allele, A*6802, is also associated with disease. TNF-alpha was more frequently detected in tear samples from patients (27.6%) than from controls (15.9%), increasingly so for higher levels of detectable TNF-alpha (P = 0.015). Among patients, detectable TNF-alpha in tears was highly associated with the presence of ocular chlamydial infection (P < 0.001). The results indicate that TNF-alpha plays a major role in the tissue damage and scarring which occurs as a consequence of Chlamydia trachomatis infection.     

Antibody against synthetic rat PTH peptide (1-34) blocks PTH-mediated cAMP formation and phosphate transport in opossum kidney cells

The expression of the NMDA subtype of glutamate receptors was investigated by Western blot analysis and RT-PCR in cultured chick Bergmann and Müller glial cells. Using subunit-specific antibodies directed to the carboxy terminus of the rat NMDAR2A/B we detected the expression of the NMDAR2 subunit in both kinds of culture. The functional subunit of the NMDA receptor, NMDAR1, was detected by means of RT-PCR. These results, together with our previous functional characterization of NMDA receptors in radial glia, provide conclusive evidence for the expression of functional NMDA receptor/channels in Bergmann and Muller glia cells. Our findings strengthen the notion of a modulatory role of glial cells in synaptic transmission.     

一种多晶硅高温压力传感器

制作压力传感器时，在二氧化硅层上淀积多晶硅膜，既可利用优良的机械特性，又可保证压敏电阻与衬底间具有良好的绝缘性，由此可大大提高器件的温度特性。介绍了一种多晶硅压力传感器的原理和设计。实验结果表明，这类传感器具有灵敏度好，精度高等特点，电路工作范围为０－２５０℃，且具有良好的温度稳定性。     

冶金过程中复杂夹杂物和钢液化学平衡计算

本文提出一个同温冶炼过程中预测非金属夹杂物沉淀的计算机程序。本研究中，多元硅酸盐溶体的Ｇｉｂｂｓ自由能由基于统计热力学的晶胞模型来计算，该晶胞模型按照氧与周围的阳离子构成的对称和非对称晶胞来描述硅酸盐熔体结构，假定高温冶炼时认与非金属夹杂物平衡，钢液中氧化物元素的活度由Ｗａｇｎｅｒ交互作用系数来计算，利用本程序可以估计炼钢时沉淀的非金属氧化物的成分，为调整冶炼工艺和提高产品质量提供指导，进一步可计     

Learning concepts in parallel based upon the strategy of versionspace

Applies the technique of parallel processing to concept learning. A parallel version-space learning algorithm based upon the principle of divide-and-conquer is proposed. Its time complexity is analyzed to be O(k log₂n) with n processors, where n is the number of given training instances and k is a coefficient depending on the application domains. For a bounded number of processors in real situations, a modified parallel learning algorithm is then proposed. Experimental results are then performed on a real learning problem, showing that our parallel learning algorithm works, and being quite consistent with the results of theoretical analysis. We conclude that when the number of training instances is large, it is worth learning in parallel because of its faster execution     

Epidermal growth factor induces terminal differentiation in human epidermoid carcinoma cells

In this study, spermatogenesis in the adult Djungarian hamster is described. Undifferentiated spermatogonia topographically arranged as Asingle (A(s)), Apaired (Apr), and Aaligned (Aal) spermatogonia were observed, as were six generations of differentiating spermatogonia (A1, A2, A3, intermediate, B1, and B2). The differentiating spermatogonia divided at regular intervals during the cycle of the seminiferous epithelium. Mitosis of these cells was observed at the transition from stage IX to stage X (mitosis of A1 into A2 spermatogonia), at the transition from stage XII to stage I, at the transition from stage II to stage III, at the transition from stage IV to stage V, at the end of stage VI, and at approximately the middle of stage VII. Cellular associations in the cycle of the seminiferous epithelium are described. The seminiferous epithelium was divided into 12 stages, based upon the developmental steps in spermiogenesis, and the frequency of these stages was determined. The duration of the cycle of the seminiferous epithelium, determined by [3H]thymidine incorporation, was shown to be 7.90 +/- 0.01 (mean +/- SEM) days.     

Measurements and correlation of effect of cosolvents on the solubilities of complex molecules in supercritical carbon dioxide

A new transparent microscale circulation-type high pressure equilibrium cell with on-line sampling was devised. With this apparatus, experimental solubility of molecularly complex species such as steroids (cholesterol, stigmasterol and ergosterol) and fatty acids (palmitic acid and stearic acid) in supercritical carbon dioxide(sc-C0₂) were measured. Also, to find an appropriate substance for enhancing both the polarity and the solubility power of the SC-CO₂ solvent, we arbitrarily selected three polar substances such as acetone, methanol and water and the effect of these cosolvents on the solubility of solutes in SC-CO₂ are examined. The supercritical phase equilibrium data of solute-cosolvent-sc-CO₂ systems were quantitatively correlated using a new equation of state based on the lattice fluid theory incorporated with the concept of multibody interaction. We found that the addition of tracer amount of acetone or methanol to SC-CO₂ enhances the solubility of all solutes about thirty to sixty times when compared with the case of pure sc-CO₂ However, for the case of cosolvent water, no further enhancement of the solubility of solutes was realized. Also, the versatile fittability of the equation of state proposed in this work was demonstrated with the newly measured ternary supercritical equilibrium data.