A competitive ELISA with an inhibition step for the determination of serum keratan sulphate (KS), was validated using bovine corneal KS as standard. The method was shown to be in statistical control. ...The recovery was 85% (S.D.=2.2%), hence the obtained results had to be corrected. The limit of detection (LOD) was 1.4
μg
m
l
−1. Intra-assay CV was 3.0% (
n=15) for samples used for method evaluation and 6.0% (
n=18) for serum samples. Inter-assay CV was 7.0% for high KS level samples (
C
KS=31.2
μg
m
l
−1) and 16.0% for low KS level samples (
C
KS=5.9
μg
m
l
−1) based on the S.D.
y/
x
from the method evaluation function and 10% (high KS level) and 16% (low KS level) based on serum samples. Validation of the method was performed using the serum samples from 102 healthy individuals. There was a statistical difference in serum KS levels between men and women, but no age related differences. Tentative biological reference intervals for men and women were established. It was also shown that due to the large between-subject variability in KS levels, the preferable monitoring strategy is to use individuals as their own controls where possible.
Dielectric surface flashover in vacuum at 100 K Neuber, A.; Butcher, M.; Hatfield, L.L. ...
IEEE transactions on dielectrics and electrical insulation,
08/1999, Letnik:
6, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Cryogenic components in high power electrical systems and in power electronics gain more and more importance. The behavior of insulators for cryogenic conditions, however, is virtually unknown. In a ...fast coaxial setup, dielectric test sample and electrodes in vacuum are cooled to <100 K and flashover is characterized using fast electrical and optical diagnostics. Three consecutive development stages for flashover in self-breakdown mode with a gap distance of 0.5 cm can be distinguished: (1) a fast current rise to mA amplitudes within /spl sim/2 ns, probably associated with field emission, followed by, (2) a slow current rise to /spl sim/5 to 10 A amplitude with duration of 40 ns to 1 /spl mu/s, associated with secondary emission avalanche saturation, and (3) a transition to a rapid gaseous ionization above the sample caused by electron induced outgassing, leading to impedance-limited current amplitudes of /spl les/300 A. Phase (1) shows a higher final current at lower temperature, which is probably due to a higher initial velocity of the secondary electrons, the duration of phase (2) is a decreasing function of breakdown voltage and only slightly dependent on temperature, which points to a weak temperature dependence of the outgassing process. Flashover potentials show a slight increase at lower temperature.
The PREFERE study is a multicenter randomized study of patients with low or early intermediate risk for prostatic cancer. The four treatment options, radical prostatectomy, percutaneous irradiation ...therapy, permanent seed implantation and active surveillance recommended by the German S3 guidelines and international guidelines will be tested and compared with respect to effectiveness and potential side effects. Over a period of 4 years a total of 7,600 patients are to be recruited and assigned to 1 of these 4 therapy forms according to personal preference (by possible exclusion of 1 or 2 therapy options) in a 2-4 arm study design by randomization.
Single-shot high power microwave (HPM) systems are of particular interest in the defense industry for applications such as electronic warfare. Virtual cathode oscillators (vircators) are manufactured ...from relatively simple and inexpensive components, which make them ideal candidates in single-shot systems. The flux compression generator (FCG) is an attractive driver for these systems due to its potential for high energy amplification and inherent single-shot nature. A self-contained (battery operated prime power), compact (0.038 m 3 ), FCG-based power delivery system has been developed that is capable of delivering gigawatts of power to a vircator. Experiments were conducted with the delivery system connected to a resistive dummy load and then to a reflex-triode vircator. In order to optimize the performance of the vircator when driven by the power delivery system, a second experimental setup was constructed using a Marx-generator based system operating at similar voltages and rise-times. Performance measures of the delivery system when discharged into a resistive load will be presented, as well as vircator output power levels and waveforms from both experimental setups.
We report the discovery of TOI-2180 b, a 2.8 \(M_{\rm J}\) giant planet orbiting a slightly evolved G5 host star. This planet transited only once in Cycle 2 of the primary Transiting Exoplanet Survey ...Satellite (TESS) mission. Citizen scientists identified the 24 hr single-transit event shortly after the data were released, allowing a Doppler monitoring campaign with the Automated Planet Finder telescope at Lick Observatory to begin promptly. The radial velocity observations refined the orbital period of TOI-2180 b to be 260.8\(\pm\)0.6 days, revealed an orbital eccentricity of 0.368\(\pm\)0.007, and discovered long-term acceleration from a more distant massive companion. We conducted ground-based photometry from 14 sites spread around the globe in an attempt to detect another transit. Although we did not make a clear transit detection, the nondetections improved the precision of the orbital period. We predict that TESS will likely detect another transit of TOI-2180 b in Sector 48 of its extended mission. We use giant planet structure models to retrieve the bulk heavy-element content of TOI-2180 b. When considered alongside other giant planets with orbital periods over 100 days, we find tentative evidence that the correlation between planet mass and metal enrichment relative to stellar is dependent on orbital properties. Single-transit discoveries like TOI-2180 b highlight the exciting potential of the TESS mission to find planets with long orbital periods and low irradiation fluxes despite the selection biases associated with the transit method.
The problem with the stability of a smectic A liquid crystal (LC) mixture in a display based on the electrically reversible memory effect is discussed. The degradation of the LC mixture is initiated ...by the electric field and consists of electrochemical decomposition of one of the mixture components accompanied by gas bubbles arising on the electrodes of the display. The electrochemical degradation was successfully prevented by the introduction of different passivation layers and by the modification of problematic LC mixture component. The obtained results are used for improving the lifetime of a display based on the electrically reversible memory effect.
Prostate cancer is the most common carcinoma of elderly males and holds the third place in the ranking of cancer-specific mortality. However, total mortality rate of 3 % is low and half of the ...patients die from other diseases, which is for the most part due to significantly improved diagnostic methods and the increasing use of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening. This has led to a stage migration towards early tumor stages that are prognostically heterogeneous and require differentiated treatment. The German and European guidelines recommend four therapy options (i.e. radical prostatectomy, percutaneous irradiation, permanent seed implantation and active surveillance) for localized prostate cancer and from contemporary study data it is unclear which therapy is most beneficial. This will be the subject of the PREFERE trial, a prospective randomized multicentre trial which plans to recruit 7,600 patients and to observe them over a period of up to 17 years. The histopathological diagnosis of the primary biopsy plays a crucial role in the inclusion criteria, as this article outlines in detail.
Soils under ancient woodlands are highly variable and little is known about the nature of such soils, which in many cases have supported woodland for hundreds of years. This study addresses past and ...present factors forming soils and the distribution of soil and humus types in the ancient woodlands of Haid Ege, Denmark. The methods used include soil mapping, detailed soil profile description and physical and chemical analysis of soil samples in connection with vegetation data. The results reveal that present-day soils are spatially variable, with Podzols and Arenosols being the most common. Humus form and thickness variations are apparently correlated with forest type (r
2
= 0.58 and 0.46, respectively, P < 0.01). Degree of podzolisation, topsoil texture and soil type were by contrast poorly correlated with forest type (r
2
= 0.21, P < 0.01). Some soil patches with strong podzolisation in areas with Arenosols could be explained neither by present-day vegetation nor by differences in the soil properties investigated. Modern soils were compared to data from Miiller (1884) and no major differences were apparent. We conclude for this ancient woodland that soil distribution, unlike variations in humus form, reflect present-day site factors and most probably also vegetation communities and land-uses phased out more than 120 years ago.
Zusammenfassung
Die Konsenskonferenz der Internationalen Gesellschaft für Urologische Pathologie (ISUP) aus dem Jahr 2012 hat Empfehlungen zu Klassifikation, Prognosefaktoren, Stadieneinteilung und ...Immunhistochemie/Molekularpathologie adulter renaler Tumoren formuliert. Übereinstimmung herrschte darüber, 5 neue Tumorentitäten anzuerkennen: das tubulozystische Nierenzellkarzinom (NZK), das erworbene zystennierenassoziierte NZK, das klarzellige (tubulo-)papilläre NZK, die Mikrophthalmia-Transkriptionsfaktor-Familie Translokations-NZK (insbesondere t(6;11)-NZK) und das hereditäre leiomyomatoseassoziierte NZK. Zusätzlich wurden 3 seltene Karzinome als aufkommende bzw. provisorische Entitäten betrachtet: das schilddrüsenartige follikuläre NZK, das Sukzinatdehydrogenase-B-Defizienz-assoziierte NZK und das ALK-Translokations-NZK. In dieser neuen ISUP-Vancouver-Klassifikation wurden zudem Modifikationen zu bestehenden WHO-2004-Festlegungen vorgeschlagen. Die Tumormorphologie, eine sarkomatoide/rhabdoide Differenzierung und Tumornekrosen wurden als signifikante prognostische Parameter für das NZK hervorgehoben. Das hier abgestimmte ISUP-Gradierungssystem vergibt bei klarzelligen und papillären NZK die Grade 1–3 aufgrund nukleolärer Prominenz, Grad 4 ist für Fälle mit extremer nukleärer Pleomorphie oder sarkomatoider und/oder rhabdoider Differenzierung reserviert. Es wurden außerdem Konsensleitlinien für die Bearbeitung der Proben festgelegt. Man kam beispielsweise überein, eine Nierensinusinvasion zu diagnostizieren, wenn der Tumor in direktem Kontakt mit dem Fettgewebe oder lockerem Bindegewebe des Sinus (intrarenales peripelvines Fettgewebe) steht, oder wenn unabhängig von der Größe endothelialisierte Hohlräume innerhalb der renalen Sinus tumorbefallen sind. Auch die Bedeutung von Biomarkern zur Diagnostik bzw. Prognostik renaler Tumoren wurde erörtert und Markerprofile für die Anwendung zur spezifischen Differenzialdiagnostik formuliert.
