Narrow-band correction of the residual amplitude modulation in frequency-modulation spectroscopy

We have developed a narrow-band controller in the MHz range, based on a field-programmable gate array. It is used to control the probe beam intensity in frequency-modulated spectroscopy experiments with an acoustooptic modulator. The residual amplitude modulation at the modulation frequency (2.5 MHz) is reduced by 50 dB. The first-harmonic detection of the signals is operated in saturation spectroscopy of I/sub 2/ at 514.5 nm and 501.7 nm. A reduction of the background noise and a large increase in the signal-to-noise ratio are obtained.     

Autoimmunity caused by disruption of central T cell tolerance. A murine model of drug-induced lupus

A side effect of therapy with procainamide and numerous other medications is a lupus-like syndrome characterized by autoantibodies directed against denatured DNA and the (H2A-H2B)-DNA subunit of chromatin. We tested the possibility that an effect of lupus-inducing drugs on central T cell tolerance underlies these phenomena. Two intrathymic injections of procainamide-hydroxylamine (PAHA), a reactive metabolite of procainamide, resulted in prompt production of IgM antidenatured DNA antibodies in C57BL/6xDBA/2 F1 mice. Subsequently, IgG antichromatin antibodies began to appear in the serum 3 wk after the second injection and were sustained for several months. Specificity, inhibition and blocking studies demonstrated that the PAHA-induced antibodies showed remarkable specificity to the (H2A-H2B)-DNA complex. No evidence for polyclonal B cell activation could be detected based on enumeration of Ig-secreting B cells and serum Ig levels, suggesting that a clonally restricted autoimmune response was induced by intrathymic PAHA. The IgG isotype of the antichromatin antibodies indicated involvement of T cell help, and proliferative responses of splenocytes to oligonucleosomes increased up to 100-fold. As little as 5 microM PAHA led to a 10-fold T cell proliferative response to chromatin in short term organ culture of neonatal thymi. We suggest that PAHA interferes with self-tolerance mechanisms accompanying T cell maturation in the thymus, resulting in the emergence of chromatin-reactive T cells followed by humoral autoimmunity.     

Cure of malignant ascites and generation of protective immunity by monoclonal antibody-targeted activation of a glucuronide prodrug in rats

We examined the in vivo efficacy of targeting beta-glucuronidase (betaG) to activate a glucuronide prodrug (BHAMG) of p-hydroxyaniline mustard (pHAM) at hepatoma ascites in Sprague-Dawley rats. Injection i.p. of 500 microg RH1-betaG, a conjugate formed between recombinant betaG and monoclonal antibody RH1 with specificity for an antigen expressed on AS-30D rat hepatoma cells, into rats bearing AS-30D ascites resulted in the accumulation of 54 microg conjugate per 10(9) tumor cells after 2 hr. Ascites fluid and serum contained 0.53 and 0 microg/ml, respectively, RH1-betaG 2 hr after injection of the conjugate. Conjugate binding to AS-30D cells was heterogeneous and non-saturated, as determined by flow cytometry. BHAMG was less toxic than pHAM to SD rats based on measures of animal mortality, weight loss and hematological toxicity. Treatment of rats bearing established hepatoma ascites with 500 microg RH1-betaG followed 2 hr later with a single i.p. injection of 30 mg/kg BHAMG or 3 i.p. injections of 10 mg/kg BHAMG 2, 3 and 4 hr later resulted in the cure of 6/8 and 8/8 animals, respectively. Treatment with BHAMG or pHAM alone did not produce cures, whereas treatment with a control antibody-betaG conjugate and BHAMG produced significantly greater hematological toxicity compared to treatment with RH1-betaG and BHAMG. All cured rats were completely protected from rechallenge with 2 x 10(7) AS-30D cells, indicating that successful treatment of animals induced protective immunity.     

Partial congenital defect of the left pericardium: angiographic diagnosis and treatment by thoracoscopic pericardiectomy: case report

Twenty-six patients with an intracardiac myxoma underwent surgical resection at our institution from 1977 through 1992. Left atrial myxoma was diagnosed in 22 patients, left ventricular in 1, right atrial in 2, and right ventricular in 1. Six patients were asymptomatic; preoperative symptoms included dyspnea, arrhythmias, embolic episodes, and syncope. The diagnosis was established with transthoracic echocardiography in all cases but one. Surgery was performed in all cases with the aid of cardiopulmonary bypass with moderate hypothermia and cold crystalloid cardioplegia. One patient with a left ventricular myxoma died in a comatose state during the immediate postoperative period. Long-term clinical and echocardiographic evaluation was performed in 19 patients; results were excellent (all the patients were in New York Heart Association functional class I or II), and no recurrences were documented. The clinical characteristics, diagnostic methods, and surgical approach are presented and discussed.     

Expectations about counseling in Yucatán, Mexico: Toward a "Mexican psychology."

Conducted a study of client expectations of psychological services in Yucatán, Mexico, under the sponsorship of a grant from the Organization of American States. The Expectations about Counseling–Brief form (EAC-B) questionnaire was translated and administered to 488 subjects across age, sex, and experience with psychological services. Subsequent analyses supported the reliability and robustness of the Spanish EAC-B, with factor structure similar to the EAC-B in English. Some relation was found among age, sex, prior counseling experience, and expectations about counseling. Implications of these data for future research and comparison with U.S. subjects are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fuzzy Learning of Talbot Effect Guides Optimal Mask Design for Proximity Field Nanopatterning Lithography

Processing methods used in photonics and nanotechnology possess many limitations restricting their application areas such as high cost, inability to produce fine details, problems with scalability, and long processing time. Proximity field nanopatterning is a lithography method which surpasses these limitations. By using interference patterns produced by a two-dimensional phase mask, the technique is able to generate a submicron detailed exposure on a millimeter-size slab of light sensitive photopolymer, which is then developed like a photographic plate to reveal three-dimensional interference patterns from the phase mask. While it is possible to use simulations to obtain the interference patterns produced by a phase mask, realizing the mask dimensions necessary for producing a desired interference pattern is analytically challenging due to the intricacies of light interactions involved in producing the final interference pattern. An alternative method is to iteratively optimize the phase mask until the interference patterns obtained converge to the desired pattern. However, depending on the optimization technique used, one either risks a significant probability of failure or requires a prohibitive number of iterations. We argue that an optimization technique that is to take advantage of the physics of the problem using machine learning methods (here fuzzy learning) can lead to competent mask design. This technique is described in this letter.