Flow cytometric DNA analysis of abnormal endometrium

When tyrosine-Z of the D1-polypeptide of the photosystem II from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii was changed to phenylalanine, the rapid donor to P680+ was lost, and P680+ accumulated on illumination. The rapid donation from tyrosine-Z was replaced by a slow electron transfer from an endogenous donor. Spectrophotometric measurements showed that carotenoids and chlorophylls were bleached by the P680+ either directly or indirectly upon illumination. The carotenoid bleaching was inhibited in the presence of SOD or catalase, but the reaction did not require molecular oxygen as an electron acceptor. These observations led us to conclude that active oxygen radicals, possibly hydroxyl radicals, take part in the destruction of carotenoids in the Y161F mutant. Possible mechanisms for the destruction are discussed.     

Malignant rhabdoid tumor of the vulva: case report with cytological, immunohistochemical, ultrastructural and DNA ploidy studies and a review of the literature

A case of malignant rhabdoid tumor of the vulva in a 25-year-old female was examined. The patient presented with a subcutaneous nodule in the left labium majus. Smears of the material obtained by percutaneous fine-needle aspiration demonstrated clusters of atypical cells with prominent nucleoli. The tumor measured 6 x 5 x 5 cm and appeared tan to brown on the cut surface and partly cystic. Pathological findings obtained from intraoperative frozen tissue sections had been originally interpreted as rhabdomyosarcoma. Light microscopic examination revealed that polygonal tumor cells having vesicular nuclei with prominent nucleoli were arranged in sheets and the great majority of the tumor cells contained an eosinophilic globular paranuclear cytoplasmic inclusion. Ultrastructurally, this cytoplasmic inclusion corresponds to whirls of intermediate filaments. Vimentin immunoreactivity was detected in both the cytoplasm and cytoplasmic inclusion of almost all the tumor cells. No cytokeratin and desmin immunoreactivity were detected in the tumor cells. The Ki-67 labeling index was 36% and the DNA content of the tumor cells, which was examined by image cytometry, demonstrated diploidy (DNA index = 0.95).     

Local beam deflector interated in a diode laser cavity

Deflection of a diode laser beam using a local deflector monolithically integrated in the cavity near an output facet is demonstrated. The index distribution in the deflector is adjusted by controlling the injection currents, and the laser beam is scanned over 9° by the prism effect of the deflector.     

Ln-M-O glasses obtained by rapid quenching using a laser beam

A rapid quenching apparatus employing a laser beam was developed to obtain the glassy state of oxides which have high melting temperatures. Using this apparatus, the glassy state in Ln-Ti-O, Ln-Nb-O and Ln-Ta-O (Ln=lanthanides) systems was investigated. The range of compositions which produced glasses and the crystallization process were studied in detail, and the metastable phases, which appear during the crystallization process, were examined by differential thermal and X-ray diffraction analysis.     

Reliability-based temporal and spatial maintenance strategy for integrity management of corroded underground pipelines

In this work, a novel stochastic model framework for predicting the external corrosion growth in buried pipeline structures has been developed, and a reliability-based temporal and spatial maintenance strategy is presented. The spatial correlation of soil properties is modelled via hidden Markov random field. The temporal correlation of the corrosion rate is characterised by the geometric Brownian bridge process. A Bayesian inferential framework is employed to estimate the model parameters of the corrosion growth model using in-line inspection data. The proposed corrosion growth model was validated with actual inspection data. In the reliability analysis, the impact of device detectability is considered and hence the estimated failure probability is more realistic. The proposed maintenance strategy is directly based on the time-specific and location-specific failure probability. The application of the proposed model and maintenance strategy is illustrated through a real-life pipeline system. The results indicate that the proposed maintenance strategy is an adaptive and dynamic scheme that is able to improve the efficiency of inspections.     

Calcium Silicate Carbonation Products

calcium silicates such as C₃S, βT-C₂S, and γgM-C₂S ^† were carbonated under saturated humidity at room temperature. Carbonation products were examined by DT-TGA, gasphase mass spectroscopy, and XRD. Two types of carbonate were produced: one type, which was rather poorly crystallized, was decarbonated at a very low temperature, below 600°C; the other type was a crystalline phase such as calcite, aragonite, and/or vaterite which was decarbonated above 600°C. The data were compared to existing data for calcium carbonates and basic calcium carbonates. The results suggest that an amorphous calcium silicate hydrocarbonate was one of the carbonation products which formed during the hydration/carbonation reaction.     

GAS/PARTICLE AND SIZE DISTRIBUTIONS OF POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS IN AMBIENT AIR IN TOKYO 2001–2002

By using an Andersen sampler equipped with a low-pressure impactor, samples of 12 size-classified (>0.13 μm to <12 μm) airborne particles and samples of gaseous components were taken from the air in Tokyo for continuous periods of 19 weeks in the summer of 2001 and 17 weeks in the winter of 2001–2. The sampling filters were changed weekly. The concentrations of eight polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the particulate and gas-phase samples were measured by reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detection. Pyrene was detected in the gas phase in both summer and winter: 59% of the total pyrene detected was present in the gas phase in summer, but this fraction decreased to 40% in winter. In the particle fractions, the summer levels of benzo[k]fluoranthene (BkF), dibenz[a,h]anthracene (dBahA), and benzo[a]anthracene (BaA) peaked in particles of diameter 1.25 μm, and benzo[ghi]perylene (BghiP), benzo[a]pyrene, benzo[b]chrysene (BbC), and dibenzo[a,e]pyrene (dBaeP) peaked in particles of diameter 0.76 μm. In winter, BkF, BghiP, BaA, BbC, and dBaeP levels peaked in particles of diameter 0.52 μm, whereas dBahA peaked in particles of diameter 0.76 μm.