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An association between increasing anaesthetic depth and decreased postoperative survival has been shown in observational studies; however, evidence from randomised controlled trials is lacking. Our aim was to compare all-cause 1-year mortality in older patients having major surgery and randomly assigned to light or deep general anaesthesia.

Dabigatran is a direct thrombin inhibitor, which is increasingly likely to be encountered in patients presenting for surgery. This study examines whether there is a consistent effect of dabigatran on the thromboelastogram (TEG) and whether this correlates with the effects of dabigatran on traditional coagulation parameters. Twenty patients taking dabigatran had blood sampled for kaolin-activated whole blood TEG analysis and routine coagulation testing. There was a statistically significant correlation between thrombin clotting time (TCT) and R-time (R=0.77, P=0.0001) and between activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) and R-time (R=0.68, P=0.0013), but not between TCT and alpha-angle (R=-0.4232, P=0.071). Despite the moderate to high correlation between the TEG R-time and the TCT and APTT, there appeared to be no consistent effect of dabigatran on the TEG. These findings suggest that use of kaolin-activated whole blood TEG does not add additional benefit to traditional coagulation tests when monitoring the effect of dabigatran.

Gene expression profiles of LM from beef cattle that underwent significant postweaning undernutrition were studied using complementary DNA (cDNA) microarrays. After 114 d of undernutrition, the RNA from LM showed 2- to 6-fold less expression of many genes from the classes of muscle structural proteins, muscle metabolic enzymes, and extracellular matrix compared with animals on a rapid growth diet. The expression levels of these genes had mostly returned to pretreatment levels after 84 d of realimentation. The gene expression changes associated with undernutrition and BW loss showed an emphasis on downregulation of gene expression specific to fast-twitch fibers, typical of starving mammals, with a preferential atrophy of glycolytic fast-twitch fibers. We also identified a small group of genes that showed 2- to 5-fold elevated expression in LM after 114 d of undernutrition. Putative roles for these genes in atrophying skeletal muscle are regulation of myogenic differentiation (CSRP3), maintenance of mesenchymal stem cells (CYR61), modulation of membrane function (TM4SF2), prevention of oxidative damage (SESN1), and regulation of muscle protein degradation (SQSTM1). A significant increase in stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD) gene expression was observed in atrophying muscle, suggesting either that increased fatty acid synthesis is part of the tissue response to caloric restriction, or that SCDplays another role in energy metabolism in the mixed cellular environment of bovine skeletal muscle.

The dynamical nature of biomolecular systems means that knowledge of their viscoelastic behavior is important in fully understanding function. The linear viscoelastic response can be derived from an analysis of Brownian motion. However, this is a slow measurement and technically demanding for many molecular systems of interest. To address this issue, we have developed a simple method for measuring the full linear viscoelastic response of single molecules based on magnetically driven oscillations of an atomic force microscope cantilever. The cantilever oscillation frequency is periodically swept through the system resonance in less than 200 ms allowing the power spectrum to be obtained rapidly and analyzed with a suitable model. The technique has been evaluated using dextran, a polysaccharide commonly used as a test system for single molecule mechanical manipulation experiments. The monomer stiffness and friction constants were compared with those derived from other methods. Excellent agreement is obtained indicating that the new method accurately and, most importantly, rapidly provides the viscoelastic response of a single molecule between the tip and substrate. The method will be a useful tool for studying systems that change their structure and dynamic response on a time scale of 100−200 ms, such as protein folding and unfolding under applied force.

Japanese Black cattle are characterised by a unique ability to deposit intramuscular fat with lower melting temperature. In this study, 3 consecutive biopsies from Longissimus muscle tissue were taken and RNA isolated from 3 Japanese Black (Tajima strain) and 3 Holstein animals at age 11?20 months. The gene expression changes in these samples were analysed using a bovine fat/muscle cDNA microarray. A mixed-ANOVA model was fitted to the intensity signals. A total of 335 (4.8%) array elements were identified as differentially expressed genes in this breed time comparison study. Genes preferentially expressed in Japanese Black are associated with mono-unsaturated fatty acid synthesis, fat deposition, adipogenesis development and muscle regulation, while examples of genes preferentially expressed in Holstein come from functional classes involved in connective tissue and skeletal muscle development. The gene expression differences detected between the Longissimus muscle of the 2 breeds give important clues to the molecular basis for the unique features of the Japanese Black breed, such as the onset and rate of adipose tissue development, metabolic differences, and signalling pathways involved in converting carbohydrate to lipid during lipogenesis. These findings will impact on industry management strategies designed to manipulate intramuscular adipose development at different development stages to gain maximum return for beef products.

Expression profiling using microarrays allows for the detailed characterization of the gene networks that regulate an animal's response to environmental stresses. During nutritional restriction, processes such as protein turnover, connective tissue remodeling, and muscle atrophy take place in the skeletal muscle of the animal. These processes and their regulation are of interest in the context of managing livestock for optimal production efficiency and product quality. Here we expand on recent research applying complementary DNA (cDNA) microarray technology to the study of the effect of nutritional restriction on bovine skeletal muscle. Using a custom cDNA microarray of 9,274 probes from cattle muscle and s.c. fat libraries, we examined the differential gene expression profile of the LM from 10 Brahman steers under three different dietary treatments. The statistical approach was based on mixed-model ANOVA and model-based clustering of the BLUP solutions for the gene × diet interaction effect. From the results, we defined a transcript profile of 156 differentially expressed array elements between the weight loss and weight gain diet substrates. After sequence and annotation analyses, the 57 upregulated elements represented 29 unique genes, and the 99 downregulated elements represented 28 unique genes. Most of these co-regulated genes cluster into groups with distinct biological function related to protein turnover and cytoskeletal metabolism and contribute to our mechanistic understanding of the processes associated with remodeling of muscle tissue in response to nutritional stress.

In functional genomic laboratories, it is common to use the same microarray slide across studies, each investigating a unique biological question, and each analyzed separately due to computational limitations and/or because there is no hybridization of samples from different studies on one slide. However, the question of analyzing data from multiple studies is a major current issue in microarray data analysis because there are gains to be made in the accuracy of estimated effects by exploiting a covariance structure between gene expression data across studies. We propose an approach for combining multiple studies using multivariate mixed models, with the assumption of a nonzero correlation among genes across experiments, while imposing a null residual covariance. We applied this method to jointly analyze three experiments in genetics of cattle with a total of 54 arrays, each with 19,200 spots and 7,638 elements. The resulting seven-variate model contains 752,476 equations and 56 covariances. To identify differentially expressed genes, we applied model-based clustering to a linear combination of the random gene × variety interaction effect. We enhanced the biological interpretation of the results by applying an iterative algorithm to identify the gene ontology classes that significantly changed in each experiment. We found 118 elements with coordinate expression that clustered into distinct biological functions such as adipogenesis and protein turnover. These results contribute to our understanding of the mechanistic processes involved in adipogenesis and nutrient partitioning.

We report on single molecule measurements of the viscoelastic properties of the polysaccharide dextran using a new approach which involves acquiring the power spectral density of the thermal noise of an atomic force microscope cantilever while holding the single molecule of interest under force-clamp conditions. The attractiveness of this approach when compared with techniques which use forced oscillations under constant loading rate conditions is that it is a near-equilibrium measure of mechanical response which provides a more relevant probe of thermally driven biomolecular dynamics. Using a simple harmonic oscillator model of the cantilever−molecule system and by subtracting the response of the free cantilever taking into account hydrodynamic effects, the effective damping ζmol and elastic constant kmol of a single molecule are obtained. The molecular elasticity measured by this new technique shows a dependence on applied force that reflects the chair−boat conformational transition of the pyranose rings of the dextran molecule which is in good agreement with values obtained directly from the gradient of a conventional constant loading rate force-extension curve. The molecular damping is also seen to follow a nontrivial dependence on loading which we suggest indicates that it is internal friction and not work done on the solvent that is the dominant dissipative process.

In order to gain new knowledge of the genetic control of biochemical and developmental processes that contribute to beef quality, we constructed a bovine microarray of 9600 elements comprising about 2000 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) and 7300 anonymous cDNA clones from muscle and fat-derived cDNA libraries. The microarray was used in 2 animal experiments aimed at uncovering gene expression differences associated with adipogenesis and protein turnover. The results obtained so far show that expression profiling of bovine muscle using the microarray can reliably identify differentially expressed genes and confirm existing hypotheses. Moreover, the technique can provide new evidence on the detailed involvement of well-characterised genes and can identify genes that have not previously been described as having a role in these processes.

In previous studies, we found that Young's moduli of quenched isotactic polypropylene/high-density polyethylene (iPP/HDPE) exceeded the upper bound, calculated from the Voigt model, with the moduli of the quenched homopolymers as those of the two components. We suggested that this might be due to crystallization, as the components crystallized at higher temperatures in the blend than on their own. We repeated the same set of measurements, this time on iPP/HDPE blends that were cooled slowly. We also examined crystallization at various rates of cooling with differential scanning calorimetry. At slow cooling rates, the HDPE and iPP components in the blends crystallize at lower temperatures than in the pure homopolymers, suggesting that the presence of one component inhibits rather than promotes the crystallization of the other. Electron microscopy of slowly cooled blends revealed very different interfacial morphologies depending on whether the HDPE or the iPP crystallizes first. Young's moduli of most of the blends lie on the upper bound; however, some blends with co-continuous morphologies fall well below the lower bound. The mechanical properties are discussed in terms of the interfacial morphology, the crystallization behavior, and the large-scale phase separation. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 1384–1392, 2003

Nodulisporic acids C (4a), C1 (5a), and C2 (6a), a series of D-ring-opened nodulisporic acids, were isolated from fermentations of a mutant culture of Nodulisporium sp. MF5954. Nodulisporic acid C, the most potent of the three, showed good activity against fleas with an LD90 of 10 μg/mL. These compounds tend to be unstable in the free acid form and were isolated as stable sodium salts.

Abstract: Not only can mean pressures on a surface over which a fluid flows be accurately measured using a plastic tube which connects the surface tapping points to a remote pressure transducer, but the fluctuating pressures can also, provided that the transfer function, which relates the fluctuating pressures at the opposite ends of the tubing, is known. This technique was used here to measure the mean and fluctuating pressures on the surface of a circular cylinder subject to a cross-flowing airstream in the Reynolds number range from 6.8 × 104 to 9.6 × 104 based on cylinder diameter. Good agreement with published results gave confidence in the technique.

Two feline littermates were diagnosed with calcium oxalate uroliths. Both had been maintained on a commercially available dry diet with reduced magnesium and urine acidifying properties. One female littermate was diagnosed by visualising the stones by radiographs while the second littermate, also female, became blocked when one of the uroliths lodged in the urethra. Two other, unrelated cats in the household, of similar age and raised under the same conditions, did not develop calcium oxalate uroliths.

Most everyone, especially crows, knows that a straight line is the shortest distance between two points. But what do you do if you are transmitting microwave data great distances over […]

Wonders about the personality and character of Eileen O'Shaughnessy, the first wife of author George Orwell. Background; How she met Orwell; Relationship with her husband; Personal sadnesses and joys; Influence on her husband and his work; Thoughts on her accomplishments.

Comments on the experience of women balancing motherhood and career. The Mommy Track; Distractibility; Duties of one's state of life; Moving beyond the either/or dichotomies; Case studies.

Female Sprague-Dawley rats were injected s.c. with 0.2 μg day−1ethinyloestradiol (EE2) or 2.0 μg day−1levonorgestrel (NG), procedures previously shown to increase systolic blood pressure. Increases in perfusion pressure to clonidine, phenylephrine, noradrenaline (NA) and angiotensin II (AII) were observed in rat isolated tail arteries, and to NA in the isolated mesenteric vasculature from steroid and vehicle-treated rats. NG treatment for four weeks produced increases in sensitivity to phenylephrine and NA in rat tail arteries; at 6 weeks the increases in sensitivity had largely disappeared but the maximum responses to clonidine and phenylephrine were increased. No change in sensitivity to AII was observed with NG. In contrast, EE2treatment for six weeks produced increases in sensitivity to AII, and a decrease in sensitivity and maximum response to clonidine but not to phenylephrine or NA, in tail arteries. Responses to NA in the mesenteric vasculature were increased after 6 weeks NG treatment but unaffected after 12 weeks EE2treatment. It is concluded that NG treatment stimulates α-adrenoceptor number, affinity or receptor-linked Ca2+events which may contribute to its previously demonstrated hypertensive effect. The increased responsiveness to AII but not the decrease in α2-adrenoceptor responsiveness may be associated with the chronic hypertension induced by EE2.

A valine-overproducing mutant (MA7040, Streptomyces hygroscopicus) was found to produce 1.5 to 2.0 g/L of the immunoregulant, L-683,590, at the 0.6 m³ fermentation scale in a simple batch process using soybean oil and ammonium sulfate-based GYG5 medium. Levels of both lower (L-683,795) and higher (HH1 and HH2) undesirable homolog levels were controlled adequately. This batch process was utilized to produce broth economically at the 19 m³ fermentation scale. Material of acceptable purity was obtained without the multiple pure crystallizations previously required for an earlier culture, MA6678, requiring valine supplementation for impurity control. Investigations at the 0.6 m³ fermentation scale were conducted, varying agitation, pH, initial soybean oil/ammonium sulfate charges, and initial aeration rate to further improve growth and productivity. Mid-cycle ammonia levels and lipase activity appeared to have an important role. Using mid-cycle soybean oil additions, a titer of 2.3 g/L of L-683,590 was obtained, while titers reached 2.7 g/L using mid-cycle soybean oil and ammonium sulfate additions. Both higher and lower homolog levels remained acceptable during this fed-batch process. Optimal timing of mid-cycle oil and ammonium sulfate additions was considered a critical factor to further titer improvements. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Biotechnol Bioeng 60: 580–588, 1998.

Microsatellites or simple sequence repeat (SSR) polymorphisms are used widely in the construction of linkage maps in many species. High levels of polymorphism coupled with the ease of analysis of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) have resulted in this type of maker being one of the most widely used for genetic analysis. In this paper we describe 58 polymorphic bovine microsatellites that were isolated from insert size selected bovine genomic libraries. Primer sequences, number of alleles, and heterozygosity levels in cattle reference families are reported. Chromosomal locations for 47 of these microsatellites as well as for 7 previously described systems derived from entries in the Genbank or EMBL databases have been determined. The markers map to 24 syntenic or chromosomal locations. Polymorphic bovine microsatellites were estimated to occur, on average, every 320 kb, and there is no evidence of clustering in the genome. Thirty of the bovine-derived microsatellite systems gave specific and polymorphic products in sheep, adding to the number of useful markers in that species.

The physicochemical properties of wool fibre surfaces are reviewed in terms of treatments used to increase surface polarity and promote aqueous wetting, dyability and shrink resistance. Use of a new UV ozone dry treatment, which is effectively effluent free, is shown to give levels of surface oxidation which leads to water wetting and dyeability which may be suitable for some industrial purposes.

Details are given for the determination of the enantiomeric composition of several insect pheromone alcohols. The two methods used in the determination were: formation of the derivative with (+)-a-methoxy-a-trifluoromethylphenylacetyl chloride and the use of chiral lanthanide shift reagents. The five alcohols studied and their enantiomeric compositions are: sulcatol fromGnathotrichus sulcatus 65:35 (+)/(-),trans-verbenol fromDendroctonus frontalis 60:40 (+)/(-), 4-methyl-3-heptanol fromScolytus multistriatus 100% (-), seudenol fromDendroctonus pseudotsugae 50:50 (+)/(-), and ipsdienol fromIps pini (Idaho) 100% (-). Determinations were done on 50–500 µg substrate.

The utility of co-culture systems in defining the interactions between two different cell types has been well documented in the literature but is a relatively new tool for use in the study of cells derived from normal muscle tissue from meat animals. The majority of myonuclei in postnatal skeletal muscle cells (myofibers) result from satellite cell proliferation, differentiation and fusion with existing myofibers. As such, satellite cell culture systems that mimic postnatal myofibers have great potential for delineating the process of growth and repair of muscle mass. Other ways to simulate the environment of postnatal myofibers might include the development of co-culture systems using satellite cells, or satellite cell-derived myotubes, and other mesodermal cells commonly found associated with muscle tissue in vivo. This brief review describes our initial efforts to develop a defined satellite cell and preadipocyte co-culture system. We provide useful information about defined media requirements and requirements for proper cell orientation and growth on two different growth planes. We present summary data to suggest that differences were found between members of the insulin-like growth factor (IGF) and IGF-binding protein (IGFBP) families of polypeptides, when conditioned media samples were analyzed from co-cultures composed of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes and satellite cells (with different propensities to undergo morphological fusion to form multinucleated myotubes). We also provide information about potential problems to avoid when initiating and conducting co-culture experiments. Such a co-culture system has application in the study of human obesity and also in the regulation of fat deposition in meat animals.

A procedure for calculating the measures of the acoustical performance of a wide range of plane acoustical constructions which are used in buildings and in industry is described. These measures include the sound absorption coefficients, the sound reduction indices, and the sound insertion losses in 1/3 octave bands for a diffuse field incident upon the construction. The calculation procedure exploits the fact that a wide range of architectural and industrial acoustical constructions is formed from relatively few layer types. Common layer types are an impervious sheet, a layer of porous material, and an air-space. These layer types can be used to form absorbers, partitions, and laggings. Formulas which relate the wave impedances and the acoustic pressures on the opposite sides of the various layer types are developed and the method of combining these impedance and pressure formulas so that the appropriate measures of performance of multilayer constructions can be calculated is described. Comparisons between the calculated and the measured performance measures for a number of different constructions are used to demonstrate the value of the procedure.

Conventional pipe laggings incorporate a porous jacket and an impervious outer cladding sheet. It has been observed during investigations of such pipe laggings that a simple porous jacket applied by itself to a pipe can actually increase the sound radiated. Reasons for this phenomenon are discussed. The effect of a rigid frame porous jacket around a pipe is examined theoretically for the breathing, bending, and ovalling modes of pipe vibration. The predicted insertion loss associated with the bending mode of pipe vibration is compared with the corresponding experimental result and some of the results of a parametric study are given. © 1996 Acoustical Society of America.

A mutant strain of Streptomyces hygroscopicus was found to produce up to 9.0 units/L of an immunoregulant precursor, immunomycin, with up to 3.5% of a lower homolog impurity under either dual fed-batch or batch conditions. Glycerol and valine were key nutrients influencing productivity and impurity levels. Soybean oil was successfully substituted for glycerol as a carbon source to minimize shot additions to batch culture. The remainder of the production medium was composed largely of defined components with the exception of yeast extract. Valine limitation increased lower homolog formation while decreasing higher homolog formation; excess valine decreased lower homolog formation below 2–3% while increasing higher homolog formation. Higher homolog formation in the presence of valine seemed to be slower than lower homolog formation in the absence of valine. Valine was believed to be the major butyrate precursor; consequently its availability influenced the impurity profile. A preliminary cost analysis suggests that elimination of added valine from the cultivation and replacement of glycerol with soybean oil can result in a 6.6-fold reduction in media costs relative to the original fed-batch process. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Biotechnol Bioeng 59:595–604, 1998.

The application of uv curing and corona discharge technology to textiles is intro duced and discussed, The influence of uv photoreactive monomer on the shrinkage and mechanical properties of corona and nonpretreated 100% wool gabardine fabric is detailed. Machine washability can be achieved at low add-on by incorporating a uv curable silicone into the formulation and a post-cure steam treatment.

A cattle genetic linkage map was constructed which covers more than 95 percent of the bovine genome at medium density. Seven hundred and forty six DNA polymorphisms were genotyped in cattle families which comprise 347 individuals in full sibling pedigrees. Seven hundred and three of the loci are linked to at least one other locus. All linkage groups are assigned to chromosomes, and all are orientated with regards to the centromere. There is little overall difference in the lengths of the bull and cow linkage maps although there are individual differences between maps of chromosomes. One hundred and sixty polymorphisms are in or near genes, and the resultant genome-wide comparative analyses indicate that while there is greater conservation of synteny between cattle and humans compared with mice, the conservation of gene order between cattle and humans is much less than would be expected from the conservation of synteny. This map provides a basis for high-resolution mapping of the bovine genome with physical resources such as Yeast and Bacterial Artificial Chromosomes as well as providing the underpinning for the interpolation of information from the Human Genome Project.

Lagging formed of jackets of porous materials such as glass wool and of impervious materials such as metal sheets are widely used to attenuate the sound radiated from pipes. A procedure is described for calculating the insertion losses produced by such lagging. The procedure yields the insertion losses corresponding to each of the low order mode types of the pipe. These are breathing, bending and ovalling mode types. Impedance and pressure transfer formulae for the various jacket types are given in terms of the fundamental properties of the jackets. The porous jacket, for example, is defined by its inner and outer diameters and the flow resistivity of the porous material. These formulae enable the frequency dependent insertion loss produced by an arbitrary pipe lagging to be determined. A comparison of the insertion losses predicted by this procedure with published results is given.

This paper describes how a single porous baffle can be used to prevent the occurrence of acoustic vibration in a crossflow tubular heat exchanger. A method for determining the optimum location and the optimum specific flow resistance of the porous baffle is presented. Finally, a description of how a porous baffle was successfully applied to control acoustic vibration which was occurring in the heat recovery region of a 375-MW brown coal steam generator is given.

Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) can control some viral infections and may be important in the control of lentiviruses, including human immunodeficiency virus type 1. Since there is limited evidence for an in vivo role of CTL in control of lentiviruses, dissection of immune mechanisms in animal lentiviral infections may provide needed information. Horses infected with equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) a lentivirus, have acute plasma viremia which is terminated in immunocompetent horses. Viremic episodes may recur, but most horses ultimately control infection and become asymptomatic carriers. To begin dissection of the immune mechanisms involved in EIAV control, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from infected horses were evaluated for CTL to EIAV-infected cells. By using noninfected and EIAV-infected autologous equine kidney (EK) cells in 51Cr-release assays, EIAV-specific cytotoxic activity was detected in unstimulated PBMC from three infected horses. The EIAV-specific cytotoxic activity was major histocompatibility complex (MHC) restricted, as determined by assaying EIAV-infected heterologous EK targets, and was mediated by CD8+ T lymphocytes, as determined by depleting these cells by a panning procedure with an anti-CD8 monoclonal antibody. MHC-restricted CD8+ CTL in unstimulated PBMC from infected horses caused significant specific lysis of autologous EK cells infected with recombinant vaccinia viruses expressing EIAV genes, either env or gag plus 5' pol. The EIAV-specific MHC-restricted CD8+ CTL were detected in two EIAV-infected horses within a few days after plasma viremia occurred and were present after viremia was terminated. The detection of these immune effector cells in EIAV-infected horses permits further studies to determine their in vivo role.

It has been found that a single rigid dissipative baffle can be used to prevent the development of acoustic vibration in a crossflow tubular heat exchanger which has an in-line tube arrangement. This paper presents the results of an investigation of the possibility of using a limp porous blanket as a dissipative baffle. The blanket could be woven from ceramic or glass fibre and could be installed in either in-line or staggered tube arrangements. Recommendations are given for the mass per unit area and the specific flow resistance of the blanket.

Twenty-one microsatellite loci in 11 populations of Asian water buffalo (eight swamp, three river type) were analysed and, within and among populations, genetic variability was compared with results from 25 polymorphic protein-coding loci. Within-population mean heterozygosity ranged from 0·380-0·615, approximately twice that estimated from the protein-coding loci (0·184- 0·346). Only eight significant departures from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (involving four loci) were detected; global tests showed significant heterozygote deficiencies for these four loci. Non-amplifying alleles are likely to be segregating in some or all populations for one of these loci, and probably for the other three. There was significant differentiation between the swamp and river types of water buffalo, and among populations within each buffalo type. Estimates of theta (measure of population differentiation) for each locus for the eight swamp populations were all highly significant (mean theta = 0·168 ± 0·018). Mean theta for protein-coding loci was not significantly different (0·182 ± 0·041). The variance among protein-coding loci was significantly higher than among microsatellite loci, suggesting balancing selection affecting allele frequencies at some protein-coding loci. Genetic distances show clear separation of the swamp and river types, which were estimated to have diverged at least 10 000-15 000 years ago. The topology of the swamp populations' microsatellite tree is consistent with their geographical distribution and their presumed spread through south-east Asia. By contrast, the tree based on the protein-coding loci distances is quite different, being clearly distorted by a bottleneck effect in one population, and possibly in at least two others. As many domestic livestock breeds are possibly descended from small numbers of founders, microsatellite-based trees are to be preferred in assessing breed genetic relationships.

Abstract: The relative performances of a prototype lamp, a pulsed laser and a continous wave laser, were compared for photodynamic therapy (PDT). Recent advances in short are technology and lamp miniaturization coupled with improvements in the effciency, of optical filter coatings have led to the design and construction of a table-top light source prototype; the first viable and cost-effective alternative to a laser, particularly in the field of PDT. The device can deliver over 1 W directly or 0.5W via a light guide within a 30 nm band centred at any wavelength from the ultra-violet to the near infra-red at fluence rates of over 1 W cm−2, in excess of that required for PDT. Its relative biological effectiveness (RBE), in vitro, has been proven alongside two PDT laser systems, an argon pumped dye laser and a copper vapour pumped dye laser. These first in vitro tests showed an efficiency of haematoporphyrin derivative, (HPD) induced cellular photoinactivation close to that of the argon/dye laser (RBE 100%), with a mean RBE for the lamp of 873% (p<0.05). The lamp proved to be superior, to that of the copper/dye laser system with an RBE of up to 150% at fluence rates above 50 m W cm−2. Transient photobleaching of the photosensitizer was the probable cause for the relative ineffectiveness of the copper/dye laser for PDT at high fluence rates.

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is used to investigate the chemical mod ification of wool fibers arising from gaseous fluorination. Oxidation of the disulphide bond occurs together with a concomitant decrease in felt shrinkage.

Relates the author's memories of the travelling Perkins Lady, who sold diverse household products door-to-door. Why she usually bought items, whether she needed them or not; Humorous efforts to escape the Perkins Lady; Similar relationship with her successor, a Perkins Man.

A first-person look at ethnicity and neighborhood congeniality as seen in the closing of a small Greek grocery store in the writer's neighborhood.