Perfluorocarbons in Chemical Biology

Perfluorocarbons, saturated carbon chains in which all the hydrogen atoms are replaced with fluorine, form a separate phase from both organic and aqueous solutions. Though perfluorinated compounds are not found in living systems, they can be used to modify biomolecules to confer orthogonal behavior within natural systems, such as improved stability, engineered assembly, and cell-permeability. Perfluorinated groups also provide handles for purification, mass spectrometry, and ¹⁹F NMR studies in complex environments. Herein, we describe how the unique properties of perfluorocarbons have been employed to understand and manipulate biological systems.     

不锈钢塔器在硫酸装置中的应用

摘 要:主要介绍Sasol Agri公司硫酸四系统的技术改造,分两步进行,第一步更换转化器、热换热器及主省煤器,生产能力由1600t/d提高到1750 t/d,且鼓风机出口压力很低。第二步更换干燥塔、二吸塔及冷换热器,连续生产能力在1950 t/d以上。使用不锈钢材质及克瓦纳·凯密迪公司专有的换热器,使装置的改造相当成功,维护及操作费用较低,并具有较大的灵活性和可操作性。     

可重定位的基于事务的系统级验证

功能验证已经成为开发SoC的主要问题。随着一些复杂SoC的规模超过两千万门，以及对开发和集成嵌入式软件的需求持续增加，软件模拟器已经力所不及。在设计过程需要几百万个时钟周期来充分测试和验证软件功能的情况下，软件仿真器的性能下降到1-5Hz。按照这种速率，软件调试需要几年的时     

A cost comparison of balloon angioplasty and stenting versus endarterectomy for the treatment of carotid artery stenosis

PURPOSE: Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty with stenting (PTAS) of the carotid artery has been advocated as an alternative treatment for high-grade stenosis. Rationale for this approach includes less morbidity, shorter recovery, and lower cost when compared with carotid endarterectomy (CEA). METHODS: The clinical results and hospital charges of patients who underwent elective treatment for carotid stenosis were reviewed. During a concurrent 14-month period, 218 patients were admitted 229 times for 234 procedures for the treatment of 239 carotid bifurcation stenoses, 109 by PTAS and 130 by CEA. Hospital charges were reviewed for each hospitalization and were categorized according to radiology, operating room, cardiac catheterization laboratory, and all other hospital charges. RESULTS: The combined incidence of postprocedure strokes and deaths were: PTAS, eight strokes (7.7%) and one death (0.9%); CEA, two strokes (1.5%) and two deaths (1.5%). Total hospital charges per admission for the two groups were $30,140 for PTAS and $21,670 for CEA. The average postprocedure length of stay for PTAS was 2.9 days (median, 2 days) and for CEA was 3.1 days (median, 3 days). Cardiac catheterization laboratory charges for the PTAS group were $12,968, whereas the operating room charges for the CEA group were $4263. When hospitalizations that were extended by complications were excluded, the average total charges for the PTAS group (n = 84) dropped to $24,848 (mean length of stay, 1.9 days) and for the CEA group (n = 111) to $19,247 (mean length of stay, 2.6 days). CONCLUSIONS: After evaluating hospital charges, PTAS for the treatment of carotid stenosis cannot currently be justified on the basis of reduced costs alone. With future cost-containing measures, total hospital charges can be reduced in both groups.     

Thoracic epidural anesthesia as the last option for treating angina in a patient before coronary artery bypass surgery

Robertsonian translocations, although relatively common as a constitutional genetic aberration, are rarely encountered in leukaemia. We report a case of acute myeloid leukaemia which showed an acquired Robertsonian translocation in the form of der(14;21) by cytogenetic analysis of leukaemic cells. This was confirmed by the PHA-stimulated culture of peripheral blood lymphocytes. A review of the literature identifies only eight reported cases of acquired Robertsonian translocations in leukaemia. In the majority of cases the Robertsonian translocation occurs as a secondary change in a complex abnormal clone, whereas in two out of nine patients reported, including ours, it is found as a sole karyotypic abnormality.     

Pegylated peptides. V. Carboxy-terminal PEGylated analogs of growth hormone-releasing factor (GRF) display enhanced duration of biological activity in vivo

In the present study, human growth hormone-releasing factor (hGRF) and analogs were successfully pegylated at the carboxy-terminus using a novel solid- and solution-phase strategy. Following synthesis, these pegylated hGRF analogs were evaluated for in vitro and in vivo biological activity. Specifically, hGRF (1-29)-NH2, [Ala15]-hGRF (1-29)-NH2, [desNH2Tyr1, D-Ala2, Ala15]-hGRF(1-29)-NH2 and [His1, Val2, Gln8, Ala15, Leu27]-hGRF(1-32)-OH were each C-terminally extended using a Gly-Gly-Cys-NH2 spacer (previously demonstrated not to alter intrinsic biological activity), and then monopegylated via coupling to an activated dithiopyridyl-PEG reagent. PEG moieties of 750, 2000, 5000 or 10,000 molecular weight (MW) were examined to determine the effect of polymer weight on activity. Initial biological evaluations in vitro revealed that all C-terminally pegylated hGRF analogs retained high growth hormone (GH)-releasing potencies, regardless of the MW of PEG polymer employed. Two of these pegylated hGRF analogs, [desNH2Tyr1, D-Ala2, Ala15]-hGRF (1-29)-Gly-Gly-Cys(NH2)-S-Nle-PEG5000 and [His1, Val2, Gln8, Ala15, Leu27]-hGRF(1-32)-Gly-Cys(NH2)-S-Nle-PEG5000, were subsequently evaluated in both pig and mouse models and found to be highly potent (in vivo potency range = 12-55-fold that of native hGRF). Relative to their non-pegylated counterparts, these two pegylated hGRF analogs exhibited enhanced duration of activity.