Pancreas anulare as a rare differential diagnosis of duodenal stenosis in adulthood]

Large spontaneous intrahepatic portosystemic venous shunts are occasionally found and their diagnosis by Doppler sonography is rarely reported. The authors describe a case of spontaneous intrahepatic porto-systemic venous shunt in liver cirrhosis diagnosed by color Doppler and characterized by an unusual pulsed Doppler spectrum: a continuous flat portal-like pattern of flow in the portal branch, and in both the shunt and the hepatic vein.     

Pharmacokinetics of liposomal amphotericin B (Ambisome) in critically ill patients

The liposomal formulation of amphotericin B (AmBisome) greatly reduces the acute and chronic side effects of the parent drug. The present study describes the pharmacokinetic characteristics of AmBisome applied to 10 patients at a dose of 2.8 to 3.0 mg/kg of body weight and compares them to the pharmacokinetics observed in 6 patients treated with amphotericin B deoxycholate at the standard dose of 1.0 mg/kg. Interpatient variabilities of amphotericin B peak concentrations (Cmax) and areas under concentration-time curves (AUC) were 8- to 10-fold greater for patients treated with AmBisome than for patients treated with amphotericin B deoxycholate. At the threefold greater dose of AmBisome, median Cmaxs were 8.4-fold higher (14.4 versus 1.7 microg/ml) and median AUCs exceeded those observed with amphotericin B deoxycholate by 9-fold. This was in part explained by a 5.7-fold lower volume of distribution (0.42 liters/kg) in AmBisome-treated patients. The elimination of amphotericin B from serum was biphasic for both formulations. However, the apparent half-life of elimination was twofold shorter for AmBisome (P = 0.03). Neither hemodialysis nor hemofiltration had a significant impact on AmBisome pharmacokinetics as analyzed in one patient. In conclusion, the liposomal formulation of amphotericin B significantly (P = 0.001) reduces the volume of drug distribution, thereby allowing for greater drug concentrations in serum. The low toxicity of AmBisome therefore cannot readily be explained by its serum pharmacokinetics.     

提高硬质合金工具使用寿命的研究

通过改变硬质合金剩余应力类型和状态，改善了硬质合金的性能，提高了硬质合金工具的使用寿命。     

Quenching of chlorophyll a fluorescence in the aggregates of LHCII: steady state fluorescence and picosecond relaxation kinetics

The protein composition, steady state and time-resolved fluorescence emission spectra were studied in solubilized and aggregated LHCII complexes, that were prepared according to two different isolation protocols: (1) by fractionation of cation-depleted thylakoid membranes using the non-ionic detergent Triton X-100 according to the procedure of Burke et al. [(1978) Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 187, 252-263] or (2) by solubilization with N-beta-dodecyl maltoside (beta-DM) of photosystem II (PSII) membrane fragments in the presence of cations [Irrgang et al. (1988) Eur. J. Biochem. 178, 207-217]. Based on the analysis of the decay-associated emission spectra measured at 10 and 80 K five long-wavelength chlorophyll species were identified in aggregated LHCII complexes. These five forms are characterized by emission maxima at 681.5, 683, 687, 695, or 702 nm. All of these forms were found in both types of LHCII preparations but the relative amounts and temperature dependency of these species were markedly different in the aggregated LHCII complexes isolated by the two procedures. It was found that these differences cannot be simply explained by effects due to using a less mild detergent as beta-DM or by an ionic influence of Ca2+. Biochemical analysis of the protein composition showed that beta-DM type LHCII consists of all the chlorophyll (Chl)binding proteins belonging to the antenna system of PSII except the CP29 type II gene product (CP29). In contrast, the Triton X-100-solubilized LHCII is highly depleted in CP26 (CP 29 type I gene product) and is contaminated by a variety of unidentified polypeptides. It is proposed that the aggregates of LHCII prepared using Triton X-100 acquire specific spectral and kinetic features due to interaction between the bulk of LHCII subunits and minor protein(s).     

多路FM－SCM光波系统研制

介绍我们研制的多路ＦＭ－ＳＣＭ（调频副载波复用）光波系统及其性能，讨论了ＳＣＭ光波系统的噪声。该系统主要可用于多路ＣＡＴＶ光纤传输。采用Ｆ－Ｐ腔ＬＤ和ＰＩＮ－ＦＥＴ接收组件，通过系统优化，实现了接收端输出电视图象信号ＳＮＲ＞５５ｄＢ。     

Renal sodium excretion after oral or intravenous sodium loading in sodium-deprived normotensive and spontaneously hypertensive rats

Spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats that had been on a low sodium diet for 3 days were given 1.5 mmol sodium chloride kg-1 body weight either orally or intravenously. The rats receiving an oral sodium load showed a greater natriuresis than those receiving the same saline load intravenously. No increase of renal sodium excretion was observed when the rats received a hypertonic mannitol solution orally. The cumulative sodium excretion during the 8 h following oral loading was two to three times larger in SHR than in WKY, whereas no difference between strains could be demonstrated after giving saline intravenously. Furthermore, after switching from normal to low sodium diet the rate of decrease of renal sodium excretion was greater in SHR than in WKY rats. It is proposed that there exists a gastrointestinal sensory mechanism for sodium controlling the renal sodium excretion. Furthermore, it is suggested that the function of this mechanism differs between SHR and WKY.     

Texture segmentation using pyramidal Gabor functions and self-organising feature maps

This paper presents texture segmentation realised with image treatment methods and an artificial neural network model. Gabor oriented filters are used to extract frequential texture features and Self-Organising Feature Maps are used to group and interpolate these features. In order to decrease the number of filters, we use a pyramidal multiresolution method of image representation. We intend to build an architecture inspired by the early stages of the visual cortex, while making local frequential analysis of the images, which must be able to segment different textured images.     

Accumulation of acetone in blood during long-term anaesthesia with closed systems

During closed system anaesthesia with isoflurane, patients with a preoperative increase in blood concentration of acetone (> 10 mg litre-1) had a significantly greater concentration of acetone than patients with an initial normal blood concentration of acetone (P < 0.01). Flushing the closed system with a high flow of fresh gas had no effect on the blood concentration of acetone. Using a large fresh gas flow, there was no increase in blood acetone concentration. Acetone concentrations of about 50 mg litre-1 cause problems such as nausea and vomiting in the postoperative period. These symptoms occurred more frequently after closed system anaesthesia.