10-Oximeguanacone, the first nitrogenated acetogenin derivative found to be a potent inhibitor of mitochondrial complex I

BACKGROUND: Several retrospective studies have claimed that extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP) prolongs survival in patients with erythrodermic cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. In a retrospective study of 44 patients with Sézary syndrome, we compared survival in patients treated with ECP with that of patients treated conventionally at the same institute. All patients had genotypic evidence of a peripheral blood T-cell clone. OBSERVATIONS: Twenty-nine patients received ECP (group 1); 15 patients did not receive ECP, 8 patients when ECP was available (group 2) and 7 before ECP was available (group 3). Forty-three of 44 patients received other conventional treatments. Median survival from diagnosis of Sézary syndrome was 39 months in group 1, 22 months in group 2, and 27.5 months in group 3 (Kaplan-Meier analysis). Cox regression analysis showed no significant difference between the 3 groups after correcting for age, sex, and initial Sézary cell count (hazard ratio, 0.56; 95% confidence interval, 0.26-1.17; P = .12). CONCLUSIONS: This study does not support the contention that ECP prolongs survival in patients with Sézary syndrome. The median survival in the ECP-treated group is considerably less than that reported in other published series, possibly because genotypic evidence of clonality in the peripheral blood was required for inclusion in this study. We believe that a randomized trial comparing ECP with standard chemotherapy is urgently needed.     

Study of the metabolism of spiramycin in pig liver

A major metabolic pathway of spiramycins in pig liver is described. This biochemical reaction involves L-cysteine--a common amino acid present in most animal tissues--which reacts with the aldehyde function of the antibiotic forming a thiazolidine ring. This transformation of spiramycin derivatives drastically increased their polarity. A preliminary HPLC method enabling the quantitation of each metabolite in the range 0.5 microg/g of liver tissue is proposed. Spiramycin S is used as an internal standard while extraction procedures take into account the physico-chemical properties of the thiazolidine moieties. By comparison, previous HPLC methods underestimated the exact amount of antibiotic residues because these metabolites were not extracted from the studied tissues.     

Proprietes physiques de la phase Ag19Sb29Te52Physical properties of phase Ag19Sb29Te52

An intermediate phase of stoechiometry Ag₁₉ Sb₂₉ Te₅₂ has been evidenced in the cross-section Ag₂Te-Sb₂Te₃ of the ternary system. Single crystal was prepared and analysed. Electrical conductivity, thermoelectric power, Hall effect and IR reflectivity are obtained. Results indicate a p-type degenerated semiconducting behaviour and a high mobility at room temperature.     

Towards a Unified Global ICT Infrastructure

A successful evolution towards a unified global WAN platform allowing for the coexistence and interoperability of all kind of services requires careful planning of the next generation global cooperative wired and wireless information infrastructure.The absence of commonly agreed upon and adopted design principles, allowing for smooth and cost efficient scalability without loss of control over the structurally based properties may prevent or seriously delay this evolution and as consequence be a barrier for introduction of new foreseen types of demanding services. Some of the key problems to be solved can be found in the interrelation between communication, connectivity and convergence.This paper will focus on steps to be taken in planning the physical infrastructure as a prerequisite for a successful evolution. Ole Brun Madsen is born in 1942 in Denmark and received his M.Sc. in Mathematics & Computer Science from the University of Copenhagen (1962–1972) researcher and from 1968 head of the Computer Science Laboratory at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. (1972–1981) head of the Development Department, RECAU, the Regional Computing Centre at Århus University (1981–1996). Head of the Data Network Section and Head of the Network Infrastructure Strategy section at Jutland Telephone (1996–1999). Manager for Infrastructure Network Technology and Strategy at TDC, Tele Denmark (1999-). Professor in Distributed real-time Systems and from 2004 as Head of CNP, Center for Network Planning and Co-director for CTIF, Center for TeleInFrastructur at Aalborg University. He has been project leader for a number of national and international R&D projects and acted in high level advisory tasks within the European Commission on the R&D framework programmes in DGXIII and with United Nations UNDP activities. Present research is focused on Infrastructure Architecture and Modelling Tools for Network Analysis and Design     

SISAM interferometer for distance measurements

We measure short distances with a spectromètre interférentiel à sélection par l'amplitude de la modulation (SISAM) (interferential spectrometer by selection of amplitude modulation) interferometer that correlates optical fields. We present the method and the resolution of the system. A test with a Michelson interferometer shows SISAM's ability to detect phase change in one arm of the Michelson interferometer.     

Crystallization kinetics of bulk amorphous (Se65Te35)100−x Sb x

Kinetic studies of crystallization in (Se₆₅Te₃₅)_100–x Sb _x with 0x10 glasses, using the differential scanning calorimetry technique, were performed. Crystallization enthalpy data, H _c, were collected as a function of composition. The crystallization data were examined in terms of recent analyses developed for non-isothermal crystallization studies, to arrive at E _c. The results indicate bulk nucleation and crystallization with two- and three-dimensional growth, respectively, for the (Se₆₅Te₃₅)₉₈Sb₂ and (Se₆₅Te₃₅)₉₂Sb₈ glass composition.     

Measurement of mode times of flight in multimode fibers by an interferometric method using polychromatic light: theoretical approach and experimental results

The propagation of several modes in an optical fiber is not easy to study. The experiment that we propose permits us to measure the difference in time propagation between two successive modes of a multimode fiber. The same laser beam is coupled into the fiber to be tested and into the reference single-mode fiber. The correlation of output electric fields of the modes propagated by each fiber is realized by an interferometric system.     

Blood‐brain barrier permeability in rats exposed to electromagnetic fields used in wireless communication

Biological effects of radio frequency electromagnetic fields (EMF) on the bloodbrain barrier (BBB) have been studied in Fischer 344 rats of both sexes. The rats were not anaesthetised during the exposure. All animals were sacrificed by perfusion–fixation of the brains under chloralhydrate anaesthesia after the exposure. The brains were perfused with saline for 3–4 minutes, and thereafter perfusion fixed with 4% formaldehyde for 5–6 minutes. Whole coronal sections of the brains were dehydrated and embedded in paraffin and sectioned at 5 µm. Albumin and fibrinogen were demonstrated immunohistochemically and classified as normal versus pathological leakage. In the present investigation we exposed male and female Fischer 344 rats in a Transverse Electromagnetic Transmission line chamber to microwaves of 915 MHz as continuous wave (CW) and pulsemodulated with different pulse power and at various time intervals. The CWpulse power varied from 0.001 W to 10 W and the exposure time from 2 min to 960 min. In each experiment we exposed 4–6 rats with 2–4 controls randomly placed in excited and nonexcited TEMcells respectively. We have in total investigated 630 exposed rats at various modulation frequencies and 372 controls. The frequency of pathological rats is significantly increased (p < 0.0001) from 62/372 (ratio: 0.17 ± 0.02) for control rats to 244/630 (ratio: 0.39 ± 0.03) in all exposed rats. Grouping the exposed animals according to the level of specific absorbed energy (J/kg) give significant difference in all levels above 1.5 J/kg. The exposure was 915 MHz microwaves either pulse modulated (PW) at 217 Hz with 0.57 ms pulse width, at 50 Hz with 6.6 ms pulse width or continuous wave (CW). The frequency of pathological rats (0.17) among controls in the various groups is not significantly different. The frequency of pathological rats was 170/481 (0.35 ± 0.03) among rats exposed to pulse modulated (PW) and 74/149 (0.50 ±0.07) among rats exposed to continuous wave exposure (CW). These results are both highly significantly different to their corresponding controls (p <0.0001) and the frequency of pathological rats after exposure to pulsed radiation (PW) is significantly less (p < 0.002) than after exposure to continuous radiation (CW).     

Entanglement-assisted operator codeword stabilized quantum codes

In this paper, we introduce a unified framework to construct entanglement-assisted quantum error-correcting codes (QECCs), including additive and nonadditive codes, based on the codeword stabilized (CWS) framework on subsystems. The CWS framework is a scheme to construct QECCs, including both additive and nonadditive codes, and gives a method to construct a QECC from a classical error-correcting code in standard form. Entangled pairs of qubits (ebits) can be used to improve capacity of quantum error correction. In addition, it gives a method to overcome the dual-containing constraint. Operator quantum error correction (OQEC) gives a general framework to construct QECCs. We construct OQEC codes with ebits based on the CWS framework. This new scheme, entanglement-assisted operator codeword stabilized (EAOCWS) quantum codes, is the most general framework we know of to construct both additive and nonadditive codes from classical error-correcting codes. We describe the formalism of our scheme, demonstrate the construction with examples, and give several EAOCWS codes