EXPLORING FOR FAN AND DELTA SANDSTONES IN THE OFFSHORE FALKLANDS BASINS

Four basins surround the Falkland Islands, but only the North Falkland Basin has been drilled; six wells were drilled there in 1998. Although all six wells encountered good quality sandstones, none of them targeted the basin margins, on what are now thought to be the optimum migration pathways associated with the basin's thick lacustrine source rocks. Subsequently, a 3D seismic survey acquired in 2004 was designed to identify potential basin-margin -derived sandstones entering the basin along transfer zones. From this survey, a number of basin-margin -attached fans have been identified; these prograded into lacustrine waters of varying depths. These Early Cretaceous alluvial/fan delta/deep-lacustrine fan systems are interpreted to provide excellent potential reservoir facies as they are intimately associated with thick, mature source rocks. They will provide the focus for the next planned phase of exploration in the North Falkland Basin.
A phase of drilling is also planned for the basins to the south of the Islands, where large deltaic and fan systems, slightly younger than those imaged in the North Falkland Basin, are seen on seismic to prograde from the same Palaeozoic hinterland that produced the older, North Falkland Basin fans.
This paper attempts to show how sedimentary models derived from targeted seismic programmes following initial exploration can be utilised to plan and improve new drilling campaigns in a frontier basin. It presents an analysis of sediment dispersal patterns in basins of marine and lacustrine origin linked to a single hinterland area, and highlights the nature of the relationship between relay ramp/transfer zone development and sediment dispersal patterns in the subsurface.     

Effect of shigella enterotoxin 1 (ShET1) on rabbit intestine in vitro and in vivo

The purpose of this study was to identify the optimal knot construction for interrupted dermal sutures. A synthetic braided absorbable suture, sizes 3-0 and 5-0, was selected for this evaluation. With reproducible mechanical performance tests, we determined that the construction of secure knots without ears required one additional throw as compared with secure knots with 3-mm ears. The direction of applied tension did not alter knot security, with the exception of granny knots, which required an extra throw when tension was applied parallel to the suture loop. Because interrupted dermal knot construction is accomplished without knot ears and with an applied tension parallel to the wound, one additional throw must be added to the knot to ensure knot security.     

Cell-mediated immunological responses in cervical and vaginal cancer patients immunized with a lipidated epitope of human papillomavirus type 16 E7

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection has been causally associated with cervical cancer. We tested the effectiveness of an HLA-A*0201-restricted, HPV-16 E7 lipopeptide vaccine in eliciting cellular immune responses in vivo in women with refractory cervical cancer. In a nonrandomized Phase I clinical trial, 12 women expressing the HLA-A2 allele with refractory cervical or vaginal cancer were vaccinated with four E786-93 lipopeptide inoculations at 3-week intervals. HLA-A2 subtyping was also performed, and HPV typing was assessed on tumor specimens. Induction of epitope-specific CD8+ T-lymphocyte (CTL) responses was analyzed using peripheral blood leukapheresis specimens obtained before and after vaccination. CTL specificity was measured by IFN-gamma release assay using HLA-A*0201 matched target cells. Clinical responses were assessed by physical examination and radiographic images. All HLA-A*0201 patients were able to mount a cellular immune response to a control peptide. E786-93-specific CTLs were elicited in 4 of 10 evaluable HLA-A*0201 subjects before vaccination, 5 of 7 evaluable HLA-A*0201 patients after two vaccinations, and 2 of 3 evaluable HLA-A*0201 cultures after all four inoculations. Two of three evaluable patients' CTLs converted from unreactive to reactive after administration of all four inoculations. There were no clinical responses or treatment toxicities. The ability to generate specific cellular immune responses is retained in patients with advanced cervical cancer. Vaccination with a lipidated HPV peptide epitope appears capable of safely augmenting CTL reactivity. Although enhancements of cellular immune responses are needed to achieve therapeutic utility in advanced cervical cancer, this approach might prove useful in treating preinvasive disease.     

Some Aspects of Binding GKS to C++

Aspects of a prototype binding of GKS to the C++ programming language are presented. The binding makes use of classes and derived classes to define GKS concepts such as segments and workstations. Operator overloading is used for some GKS Functions.     

Effects of manufacturing defects on the mechanical properties of carbon fibre reinforced polyethersulphone laminates

The effects of defects on the mechanical properties of carbon fibre reinforced polyethersulphone laminates have been measured. The defects studied were cut fibre plies, omission of polymer films and local delamination produced by the inclusion of foreign matter. Of these it was found that only cut plies had a significant detrimental effect on the strength of a laminate. For specimens with two cut plies, the failure stress, tensile, flexural and compressive in the remaining continuous plies was the same as in the defect-free material, provided that the cut plies were widely separated. However the failure stresses were 15–18% lower in the continuous plies in the specimens containing two cut plies which were more closely spaced and in specimens containing four cut plies.     

Analysis of the roles of antilipopolysaccharide and anti-cholera toxin immunoglobulin A (IgA) antibodies in protection against Vibrio cholerae and cholera toxin by use of monoclonal IgA antibodies in vivo

Secretory immunoglobulin A (IgA) antibodies (sIgA) directed against cholera toxin (CT) and surface components of Vibrio cholerae are associated with protection against cholera, but the relative importance of specific sIgAs in protection is unknown. A monoclonal IgA directed against the V. cholerae lipopolysaccharide (LPS), secreted into the intestines of neonatal mice bearing hybridoma tumors, was previously shown to provide protection against a lethal oral dose of 10(7) V. cholerae cells. We show here that a single oral dose of 5 to 50 micrograms of the monoclonal anti-LPS IgA, given within 2 h before V. cholerae challenge, protected neonatal mice against challenge. In contrast, an oral dose of 80 micrograms of monoclonal IgA directed against CT B subunit (CTB) failed to protect against V. cholerae challenge. A total of 80 micrograms of monoclonal anti-CTB IgA given orally protected neonatal mice from a lethal (5-micrograms) oral dose of CT. Secretion of the same anti-CTB IgA antibodies into the intestines of mice bearing IgA hybridoma backpack tumors, however, failed to protect against lethal oral doses of either CT (5 micrograms) or V. cholerae (10(7) cells). Furthermore, monoclonal anti-CTB IgA, either delivered orally or secreted onto mucosal surfaces in mice bearing hybridoma tumors, did not significantly enhance protection over that provided by oral anti-LPS IgA alone. These results demonstrate that anti-LPS sIgA is much more effective than anti-CT IgA in prevention of V. cholerae-induced diarrheal disease.     

Studies on the in vitro Release of Ibuprofen from Polyethylene Glycol-Polyvinyl Acetate Mixtures Liquid Filled into Hard Gelatin Capsules

The release of ibuprofen from mixtures of polyethylene glycol (PEG) with polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) has been studied in vitro and complemented by x-ray diffraction measurements, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and melting point determinations via hot-stage microscopy (HSM). Results indicate that ibuprofen release can be affected markedly by alteration of the PVAc concentration. The molecular weight of the PEG and the pH of the dissolution medium are also shown to affect the release profile. Visual observation during the drug release process revealed a complex behavior which included emission of liquidlike droplets, formation of a crust around the releasing mass, and/or production of flakes of solid material. This behavior appeared to have a disadvantageous effect on the reproducibility of drug release. Construction of a phase diagram from results of thermal analysis using DSC and HSM indicated the formation of an eutectic mixture with a composition of 35% ibuprofen and 65% PEG 1500 and a melting point of 36°C. The complex behavior of the drug-releasing mass is discussed in terms of this phase diagram. Only the release data for systems containing 4% w/w or more of PVAc could be linearized by plotting against the square root of time whereas data for all of the systems studied could be linearized by first-order plots.     

Predicting compliance with annual follow-up evaluations in persons with spinal cord injury

In this study a representative sample of German acute care hospitals is used to describe the effects of dementia within acute care hospitals. Data from hospital patients above age 60 with the diagnosis dementia (ICD 290, 293, 294 and 310), collected over an observation period of 12 years, are compared with nondemented hospital patients at the same ages. The differences in the average length of stay between demented and nondemented patients are only relatively small in German acute care hospitals. The degree of multimorbidity is higher and hospital infections are more frequent for demented patients. The main differences occur with mortality: demented inpatients of both sexes experience a hospital mortality which is about twice as high as for nondemented patients at the same ages.