Night and Day: Are Siblings as Different in Temperament as Parents Say They Are?

Twin studies suggest that parent ratings of temperament exaggerate differences between twins. The present study examined whether such contrast effects also operate for nontwin siblings. The activity level (AL) and shyness of 95 nontwin sibling pairs (ages 3 to 8 years) were assessed via parent ratings and objective measures (actigraph and observer ratings). Siblings showed no resemblance in either parent-rated AL or shyness; however, sibling resemblance for actigraph AL and observer-rated shyness was substantial. Thus, parents do contrast their nontwin siblings when rating these 2 temperament dimensions. Moreover, the importance of sibling differences in temperament to the sibling relationship and differential maternal treatment varied across the different measures of AL and shyness, suggesting that parent perceptions may play a role in these associations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

46,XX/69,XXX diploid-triploid mixoploidy with hypothyroidism and precocious puberty

We report a 20 month old female patient with diploid-triploid mixoploidy (46,XX/69,XXX) syndrome with hypothyroidism and precocious puberty. The triploid cell line was only expressed in the fibroblast culture and comprised the majority (95%) of the cells. Chromosome analysis of the fetal blood sample and peripheral blood sample were normal. The patient shows typical features of full triploidy (growth and severe mental retardation, cranial and facial dysmorphism, complete syndactyly of fingers 3/4, partial syndactyly of toes 2/3) and facial but no body asymmetry. At the age of 5 months central hypothyroidism and precocious puberty were diagnosed. Thin pigmented streaks were visible on the wrists and legs of the patient at the age of 16 months. This is the first patient reported so far with 46,XX/69,XXX mixoploidy suffering from hypothyroidism and precocious puberty.     

Transvaginal multifetal pregnancy reduction: Which? When? How many?

This report contains the experience of our centre, using the transvaginally guided puncture procedure, to reduce the number of fetuses in a multifetal pregnancy to a lower number. The aim of the procedure was to improve perinatal outcome and/or to meet the personal desires of patients and their families. We surveyed 148 multifetal pregnancy reductions. The fetus or fetuses overlying the internal os was most commonly reduced. The total uncorrected loss of the entire pregnancy was 13.4%. The corrected pregnancy loss was 11%. Of the 63 twins left after the reduction, 33 delivered preterm. Of the 36 singletons, two delivered preterm. Our conclusion was that multifetal pregnancy reduction is a safe procedure for the mother and has an acceptable loss rate of the entire pregnancy. The reduction of a fetus overlying the internal os by the transvaginal puncture procedure seems to yield results at least as good as the transabdominally performed puncture procedures for multifetal pregnancy reduction.     

Dicyanate semi IPNs—A new class of high performance,high temperature plastics

Dicyanate Semi-Interpenetrating Polymer Networks (semi IPNs) are made by dissolving a thermoplastic in crosslinking dicyanates and then curing the resulting mixture. The semi IPNs produced are strong, with tensile strengths of 10,000 to 12,000 psi, and flexible, with elongations to break of 10 to 17 percent. Dicyanate semi IPNs also have good thermal stability and the softening temperatures of the IPNs are significantly, higher than those of the corresponding thermoplastics.     

Deposition and Properties of Superconducting MgB2 Thin Films

The recently discovered superconductor MgB₂ with T _c at 39 K has great potential in superconducting electronics. In this paper, we review the deposition techniques used for MgB₂ thin films in the light of a thermodynamic study of the Mg-B system with the calculation of phase diagrams (CALPHAD) modeling technique. This thermodynamic study identifies a growth window in the pressure–temperature phase diagram, in which the magnesium pressure is very high for likely in situ growth temperatures. A Hybrid Physical–Chemical Vapor Deposition (HPCVD) technique that successfully achieves such a high Mg pressure is shown to produce in situ epitaxial MgB₂ thin films with bulk superconducting properties.     

Activity of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) and vasopressin level in patients with primary pulmonary hypertension

AIM: Assessment of RAAS and vasopressin in patients with primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Activity of plasma renin (APR), angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE), plasma levels of angiotensin II (AII) and vasopressin (VP), serum concentration of aldosteron (AS) were measured by radioimmunoassay and enzyme immunoassay in 21 PPH patients with circulatory failure (age 34.7 +/- 2.1 years), 11 patients with NYHA functional class II-III, 10 with class IV, and 10 control subjects (age 29.8 +/- 1.5 years). RESULTS: Compared to controls, 21 PPH patients had elevated RAAS parameters: APR up to 3.52 ng/ml/h (p < 0.05), activity of ACE up to 43.13 units, AII level up to 33.93 ng/ml (p < 0.01), AS up to 468.86 ng/ml (p < 0.01), VP up to 5.26 ng/ml (p < 0.001). Circulatory failure progression resulted in activation of all the RAAS components. This and VP activation was the greatest in PPH patients with ACE > 5 ng/ml/h. PPH patients with mean pressure in the pulmonary artery higher than 60 mm Hg demonstrated higher ARP, AS, VP, AII, ACE than those who had this pressure under 60 mm Hg. CONCLUSION: PPH patients display a noticeable activation of RAAS and VP. This activation seems to be secondary as the changes increase with elevation of the pressure in the pulmonary artery and aggravation of circulatory insufficiency. Plasma renin activity determines the degree of RAAS activation as a whole. The discovered activation of RAAS in PPH gives grounds for doubts in the validity of using ACE inhibitors in the treatment of PPH.