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Objectives There have been efforts to promote timely antimicrobial administration for patients with sepsis, but the importance for other infections is uncertain. This study analysed whether time to first antimicrobial dose (TFAD) in patients with lower limb cellulitis influenced outcome measures such as acute length of stay (LOS) in hospital and 30-day hospital readmission rates for cellulitis. Methods Medical records of patients admitted with lower limb cellulitis or erysipelas over a 15-month period (1 May 2019 to 30 November 2019 and 1 March 2020 to 31 October 2020) were reviewed. Patients requiring intensive care unit (ICU) admission were excluded. The TFAD was the difference (in minutes) between the emergency department triage time and the time that the antimicrobial was first recorded as administered. Analysis included log-transformed linear regression (for LOS) and logistic regression (for 30-day readmission with cellulitis), controlling for confounders where possible. Results The study included 282 patients with lower limb cellulitis. The median TFAD was 177 min (interquartile range, 98–290 min). Linear regression suggested a weak association between TFAD and LOS (P = 0.05; adjusted R2 = 0.01), which was non-significant after adjusting for confounders (P = 0.18). There were too few patients readmitted within 30 days with cellulitis for meaningful analysis. Conclusion After controlling for confounders, no association between increased TFAD and increased acute LOS was identified for patients with lower limb cellulitis who did not require ICU admission (i.e. without septic shock). Conclusions could not be made for 30-day readmission rates for cellulitis.

Results are presented of total reflux experiments carried out at Fractionation Research Inc. with Montz-Pak A3-500M, an advanced corrugated sheet wire gauze packing, using Paraxylene/Orthoxylene system at 0.1 bara and for the first time at 0.02 bara. In both cases an expectedly good performance was achieved, ranging from eight stages at low- to five stages per meter bed height at upper limit of the operating vapour load. Interestingly, within preloading region the packing exhibited a better efficiency at 0.02 bara, however this was at the expense of somewhat increased pressure drop, and, strikingly, no gain on capacity side. Delft model proved capable of capturing observed trends, but exhibits a pronounced discrepancy with respect to measured efficiency and pressure drop at 0.02 bara, and suggests a higher flooding limit than observed.

International audience; To elucidate the function of oxidative phosphorylation (OxPhos) during B cell differentiation, we employ CD23Cre-driven expression of the dominant-negative K320E mutant of the mitochondrial helicase Twinkle (DNT). DNT-expression depletes mitochondrial DNA during B cell maturation, reduces the abundance of respiratory chain protein subunits encoded by mitochondrial DNA, and, consequently, respiratory chain super-complexes in activated B cells. Whereas B cell development in DNT mice is normal, B cell proliferation, germinal centers, class switch to IgG, plasma cell maturation, and T cell-dependent as well as T cell-independent humoral immunity are diminished. DNT expression dampens OxPhos but increases glycolysis in lipopolysaccharide and B cell receptor-activated cells. Lipopolysaccharide-activated DNT-B cells exhibit altered metabolites of glycolysis, the pentose phosphate pathway, and the tricarboxylic acid cycle and a lower amount of phosphatidic acid. Consequently, mTORC1 activity and BLIMP1 induction are curtailed, whereas HIF1α is stabilized. Hence, mitochondrial DNA controls the metabolism of activated B cells via OxPhos to foster humoral immunity.

The emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants threatens efforts to contain the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in India has risen steeply, and a SARS-CoV-2 variant, B.1.617, is believed to be responsible for many of these cases. The spike protein of B.1.617 harbors two mutations in the receptor binding domain, which interacts with the angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor and constitutes the main target of neutralizing antibodies. Therefore, we analyze whether B.1.617 is more adept in entering cells and/or evades antibody responses. B.1.617 enters two of eight cell lines tested with roughly 50% increased efficiency and is equally inhibited by two entry inhibitors. In contrast, B.1.617 is resistant against bamlanivimab, an antibody used for COVID-19 treatment. B.1.617 evades antibodies induced by infection or vaccination, although less so than the B.1.351 variant. Collectively, our study reveals that antibody evasion of B.1.617 may contribute to the rapid spread of this variant., Graphical abstract, Between March and May 2021, India reported a steep increase in COVID-19 cases that was linked to SARS-CoV-2 variants, including B.1.617. Hoffmann et al. show that the B.1.617 spike protein mediates robust entry into human cells and evades neutralization by antibodies produced upon infection and vaccination.

Cone snails are venomous marine gastropods that hydraulically propel a hollow, chitinous radular harpoon into prey [1,2]. This radular harpoon serves both as projectile and conduit for venom delivery. In the fish-hunting cone snail Conus catus, the radular harpoon is also utilized to tether the snail to its prey, rapidly paralyzed by neuroexcitatory peptides [2,3]. Effective prey capture in C. catus requires both fast-acting neurotoxins and a delivery system quick enough to exceed the prey fish's rapid escape responses [4]. We report here that the cone snail's prey strike is one of the fastest in the animal kingdom. A unique cellular latch mechanism prevents harpoon release until sufficient pressure builds and overcomes the forces of the latch, resulting in rapid acceleration into prey [2]. The radular harpoon then rapidly decelerates as its bulbous base reaches the end of the proboscis, a distensible hydrostatic skeleton extended toward the prey [2], with little slowing during prey impalement. The velocities achieved are the fastest movements of any mollusk and exceed previous estimates by over an order of magnitude [1].

Uncontrolled hypertension contributes significantly to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality and is more frequently encountered among patients presenting to the emergency department (ED).1,2 Approximately 50% of patients with previously undiagnosed hypertension who present with elevated blood pressures in the ED will continue to have BP elevations one week after being discharged to home.3 Hypertensive patients presenting to the ED are a particularly high-risk group with >50% with stage II or higher hypertension (SBP ≥160 or DBP ≥100).1 Significant percentages of elevated blood pressures in the ED are incidental findings and not related to the patient's chief complaints. Incidental hypertension represents a quandary for the emergency physician who cannot guarantee follow-up treatment.4,5 Several studies have found that only 7–25% of ED patients with elevated BP are given instructions for outpatient BP follow-up.3–5 Currently, there is no risk assessment or stratification based upon blood pressure assessment performed on hypertensive patients prior to discharge from the emergency department. The emergency medicine literature does not provide definitive recommendations on screening tests for patients with asymptomatic elevated blood pressures.6 Published guidelines regarding the management of these patients only recommend referral of these patients for close primary care follow-up within 48–72 h.6 These same guidelines also urge future research related to the optimal screening for this patient population in the ED.6 The purpose of this study was to determine the progression of subclinical heart disease in an urban ED population with asymptomatic elevated blood pressure and examine the correlation with blood pressure changes after a brief ED hypertension education intervention.

The interpretation of a positive result for Mycobacterium tuberculosis by nucleic acid amplification such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) can be challenging. We present 2 cases that illustrate the limitations of tuberculosis PCR on respiratory secretions in previously treated patients, even years after the previous disease episode.

Purpose The potential of dual energy computed tomography (DECT) for the analysis of gallstone compounds was investigated. The main goal was to find parameters, that can reliably define high percentage (>70%) cholesterol stones without calcium components. Materials and methods 35 gallstones were analyzed with DECT using a phantom model. Stone samples were put into specimen containers filled with formalin. Containers were put into a water-filled cylindrical acrylic glass phantom. DECT scans were performed using a tube voltage/current of 140 kV/83 mAs (tube A) and 80 kV/340 mAs (tube B). ROI-measurements to determine CT attenuation of each sector of the stones that had different appearance on the CT images were performed. Finally, semi-quantitative infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) of these sectors was performed for chemical analysis. Results ROI-measurements were performed in 45 different sectors in 35 gallstones. Sectors containing >70% of cholesterol and no calcium component ( n = 20) on FTIR could be identified with 95% sensitivity and 100% specificity on DECT. These sectors showed typical attenuation of −8 ± 4 HU at 80 kV and +22 ± 3 HU at 140 kV. Even the presence of a small calcium component ( Conclusion Dual energy CT allows for reliable identification of gallstones containing a high percentage of cholesterol and no calcium component in this pre-clinical phantom model. Results from in vivo or anthropomorphic phantom trials will have to confirm these results. This may enable the identification of patients eligible for non-surgical treatment options in the future.

ResumenDesde comienzos del siglo pasado han sido utilizados una amplia variedad de métodos para evaluar el rendimiento masticatorio. Existen tests que usan alimentos naturales como material de prueba, otros utilizan alimentos artificiales; además se han propuesto distintos sistemas de procesamiento del material triturado, como el tamizado fraccional, espectrofotométrico, de aire comprimido, observación de área, concentración de azúcar, fotométrico y escaneo óptico. En este trabajo se describen y discuten algunos métodos de trascendencia en la historia de la evaluación del rendimiento masticatorio.AbstractMasticatory performance has been assessed with varying methods throughout last century. Some of them use natural food as a test material and some others use arti cial components instead of food. There have also been proposed various systems of processing the crushed material, such as fractional sieving, spectrophotometric analysis, compressed air, area observation, sugar concentration, photometric and optical scanning. This paper describes and discusses some relevant methods in the history of the evaluation of masticatory performance.

A new structural type has been found for the compound with nominal composition (MgxCa1−x)Ni2.6. Its structure is made of nine layers (6 AB2 + 3 AB5) stacked in an original manner. The average structure may be regarded as a Gd2Co7 type-structure in which half of the AB5 blocks have been replaced by AB2 blocks. The hydrogen sorption properties are similar to those of the Ca0.4Mg0.6Ni3 compound with the PuNi3 structure. However, the resulting arrangement departs significantly from the PuNi3 structural type since a symmetry reduction from R-3m into R3 takes place.

We report on a new approach for positioning of self-assembled InAs quantum dots on (1 1 0) GaAs with nanometer precision. By combining self-assembly of quantum dots with molecular beam epitaxy on in situ cleaved surfaces (cleaved-edge overgrowth) we have successfully fabricated arrays of long-range ordered InAs quantum dots. Both atomic force microscopy and micro-photoluminescence measurements demonstrate the ability to control position and ordering of the quantum dots with epitaxial precision as well as size and size homogeneity. Furthermore, photoluminescence investigations on dot ensembles and on single dots confirm the high homogeneity and the excellent optical quality of the quantum dots fabricated.

The corrosion behavior of milled Mg prepared by high-energy ball milling for 10 h has been investigated in alkaline solutions by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and compared with that of unmilled Mg. X-ray powder diffraction indicates a crystallite size of 34 nm for the milled Mg compared to >100 nm for the unmilled powder. Chemical analyses show no significant iron contamination in milled Mg powder, indicating the absence of tools erosion during the milling procedure. In contrast, significant MgO enrichment in the milled powder is observed (6.5 wt.% after 10 h milling compared to 1.0 wt.% before milling). The oxygen contamination is mainly attributed to the powder oxidation occurring during milling. From XPS analyses, no MgO enrichment is detected on milled Mg electrode surface, confirming that MgO is dispersed homogeneously in the bulk of the material rather than to segregate on its surface. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy demonstrates clearly the better corrosion resistance of milled Mg compared to unmilled Mg in passive conditions (KOH solution, pH=14) and in more active corrosion conditions (borate solution, pH=8.4). This is illustrated by a nobler corrosion potential and by a significant increase of the interfacial resistance related to the film and charge-transfer reaction. Moreover, the variation of the different electrochemical parameters (corrosion potential, interfacial resistance and capacitance) with immersion time is less accentuated and tends more rapidly to a steady state with milled Mg, suggesting an enhancement of the Mg(OH)2 formation kinetic. The origin of the distinctive passivation behavior of ball-milled Mg is discussed.

The sperm acrosome reaction (AR) involves ion channel activation. In sea urchin sperm, the AR requires Ca2+ and Na+ influx and K+ and H+ efflux. During the AR, the plasma membrane fuses with the acrosomal vesicle membrane forming hybrid membrane vesicles that are released from sperm into the medium. This paper reports the isolation and preliminary characterization of these acrosome reaction vesicles (ARVs), using synaptosome-associated protein of 25 kDa (SNAP-25) as a marker. Isolated ARVs have a unique protein composition. The exocytosis regulatory proteins vesicle-associated membrane protein and SNAP-25 are inside ARVs, as judged by protease protection experiments, and membrane associated based on Triton X-114 partitioning. ARVs fused with planar bilayers display three main types of single channel activity. The most frequently recorded channel is cationic, weakly voltage dependent and has a low open probability that increases with negative potentials. This channel is activated by cAMP, blocked by Ba2+, and has a PK+/PNa+ selectivity of 4.5. ARVs represent a novel membrane preparation suitable to deepen our understanding of ion channel activity in the AR and during fertilization.

Binary Ca–Ni and ternary Ca–Mg–Ni alloys have been synthesized by mechanical alloying. The phase structures and hydrogen storage properties of the as-milled nanocrystalline and the thermally annealed alloys have been investigated. The phase structure changes with the (Ca+Mg)/Ni and the Mg/Ca ratios in the Ca–Mg–Ni ternary system. A too high Mg/Ca ratio leads to the formation of a MgNi2 phase. The plateau pressure increases with Mg content in the CaxMg1−xNi2 and CaxMg1−xNi3 pseudo-binary alloys, however, the hydrogen storage capacity decreases. Mg does not substitute Ca in the CaNi5 and Ca2Ni7 compounds. Adding or substituting a small amount of Mg in these compounds destroys the A2B7 as well as the AB5 structures and results in an AB3 phase and an accompanying nickel phase.

The hydrolysis reaction of nanostructured MgH 2 and nanocomposites MgH 2 –X (X=Ca, Li, LiAlH 4 ) prepared by ball-milling was studied as a function of milling time and component proportion. It was found that nanocrystallinity greatly enhances the hydrolysis kinetics. Moreover, in this new class of chemical hydrides, the reaction also proceeds to full completion, contrary to some conventional chemical hydrides where the reaction stops before total completion due to the formation of passivation layers. The effect of addition of acidic solutions was also investigated.

Nanocrystalline Ti–Ru–Fe–O (2-1-1-2) was prepared by mechanical alloying in a ZOZ attritor. Vacuum plasma spray (VPS) was then used to deposit coatings of this material on a substrate. Energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence and X-ray diffraction analysis was used to follow the change in the chemical composition and crystalline structure of the powder upon deposition by VPS. Nanocrystalline Ti–Ru–Fe–O (2-1-1-2) prepared by the ZOZ attritor contains more than 50 wt.% of hexagonal Fe 2 Ti and a smaller amount ( 2 Ti and Ru results in the formation of several cubic phases with lattice parameters ranging from 2.96 to 3.02 A. This reflects a change in the Ru content on the 1 a ( 1 2 , 1 2 , 1 2 ) site of the cubic lattice. The deposition process also results in the formation of Ti 2 O 3 . This phase is present in excess at the surface of the coating but can be efficiently dissolved through etching in an acid solution. The cathodic overpotential for hydrogen evolution of such activated coatings in typical chlorate electrolysis conditions is η 250 =−550 mV.

PURPOSE: There is growing interest in incorporating area indicators into epidemiologic analyses. Using data from the 1990 U.S. Census linked to individual-level data from three epidemiologic studies, we investigated how different area indicators are interrelated, how measures for different sized areas compare, and the relation between area and individual-level social position indicators. METHODS: The interrelations between 13 area indicators of wealth/income, education, occupation, and other socioenvironmental characteristics were investigated using correlation coefficients and factor analyses. The extent to which block-group measures provide information distinct from census tract measures was investigated using intraclass correlation coefficients. Loglinear models were used to investigate associations between area and individual-level indicators. RESULTS: Correlations between area measures were generally in the 0.5–0.8 range. In factor analyses, six indicators of income/wealth, education, and occupation loaded on one factor in most geographic sites. Correlations between block-group and census tract measures were high (correlation coefficients 0.85–0.96). Most of the variability in block-group indicators was between census tracts (intraclass correlation coefficients 0.72–0.92). Although individual-level and area indicators were associated, there was evidence of important heterogeneity in area of residence within individual-level income or education categories. The strength of the association between individual and area measures was similar in the three studies and in whites and blacks, but blacks were much more likely to live in more disadvantaged areas than whites. CONCLUSIONS: Area measures of wealth/income, education, and occupation are moderately to highly correlated. Differences between using census tract or block-group measures in contextual investigations are likely to be relatively small. Area and individual-level indicators are far from perfectly correlated and provide complementary information on living circumstances. Differences in the residential environments of blacks and whites may need to be taken into account in interpreting race differences in epidemiologic studies.

The superconducting and normal-conducting transport properties of interfaces play an important role for numerous applications of high-Tc superconductors. For basic reasons, the physics of interfaces in high-Tc superconductors is considerably richer and more complex than that of interfaces in the conventional low-Tc superconductors. Besides the unconventional order parameter symmetry of the high-Tc cuprates, as described previously, another difference originates from the possibility of significant band-bending in the high-Tc superconductors, leading to the formation of space-charge layers with modified electronic properties near the interfaces. In analogy with semiconductors, the space-charge layers in the high-Tc cuprates can be altered by doping the material or by the application of electrostatic fields, enabling a controlled modification of the transport properties of the interfaces.

The 57 Fe(γ,γ′) reaction has been studied up to excitation energies of about 6.5 MeV. The resulting strength distribution below 4 MeV is compared to shell-model calculations with various effective interactions. The shell-model results suggest dominance of M1 excitations. A good description of the 57 Fe low-energy spectrum, moments and electromagnetic transitions is achieved with the FPD6 interaction. The model results suggest that the coupling of an unpaired nucleon in 57 Fe does not alter the orbital scissors mode strength compred to the een-mass neighbor 56 Fe, but leads to a fragmentation and a shift towards lower energies.

We report on time-resolved Faraday/Kerr rotation measurements on a high-mobility 2D electron system. A variable initial spin polarization is created in the sample by a circularly polarized pump pulse, and the spin polarization is tracked by measuring the Faraday/Kerr rotation of a time-delayed probe pulse. By varying the pump intensity, the initial spin polarization is changed from the low-polarization limit to a polarization degree of several percent. The observed spin dephasing time increases from less than 20 ps to more than 200 ps as the initial spin polarization is increased. To exclude sample heating effects, additional measurements with constant pump intensity and variable degree of circular polarization are performed. The results confirm the theoretical prediction by Weng and Wu [Phys. Rev. B 68 (2003) 075312] that the spin dephasing strongly depends on the initial spin polarization degree. The microscopic origin for this is the Hartree–Fock term in the Coulomb interaction, which acts as an effective out-of plane magnetic field.

A large anisotropy in the spin dephasing times for the different in-plane directions of [0 0 1] quantum wells has been predicted in calculations by Averkiev and Golub [Phys. Rev. B 60 (1999) 15582] for systems with both Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit fields. Here, we present time-resolved Faraday rotation measurements performed in the Voigt geometry on a high-mobility 2D electron system grown on a [0 0 1] substrate. An out-of-plane spin polarization is created in the sample by a circularly polarized pump pulse. The magnetic field applied in the sample plane forces the spins to precess perpendicular to it. For a magnetic field applied along [1 1 0], the spins precess into the View the MathML source direction, which is in the sample plane, for a magnetic field along View the MathML source, the spins precess into the [1 1 0] direction. The experimentally determined spin dephasing times for these two different cases differ by about 60%, demonstrating that the predicted anisotropy is present in our sample.

Epidemiologic studies have suggested that vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) may play a preventive role in reducing the incidence of atherosclerosis. The aim of this paper was to conduct a cost-effectiveness analysis of vitamin E supplementation in patients with coronary artery disease using data from the Cambridge Heart Antioxidant Study (CHAOS). The study compared cost-effectiveness in the context of Australian and United States (US) health care utilization. The main clinical outcome used in the economic evaluation was the incidence of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) which was nonfatal. Utilization of health care resources was estimated by conducting a survey of Australian clinicians and published Australian and US cost data. Cost savings of $127 (A$181) and $578/patient randomized to vitamin E therapy compared with patients receiving placebo were found for Australian and US settings, respectively. Savings in the vitamin E group were due primarily to reduction in hospital admissions for AMI. This occurred because the vitamin E group had a 4.4% lower absolute risk of AMI than did the placebo group. Less than 10% of health care costs in the Australian evaluation was due to vitamin E ($150 [A$214/patient]). Our economic evaluation indicates that vitamin E therapy in patients with angiographically proven atherosclerosis is cost-effective in the Australian and US settings.

A minimal model of glycogen metabolism in muscle tissue is analyzed in accordance with metabolic control analysis. The model contains two branch points. Rather than contributing to complexity of the analysis, this branching allows expression of the control coefficients in a simplified form. Glucose 6-phosphate is the metabolite at the first branch point, and the analysis is simplified further by the fact that glucose 6-phosphate is the substrate for enzymes which catalyze near-equilibrium reactions. Control of the concentration of glucose 6-phosphate is of interest because of its pivotal location in the metabolic system, but also because it interacts with an allosteric site on glycogen synthase to stimulate glycogen synthase activity. It is shown that the control which the transporter and enzymes involved in glycogen synthesis exert on glycolytic flux is proportional to the control which these components exert on glucose 6-phosphate concentration. Thus, glycolysis plays a major role in control of glucose 6-phosphate concentration. It is concluded that control of glycogen synthesis is not a rigid parameter of any component of this metabolic system. Rather the distribution of control is flexible and shifts from one portion of the system to another in response to shifts in the physiological state. An important element in determining the distribution of control of glycogen synthesis is the change in the sensitivity of the allosteric site of glycogen synthase toglucose 6-phosphate which is brought about by conversion of glycogen synthase to the dephosphorylated, glucose 6-phosphate-independent, state.

Syntaxin is a cytoplasmically oriented plasma membrane protein and VAMP (vesicle-associated membrane protein; synaptobrevin) is a protein associated with the secretory vesicle membrane. These two proteins form part of a complex which is thought to mediate the fusion of plasma and vesicle membranes during exocytosis. This paper reports the identification of syntaxin and VAMP homologues in sea urchin sperm. During fertilization, sea urchin sperm release the contents of a single vesicle, the acrosomal vesicle, exposing the membrane destined to fuse with the egg. During acrosomal exocytosis, the plasma membrane over the acrosomal vesicle fuses at multiple points with the acrosomal membrane (vesiculation) and syntaxin and VAMP are shed with the resulting membrane vesicles. Sea urchin sperm syntaxin and VAMP are associated in a complex as detected by immunoprecipitation. Following acrosomal exocytosis, syntaxin and VAMP cosediment to denser fractions on sucrose gradients showing that they have undergone associative changes during or after the acrosome reaction. Syntaxin and VAMP localization and loss during acrosomal exocytosis support a role for these proteins in regulating the acrosome reaction.

To investigate the nonlinear dose dependence of the thickness of the recrystallized layer during ion beam induced epitaxial recrystallization at amorphous/crystalline interfaces GaAs samples were irradiated with 1.0 MeV Ar + , 1.6 MeV Ar + or 2.5 MeV Kr + ions using a dose rate of 1.4 × 10 12 cm −2 s −1 at temperatures between 50°C and 180°C. It has been found that the thickness of the recrystallized layer reaches a maximum value at T max = 90°C and 135°C for the Ar + and Kr + implantations, respectively. This means that the crystallization rate deviates from an Arrhenius dependence due to ion beam induced nucleation and growth within the remaining amorphous layer. The size of the crystallites depends on the implantation dose. This nucleation and growth of the crystallites disturbes and at least blocks the interface movement because the remaining surface layer becomes polycrystalline. Choosing temperatures sufficiently below T max the thickness of the recrystallized layer increases linearly with the implantation dose indicating that the irradiation temperature is too low for ion induced nucleation.

Background: The immunoglobulin and T-cell receptor gene rearrangement test is used to identify monoclonal populations in B- and T-cell malignancies and has become an important adjunct to morphologic analysis and immunophenotyping by flow cytometry. Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia (WM) is typically a monoclonal proliferation of B cells with morphology of plasmacytoid lymphocytes and production of monoclonal IgM. Methods and Results: We report a case of WM with biclonal gammopathy (IgM kappa and IgM lambda) involving the blood and a diffuse lymphoplasmacytic infiltrate in the bone marrow in an 83-year-old man. Immunophenotyping of the blood and bone marrow aspirate revealed B cells expressing IgM lambda surface immunoglobulins and CD5+, CD19+, and CD20+ surface markers. Gene-rearrangement analysis with the Southern blot technique revealed multiple rearranged bands in each lane of restricted patient DNA after probing with both immunoglobulin heavy (JH)- and light (Jkappa)-chain gene probes. Conclusions: Biclonal gammopathy in WM and biclonal B-cell proliferations as determined by gene-rearrangement studies are rare entities, and few evaluations of them are reported in the literature. To our knowledge, this case is the first one of biclonal WM to have been evaluated by serum protein immunofixation, immunohistologic staining, immunophenotyping by flow cytometry, and immunoglobulin gene-rearrangement analysis. (Mol Diagn 1996 Sep;1(3):159-166)

A novel class of photochemically active amphiphiles has been synthesized containing a ketone moiety as a biradical or radical pair precursor on the hydrophobic tail of sodium sulfate surfactants. Alteration of the molecular structure of each ketone-containing surfactant allows for the systematic and predictable manipulation of the micellar size and shape, both of which are important in determining the coupling between the unpaired electrons confined within the micelle and the intraradical dynamics. The structure of the resulting aggregates has been analyzed by small-angle neutron scattering (SANS). The results show that the amphiphiles form ellipsoidal micelles with aggregation numbers between 30 and 150 that depend on the balance between monomer dimensions and steric effects caused by the atomic spatial arrangement within the hydrophobic tail of the different surfactants.

purpose: Advanced age is considered to be associated with a more severe prognosis in infective endocarditis (IE), which is of relevance in view of a change in epidemiology of the disease with an increasing proportion of elderly people. We wanted to examine whether in the era of improved diagnostic sensitivity for IE by transesophageal echocardiography the clinical course in elderly persons would be still more severe than in younger patients. patients: During the period from 1989 to 1993, 104 patients with 106 episodes of IE were treated at our university hospital. Three groups were compared: group A with 28 patients younger than 50 years, group B with 58 patients aged 50 to 70, and group C with 20 patients older than 70. Transesophageal echocardiography was performed in 78% of the patients; it was not performed in 22% of the patients with a conclusive transthoracic examination. The patients were followed up for an average of 25 months after the diagnosis. results: No significant differences were observed among the age groups with respect to the possible source of infection, the frequency of positive blood cultures, and the type of infective organisms. Elderly patients more often had predisposing valvular conditions (eg, degenerative and calcified lesions and prosthetic valves), which decreased the sensitivity of transthoracic echocardiography to 45% as compared with 75% in group A. Transesophageal echocardiography improved the diagnostic yield by 45% in group C and by 47% in group B. Vegetations were smaller in group C and B as compared with group A, whereas other echocardiographic characteristics were similar. Fever and leukocytosis were less frequent in group C (55% and 25%, respectively) than in group A (82% and 61%, respectively). The interval between the onset of symptoms and the diagnosis of IE was similar in all groups. Elderly patients underwent surgical therapy as frequently (65%) as the other groups. The 1-year survival in group C (26%) was comparable with that in group A (22%) and group B (22%). The major determinant of survival was the occurrence of embolic complications. conclusion: Infective endocarditis in elderly patients caused less severe clinical symptoms than in young patients. The early diagnosis in elderly patients was facilitated by the high sensitivity of transesophageal echocardiography, which enabled the timely initiation of an appropriate medical and surgical therapy. This led to a clinical outcome similar to that for younger patients.

〈100〉 and 〈111〉-Ge single crystals were preamorphized in a thin surface layer using 50 keV or 85 keV N+ ions. Ion beam induced epitaxial crystallization (IBIEC) and interfacial amorphization (IBIIA) at the amorphous/crystalline interface were studied using different kinds of high energy ion beams. The crystallization rate for the 〈100〉-Ge is about 1.5 times higher than that for 〈111〉-Ge. The total recrystallised thickness depends mainly on the nuclear energy deposition and the irradiation temperature. Interfacial amorphization is detected in Ge for the first time. Cross section TEM micrographs show a sharp amorphous/crystalline interface for both IBIEC and IBIIA. The fit of the experimental data yields an activation energy of 0.82 eV for IBIEC and 1.16 eV for IBIIA.

Ion beam induced epitaxial crystallization (IBIEC) during irradiation with high energy ions is investigated in preamorphized InP, GaP and InAs under different conditions of temperature and dose rate. The maximum thicknesses of the layers crystallized are 170 nm (InAs), 120 nm (InP) and 70 nm (GaP), showing that the extent of single-crystalline regrowth is much greater than that achieved by thermal crystallization. Twinned regrowth typical for thermal crystallization is suppressed by ion irradiation, even at temperatures where thermal crystallization proceeds. The maximum thickness of the IBIEC layer cannot be increased by applying both higher doses and/or higher implantation temperatures. This result is explained by the fact that IBIEC is “blocked” by ion induced random nucleation and growth of crystallites within the amorphous layers. Interfacial amorphization induced by ion beams (IBIIA) is proved in InAs. The transition from crystallization to amorphization due to a decrease in the temperature, an increase in the dose rate or an increase in the nuclear energy deposition is in good agreement with the results for Si and Ge. Critical temperatures for this transition in the considered compound semiconductors are estimated, respectively.

Excited states of 124Te were measured with the transfer reactions 123Te(d,p)124Te, 125Te(d,t)124Te and 123Sb(3He,d)124Te and with the inelastic scattering reaction ZUTe(p,p')lUTe at the Tandem Accelerator in Munich. Levels were obtained up to 3.5 MeV with energy resolutions of 3-6 keV. The lUTe(3,,3/)124Te reaction was studied at the S-DALINAC accelerator in Darmstadt for bremsstrahlung endpoint energies Eo = 3.5 and 5 MeV. The 123Te(n,T)lUTe reaction with thermal neutrons was investigated in Riga and in Dubna including ~,-~, coincidences. In Dubna the special method of sum coincidences was applied, analyzing the "Y-3' cascades to the ground state and the first 2 + level. Based on these experiments a level scheme was constructed with states up to 4.5 MeV which is assumed to be complete up to 3 MeV for angular momenta J< 4h. A quasiparticle-phonon model calculation with a configuration space of up to three-phonon coupling permits a good description for many of the low-energy states. Transition probabilities, E2/M1 mixing ratios and branching ratios between these levels are generally well described. The quantitative reproduction indicates a two-phonon quadrupole-octupole coupled 1 - structure of the states most strongly excited in the (~,, T') reaction. The 2- member of the 2 + ®2 + ®3 i- septuplet is identified in the unusual decay cascade following thermal neutron capture. A candidate for a 2 + state with mixed symmetry structure is proposed.

The properties of the special levels in 124Te that are strongly populated by thermal neutron-capture γ-rays have been determined with 123Te(n,γ) and 124Te(γ,γ′) experiments. The unusual decay pattern can be consistently explained within the quasiparticle-phonon model assuming a three-phonon |21+ ⊗ 21+ ⊗ 31−; 2−〉 configuration of the upper intermediate level at 3.101 MeV which exclusively decays to a close-lying two-phonon |21+ ⊗ 31f-; 1f-f> state at 2.747 MeV. The (γ,γf') reaction strongly excites the latter and also indicates the 1f- member of the three-phonon 21+ ⊗ 21+ ⊗ 31f- septuplet at 3.091 MeV.

Light-induced scattering is investigated in photorefractive LiNbO 3 :Fe and LiNbO 3 :Cu crystals with a photovoltaic charge transport. Differences in the energy transfer for orthogonally polarized waves are shown to be the reason for the appearance of different polarization-anisotropic scattering patterns.

A conjecture of Tachikawa states that every finitely generated non-projective module M over a self-injective artinian ring R has a self-extension, i.e., Ext i R ( M , M ) ≠ 0 for some i ≥ 1. We show that Tachikawa′s conjecture holds for a class of radical cube zero rings.

In the search for further reducing the residual risks of possible major reactor pressure vessel failure during and in the aftermath of severe accidents of modular HTRs, an alternative RPV has been designed and a sample vessel already fabricated by the firm Siempelkamp, Krefeld, FRG. This alternative RPV design is made of high quality, ductile sphero cast iron with axial and circumferential wire or more recently circumferentially flat band prestressing. This specific Siempelkamp design has been tested and qualified already on behalf of a series of experiments in the sample test vessel. Also, this design was used for the control gas vessel in the THTR under operational service conditions. In order to demonstrate reliable decay heat removal under most severe conditions, a 1:1 scale, 20° sector of the vessel/cavity, termed INWA-facility (inactive decay heat removal) was fabricated and tested at Siempelkamp. The cavity was cooled by natural circulation of water flowing in tubes embedded into the cast iron structure of the cavity. A total of 5 experiments were performed with this setup examining a variety of changes in constructive details, surface and cooling conditions. Each experiment was performed both for operational conditions and depressurization transient, typical for a 200 MWth HTR-module. Experimental test times ranged up to 1000 hours. Pre- and post-test predictions with the TOPAZ-code accompanied the INWA test series. The paper describes the INWA-facility and reports some of the experimental results as well as the predictive capability of TOPAZ by comparing the data with computational results. The INWA-results qualify the pre-stressed cast iron vessel together with the natural circulation cooled cavity even for the worst of severe accident conditions. Even in case of total failure of all cooling capabilities in or at the cavity structure the vessel surface temperature remains below critical values.