Recurrent Epstein-Barr virus-associated lesions in organ transplant recipients

This paper discusses the problem of violence and its expression upon mortality due to external causes. A few indicators are offered, which have been worked upon it to emphasise the importance of the theme. In a general way, the study demonstrates violent death has had its magnitude increased along the years, not only throughout Latin America but also in Brazil and in Santa Catarina.     

DIRECT RESONANCE OF TURBULENT BOUNDARY LAVER OVER COMPLIANT WALLS

１．　ＩＮＴＲＯＤＵＣＴＩＯＮＴｈｅｍａｉｎｇｏａｌｏｆｔｈｉｓｐａｐｅｒｉｓｔｏｅｘｐｌｏｒｅｔｈｅｐｏｓｓｉｂｉｌｉｔｙｔｏｌｅａｒｎｍｏｒｅａｂｏｕｔｔｈｅｍｅｃｈａｎｉｓｍｏｆｔｕｒｂｕｌｅｎｔｂｏｕｎｄａｒｙｌａｙｅｒｆｌｏｗｉｎｔｅｒａｃｔｉｏｎｓａｎｄｉｔｓｅｆｆｅｃｔｓｏｎｃｏｍｐｌｉａｎｔｗａｌｌｐｅｒｆｏｒｍａｎｃｅ．Ｔｈｅｒｅａｒｅｃｅｒｔａｉｎｐｒｅｒｅｑｕｉｓｉｔｅｃｏｎｄｉｔｉｏｎｓｔｏｆｕｒｔｈｅｒｔｈｅｓｔｕｄｙｏｎｔｈｅｍｅｃｈａｎｉｓｍ，ｉ．ｅ．ｔｈｅｃｏ…     

A two-year measurement of rainfall attenuation of CW microwaves inSingapore

The authors present two-year statistics on the rainfall attenuation of 21.225 GHz vertically polarized CW microwave signals in Singapore. The CCIR recommendation is found to underestimate the microwave specific attenuation (dB/km) per path average rain rate (mm/h) as well as the accumulated time of attenuation exceeding preset levels. A negative exponential raindrop size distribution based on spherical droplets is constructed from the measured data     

The near-zone field characteristics of an E-polarization plane wavepenetrating through cylindrical multiple apertures (non) coated withlossy and lossless media

The direct integral equation is formulated for describing the current on the multiple perfectly conducting strips in cylindrical geometries for an E-polarization plane wave of normal incidence. By using the Galerkin's method, the surface currents on the conducting strips are expanded in the form of a series of Chebyshev polynomials of the first kind, while the unknown expanding coefficients are solved by a set of matrix equations of finite order with a fast convergence rate and a high accuracy. Furthermore, numerical results are presented to demonstrate the variation of the penetrated near-zone field in the presence of one, two, three, four and six cylindrical apertures, and the hybrid effects of both aperture number and aperture angular widths on the penetrated fields are investigated in detail     

Equivalent circuit model of on-wafer CMOS interconnects for RFICs

This paper investigates the properties of the on-wafer interconnects built in a 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS technology for RF applications. A scalable equivalent circuit model is developed. The model parameters are extracted directly from the on-wafer measurements and formulated into empirical expressions. The expressions are in functions of the length and the width of the interconnects. The proposed model can be easily implemented into commercial RF circuit simulators. It provides a novel solution to include the frequency-variant characteristics into a circuit simulation. The silicon-verified accuracy is proved to be up to 25 GHz with an average error less than 2%. Additionally, equivalent circuit model for longer wires can be obtained by cascading smaller subsections together. The scalability of the propose model is demonstrated.     

Prediction and quality control of the melt index during production of high-density polyethylene

In polyolefin processes the melt index (MI) is the most important control variable indicating product quality. Because of the difficulty in the on-line measurement of MI, a lot of MI estimation and correlation methods have been proposed. In this work a new dynamic MI estimation scheme is developed based on system identification techniques. The empirical MI estimation equation proposed in the present study is derived from the 1 ^st -order dynamic models. Effectiveness of the present estimation scheme was illustrated by numerical simulations based on plant operation data including grade change operations in high density polyethylene (HDPE) processes. From the comparisons with other estimation methods it was found that the proposed estimation scheme showed better performance in MI predictions. The virtual sensor model developed based on the estimation scheme was combined with the virtual on-line analyzer (VOA) to give a quality control system to be implemented in the actual HDPE plant. From the application of the present control system, significant reduction of transition time and the amount of off-spec during grade changes was achieved     

Recrystallization of phenylbutazone using supercritical fluid antisolvent process

Phenylbutazone was recrystallized from its solutions by using a supercritical fluid antisolvent process. It was dissolved in acetone and supercritical carbon dioxide was injected into the solution, thereby inducing supersaturation and particle formation. Variation in the physical properties of the recrystallized phenylbutazone was investigated as a function of the crystallizing temperature and the carbon dioxide injection rate. The recrystallized particles showed cleaner surfaces and more ordered morphology compared to the particles obtained by other methods such as solvent evaporation. X-ray diffraction patterns indicated that the crystallinity of the particles had been modified upon the recrystallization. Differential scanning calorimetry measurement revealed that the crystallizing temperature influenced the thermal stability of the resulting crystals. Larger crystals were produced when the carbon dioxide injection rate was reduced.     

Glucocorticoids and aging

In this review we analyze the morphologic changes, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis functions, glucocorticoid (GC) receptors, and steroidogenic enzyme activities in both animals and humans during aging. In rodent studies, older animals tend to show: 1) hypertrophy of adrenal zona fasciculata (ZF) cells; 2) neuronal loss in the hypothalamic area; 3) loss of GC receptors in the hippocampus; 4) raised circulating adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and GC levels, and increased release of corticotropin-releasing hormone from the hypothalamus; 5) reduced suppression of endogenous GC secretion after administration of dexamethasone; 6) decreased attenuation of response to chronic stress; and 7) increased activity of P450scc and 21-hydroxylase. According to the GC cascade hypothesis, stress and GCs facilitate the aging process in rats. Stress induces downregulation of GC receptors in the hippocampus, then impairs GC feedback on stress-induced HPA axis activation. Finally, an increase in the basal level of corticosterone and extended GC secretion following stress occurs. Because activation of the hippocampus decreases HPA axis function, the unrestrained elevation of GC concentration and the reduction in the level of GC receptors in the hippocampus may gradually weaken the feedback mechanisms and halt the response to stress. In humans, there are conflicting reports of HPA axis function during aging, so it is difficult to make a final conclusion regarding the relationship between aging and HPA axis function.     

Variables affecting results of sodium chloride tolerance test for identification of rapidly growing mycobacteria

The sodium chloride tolerance test is often used in the identification of rapidly growing mycobacteria, particularly for distinguishing between Mycobacterium abscessus and Mycobacterium chelonae. This test, however, is frequently unreliable for the identification of some species. In this study we examined the following variables: medium manufacturer, inoculum concentration, and atmosphere and temperature of incubation. Results show that reliability is improved if the test and control slants are inoculated with an organism suspension spectrophotometrically equal to a 1 McFarland standard. Slants should be incubated at 35 degrees C in ambient air and checked weekly for 4 weeks. Growth on control slants should be critically evaluated to determine the adequacy of the inoculum; colonies should number greater than 50. Salt-containing media should be examined carefully to detect pinpoint or tiny colonies, and colonies should number greater than 50 for a positive reaction. Concurrent use of a citrate slant may be helpful for distinguishing between M. abscessus and M. chelonae. Molecular methodologies are probably the most reliable means for the identification of rapidly growing mycobacteria and should be used, if possible, when unequivocal species identification is of particular importance.     

Mutational analysis of the pea phytochrome A chromophore pocket: chromophore assembly with apophytochrome A and photoreversibility

Ten site-specific mutants of pea apophytochrome A were expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and analyzed for chromophore assembly with apoprotein and photoreversible absorbance changes. The mutants constitute two specific changes for each of five conserved amino acid residues located in the microenvironment of the chromophore attachment residue, which is Cys-323 in pea phytochrome A. All mutant apophytochromes were autocatalytically able to covalently attach phycocyanobilin, indicating that there were no major structural perturbations in the apoproteins. However, the rate of chromophore ligation varied significantly among the mutants. Spectrally, the mutant holophytochromes are of three types: mutant phytochromes that are indistinguishable from the wild-type adduct, mutants with blue-shifted Pr and Pfr absorption maxima compared to the wild-type adduct, and mutants that are not photoreversible. From an analysis of the results, we concluded that the residues Asp-309, Arg-318, His-321, and Gln-326 are probably not catalytically involved in the chromophore ligation reaction, but some residues may play significant structural and stereochemical roles. Arg-318 might anchor the chromophore, as has been suggested [Partis, M. D., & Grimm, R. (1990) Z. Naturforsch, 45c, 987-998; Parker, W., et al. (1993) Bioconjugate Chem. (in press)]. The conserved Gln-326, three residues downstream from the chromophore attachment site, is not electrostatically critical for the spectral integrity and photoreversibility of phytochrome, but this residue is sterically important to the lyase activity. It appears that the role of the five amino acid residues in the N- and C-terminal vicinities of the chromophore binding Cys-323 is structural rather than catalytic for the ligation reaction.