Prognosis of hematological patients with relapse following high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation

A retrospective analysis of the outcome for 283 haematological patients who relapsed after high dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation during a five year period from 1989 to 1994 is presented. The patients were treated in accordance with local regimes at 20 Nordic transplantation centers and included patients with acute leukemia (157 patients), multiple myeloma (16 patients) and lymphoma (110 patients). Two hundred and twenty-nine patients with relapse or progressive disease were given chemo- and/or radiotherapy and the response was evaluated after 90 days. Fifty-four patients (24%) obtained a complete remission and 44 patients (19%) partial remission. The overall median survival after relapse was five months. In the group who received salvage treatment the median survival was seven months, and for the 54 patients in complete remission the median survival was 15 months. We found that survival after relapse depends upon primary disease, the time from transplantation to relapse and whether salvage therapy was initiated.     

Diffusion in polyacrylamide gels

Using a novel sorption technique, the diffusion of some series of solutes in polyacrylamide gels has been investigated with regard to: (a) molecular size of solute; (b) concentration of solute and gel polymer; and (c) temperature. The approach used also yields the partition coefficient pertaining to sorption equilibrium. The ratio, $\text{D}\text{D}{}_{\mathrm{o}}$, where D_o refers to diffusion in the pure solvent, is found to reflect in part the characteristic interactions between solute and gel polymer. The temperature results indicate that the apparent activation energy for solute diffusion is approximately independent of the polymeric component for dilute gels.     

Dynamic light scattering measurements on the polystyrene/ethyl acetate system at semi-dilute concentrations as a function of temperature

Summary Measurements of autocorrelation functions extending over a broad time range are reported for a sample of polystyrene in ethyl acetate as a function of temperature between –44°C (-temperature) and 70°C. The corresponding spectra of decay times are obtained by two mathematical methods. The existence of three dynamic processes is shown and their temperature and angular behaviour is studied.     

The harp: a vehicle crash test apparatus for full-scale crash test experiments

The current paper describes an apparatus for full-scale vehicle crash test experimentation. This apparatus is referred to as the harp. In brief, the harp may either accelerate a trolley which is impacted into a test vehicle or the test vehicle itself may be accelerated and impacted into an object such as a barrier, a pole, or another vehicle. If a trolley is accelerated, it is equipped with load cells to record the axial crushing force. If a test vehicle is accelerated, it is equipped with a three-axis accelerometer to record the crushing force. At the impact site, high-speed cameras and instrumentation record vital data during the crash.     

Antimicrobial resistance in Campylobacter jejuni from broilers and broiler house environments in Norway

Antimicrobial susceptibility in Campylobacter jejuni collected from the environment outside four broiler houses (n = 63) and from the environment inside these broiler houses (including broiler droppings) (n = 36) from May to September 2004 was studied and compared with isolates from Norwegian broilers analyzed within the frame of the Norwegian monitoring program of antimicrobial resistance in feed, food, and animals (NORM-VET) in 2004 (n = 75). The MICs of oxytetracycline, ampicillin, erythromycin, gentamicin, enrofloxacin, and nalidixic acid were obtained by the broth microdilution method VetMIC. The present study, which to our knowledge is the first Norwegian study on the occurrence of antimicrobial resistance in Campylobacter spp. from the environment of broiler houses, revealed a very low occurrence of antimicrobial resistance in C. jejuni from the broilers and broiler house environments studied. All isolates originating from the four broiler houses studied were susceptible to all the antimicrobial agents tested, except for one isolate from the outdoor environment (courtyard soil), which was resistant to oxytetracycline (MIC, 8 mg/liter). For the isolates from broilers (NORM-VET), low prevalences of resistance to oxytetracycline (1.3%) and ampicillin (4%) were observed. No quinolone resistance was observed. The results for the broiler isolates are in agreement with the earlier findings of a very low prevalence of resistance in Campylobacter from broilers in Norway, which reflects the low usage of antimicrobials in Norwegian broiler production. Furthermore, the present data are in accordance with antimicrobial susceptibility data for C. jejuni from domestically acquired human cases.     

Die kristallinität von äthylen-vinylacetat-copolymeren

Copolymers of ethylene and vinyl acetate of different composition were investigated by differential thermal and x-ray analysis in the temperature range of ?80 to 140°C. Compounds with more than 60 weight-% of vinyl acetate are amorphous. In the partially crystalline copolymers with lower contents of vinyl acetate the glass transition temperature is independent of composition and lies below that in amorphous copolymers. The melting points of the partially crystalline compounds increase with ethylene contents and can be described with the aid of a modified FLORY equation. The increase of the degree of crystallinity with ethylene content is demonstrated. The influence of thermal pre-treatment on the melting behaviour is discussed.