This book provides an in depth analysis of the different ways in which bilingual speakers switch from one language to another in conversation. Pieter Muysken's study of language-mixing synthesizes a ...wealth of research from bilingual settings around the world, revealing much about the structure and function of language.
Titanium alloys remain efficient at moderately elevated temperatures, a property that make them important candidates for aeronautical applications in turbine engines. As these alloys will be exposed ...in turbine engines at long term elevated temperatures, oxidation effect must be taken into account. Thus, the fatigue crack propagation (FCP) behavior of Ti6246 alloy has been tested in ambient temperatures ranging from 300 degree C to 500 degree C. The nominal propagation is poorly affected by temperatures less than or equal to 465 degree C while 2 or 3 fold acceleration is observed at 500 degree C. Effective data compared to intrinsic data support a substantial influence of atmospheric environment at 500 degree C. A lowering of test frequency induces growth rates at all tested temperatures. Furthermore, scanning and RBS observation of fracture surfaces are consistent with a corrosion fatigue mechanism.
We investigate the feasibility of CD34-selected peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) transplantation followed by pre-emptive CD8-depleted donor lymphocyte infusions (DLI) after a minimal conditioning ...regimen. Six patients with advanced hematological malignancies ineligible for a conventional myeloablative transplant (n=5) or metastatic renal cell carcinoma (n=1), and with an HLA-identical (n=4) or alternative (n=2) donor were included. The nonmyeloablative conditioning regimen consisted in 2 Gy TBI alone (n=4), 2 Gy TBI and fludarabine (RCC patient, n=1) or cyclophosphamide and fludarabine (patient who had previously received 12 Gy TBI, n=1). Post transplant immunosuppression was carried out with cyclosporin (CyA) and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF). Initial engraftment was achieved in all patients. One out of six patients (17%) experienced grade > or =2 acute GVHD only after abrupt cyclosporin discontinuation and alpha interferon therapy for life-threatening tumor progression. T-cell chimerism was 23% (19-30) on day 28, 32% (10-35) on day 100, 78% (49-95) on day 180 and 99.5% (99-100) on day 365. Three out of four patients who had measurable disease before the transplant experienced a complete response. We conclude that CD34-selected NMSCT followed by CD8-depleted DLI is feasible and preserves engraftment and apparently also the graft-versus-leukemia (GVL) effect. Further studies are needed to confirm this encouraging preliminary report.
The prediction reliability of seven multiple alignment servers currently available on the Internet (ClustalW, MAP, PIMA, Block Maker, MSA, MEME and Match-Box) has been evaluated in terms of power ...(sensitivity) and confidence (selectivity). Therefore, the alignments obtained have been respectively compared to refined structural alignments for 20 families of related proteins with low levels of identity.
Results clearly show that any powerful method remains reliable when the rate of identity falls. For some methods, power and confidence decrease linearly with the rate of identity, while other methods emphasize reliability at the cost of a lower power. Increasing the number of related sequences included in the alignment may either improve or decrease the quality of the predictions substantially. For some methods, the gain in power or in confidence is quite systematic; for others, the effect of the addition of homologous sequences is highly unpredictable. Extracting the consensus between two different methods may increase the overall confidence of the predictions tremendously. Our conclusions induce users of sequence alignment methods on the Internet to select the most suitable technique according to their requirements in terms of selectivity and sensitivity.
The aligned sequences of the 20 alignments of structure can be obtained automatically by sending the message 'send: cabios_tests.txt' by e-mail to 'matchbox@biq.fundp.ac.be'.
eric.depiereux@fundp.ac.be
Objective: This study was conducted to assess retrospectively the clinical tolerance of SD treated plasma and to compare it to other labile blood products (red blood cell and platelet concentrates). ...Method: Adverse events (AEs) related to the use of blood products at the Blood Transfusion Center (BTC) are routinely collected through a formalised system of hemovigilance. All AEs reported are entered into a safety data base which was used for the study. All AEs reported during a one‐year period to the BTC were retrospectively re‐assessed and descriptive statistics calculated. Results: 5064 units of SD treated plasma were transfused to 894 recipients during the study period at the occasion of 1553 transfusions. No AE associated to SD treatment plasma was reported during that period. In contrast, during the same period, 485 AEs associated with the use of red blood cell concentrates (RBCC) were reported in 251 patients at the occasion of 262 transfusions. 2.1% (251/11748) of the patients transfused with RBCC experienced one or more AEs. The incidence of AEs per unit transfused was 1.3% (485/37332), and 2.4% (485/20460) of RBCC transfusions were associated with one or more AEs. 142 AEs associated with the use of platelet concentrate (PC) were observed in 69 patients at the occasion of 73 transfusions. 4.2% (69/1645) of patients transfused with PC experienced one or more AEs. The incidence of AEs per unit transfused was 1.1% (142/12772), and 2.8% (142/5034) of PC transfusions were associated with one or more AEs. All reported AEs were classified and non serious. The most frequently observed AEs were fever, chills and rashes which accounted for roughly 64% of all reported AEs. Conclusion: As for the overall clinical tolerance of red cell and platelet concentrates, the results of this study are in complete agreement with the published literature. The study also confirms the extremely good tolerability of SD treated plasma in comparison with other labile blood products.
The near-threshold abnormal behavior of a high strength Ti6246 titanium alloy where the threshold is substituted for a constant crack growth rate, is observed at room temperature and in high vacuum ...as in ambient air when superimposing cyclic load perturbations on a much larger static load. In both environments, the critical Kmax level is approx52 MParoot m which means approx70% of the fracture toughness. This phenomenon is also observed at 500 deg C in air, but not in high vacuum, and the rate of the steady propagation in air is approx10 times slower than at room temperature. The corresponding mechanism is assumed to be controlled by an intrinsic creep damage process which appears more efficient at room temperature than at 500 deg C and more accentuated in air than in vacuum. In humidified argon (partial pressure of water vapor of 1.3 kPa corresponding to 50% RH in ambient air), the critical Kmax level is reduced at 22 MParoot m at 500 deg C. This phenomenon which refers to ripple loading generally associated to liquid aqueous environments involving stress corrosion cracking, is here observed in moist inert gas which appears as a much more aggressive environment than ambient air. Such behavior is consistent with previous observations made on fatigue crack propagation in similar environmental conditions supporting a more detrimental effect of water vapor in inert gas than in presence of oxygen as in air.
Previous work in our laboratory have provided evidence that the membrane glycoprotein M of TGEV is centrally involved in efficient induction of alpha interferon (IFN-alpha) synthesis by non-immune ...peripheral blood mononuclear cells incubated with fixed, TGEV-infected cells or inactivated virions. Here we report recent completion of studies initiated to get a better understanding of the nature of the interferogenic determinant(s). Transfected cells expressing TGEV M together with the minor structural component E (formerly called sM) were found to trigger IFN-alpha synthesis. Co-expression of these two proteins was shown to be necessary and sufficient for assembly and release of pseudoparticles resembling TGEV virions. Purified pseudoparticles exhibited an interferogenic activity close to that of authentic virions. Chimeric recombinant particles expressing BCV M ectodomain also induced IFN. Examination of cell cultures infected by viruses representative of the three Nidovirales genera revealed that the capacity to act as an efficient IFN-alpha inducer is a common feature of viral particles of the coronavirus genus. Altogether these data bring new insights regarding the putative nature of the viral structure involved in IFN-alpha induction.
The spike activity of neuromodulatory dorsal unpaired median (DUM) neurons was analyzed during a pilocarpine-induced motor pattern in the locust. Paired intracellular recordings were made from these ...octopaminergic neurons during rhythmic activity in hindleg motor neurons evoked by applying pilocarpine to an isolated metathoracic ganglion. This motor pattern is characterized by two alternating phases: a levator phase, during which levator, flexor, and common inhibitor motor neurons spike, and a depressor phase, during which depressor and extensor motor neurons spike. Three different subpopulations of efferent DUM neurons could be distinguished during this rhythmical motor pattern according to their characteristic spike output. DUM 1 neurons, which in the intact animal do not innervate muscles involved in leg movements, showed no change apart from a general increase in spike frequency. DUM 3 and DUM 3,4 neurons produced the most variable activity but received frequent and sometimes pronounced hyperpolarizations that were often common to both recorded neurons. DUM 5 and DUM 3,4,5 neurons innervate muscles of the hindleg and showed rhythmical excitation leading to bursts of spikes during rhythmic activity of the motor neurons, which innervate these same muscles. Sometimes the motor output was coordinated across both sides of the ganglion so that there was alternating activity between levators of both sides. In these cases, the spikes of DUM 5 and DUM 3,4,5 neurons and the hyperpolarization of DUM 3 and DUM 3,4 neurons occurred at particular phases in the motor pattern. Our data demonstrate a central coupling of specific types of DUM neurons to a rhythmical motor pattern. Changes in the spike output of these particular efferent DUM neurons parallel changes in the motor output. The spike activity of DUM neurons thus may be controlled by the same circuits that determine the action of the motor neurons. Functional implications for real walking are discussed.
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