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Introduction/Background To review the surgical outcomes of cytoreductive surgery for ovarian cancer in a single institution. Methodology we reviewed all patients with ovarian cancer who received a cytoreductive surgery between January 2005 and December 2018 at Hotel-Dieu de France University Hospital, Lebanon. Results 161 patients were included. Mean age at surgery was 54 years (range 16–83 years). Cytoreductive surgery was primary in 40% of cases. Surgical resection included bowel resection (48%), diaphragmatic peritoneal resection (25%) and splenectomy (15%). 89% of patients received a pelvic and para-aortic lymphadenectomy. Node involvement was noted in 48% of cases. No recurrence was seen in 56% of cases and the mean interval of recurrence was estimated at 21 months. Overall survival was estimated at 40 months (range 2–165 months). According to cox regression test, we found that survival is significantly correlated to age, menopausal status, lymph node status, number of positive lymph nodes and lymph node ratio (LNR) (p=0.009, p=0.004, p=0.001, p=0.002 and p=0.004 respectively). Patients with LNR ≤0.03 had a survival of 50 months vs. 27 months in patients with LNR >0.03. Mean survival was estimated at 51 months in patients with only one positive LN vs. 26 months in patients with more than one positive LN. Lymphadenectomy neither increased the postoperative complications nor the transfusion rate and was only associated with longer operative time (p=0.7, p=0.85 and p=0.000 respectively). No impact on survival was detected whether the patient benefited from an upfront surgery or an interval one post neoadjuvant chemotherapy: 36 months vs 30 months respectively, (p=0.39). Conclusion Huge efforts including extensive cytoreductive surgeries are being performed at institutions in developing countries in order to improve survival and lower recurrence in ovarian cancer patients. Disclosure Nothing to disclose.

Introduction The use of the thoracodorsal musculocutaneous flap has been limited to donor site complications, whereas the thoracodorsal fasciocutaneous flap spares the muscle and limits morbidities. Our objective is to describe a new technique of breast reconstruction using an Extended Lateral Thoracic (ELT) Flip-Over flap combined with Loops and Lipofilling (ELT FOLL) to achieve better breast remodeling. Methods Between 2013 and 2018, 64 patients underwent breast reconstruction using an ELT FOLL. The flap is designed in an elliptical transverse pattern and extends 2 cm lateral to the back midline up to breast axis at the level of the inframammary fold (IMF). The surgical technique consists of an infiltration and tunnelization of the breast recipient site and surrounding area, de-epithelialization of the skin paddle, and additional preparation of the flaps and loops. Liposuction is performed using the Power Assisted Liposuction and Lipofilling (PALL) technique, and lipofilling is achieved throughout the thoracic cutaneous surface of the reconstructed site, especially into the lower quadrant of the breast. Results Among the reconstructions, 73.4% were delayed and 92.2% were unilateral. A fourth of the patients were smokers, and 39.1% received radiotherapy. The total complication rate was 8.7%, the patient's shoulder function was not affected at long term, with the DASH score rising from 6.53 preoperatively to 11.32 at 6 weeks and 7.52 at 6 months. The average operative time was 57 minutes, and drains were removed at day one after surgery. Conclusion The ELT FOLL should be considered a simple, safe, and reliable alternative for breast reconstruction.

Background Ovarian cancer remains the most lethal gynecologic malignancy with high recurrence rates. Because recurrence involves primarily the peritoneum, intraperitoneal chemotherapy is being evaluated as a new approach to treat microscopic peritoneal disease. One trial showed that cisplatin–paclitaxel intraperitoneal chemotherapy with intravenous paclitaxel improved survival but increased morbidity. Another trial reported a significant improvement in overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) without increasing the morbidity (P = 0.76) or mortality rates (hazard ratio 0.67, P = 0.02) after adding hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) to interval cytoreduction. The current trial aims to evaluate the impact of adding HIPEC to primary or interval cytoreductive surgery for epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) on the efficacy, safety, treatment feasibility, and quality of life. Patients and methods This is an international, multicenter, open-label, randomized (1 : 1), two-arm, phase III clinical trial that will enroll 432 patients with newly diagnosed International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage III EOC. Patients are randomized to receive or not HIPEC with the standard of care. Inclusion criteria include patients with FIGO stage III EOC, Fallopian tube carcinoma or primary peritoneal cancer who undergo complete primary or interval cytoreduction. The primary objective is to assess DFS of the addition of HIPEC. Secondary objectives are the assessment of OS, safety, return to intended oncologic treatment, quality of life and the trade-off between efficacy and morbidity. Conclusions The results might help extend the indications of HIPEC to include patients undergoing primary cytoreduction, providing a standardized protocol for HIPEC in EOC management and reliable information on the quality of life after adding HIPEC., Highlights • Ovarian cancer remains the most lethal gynecologic cancer with high rates of recurrence involving primarily the peritoneum. • Intraperitoneal chemotherapy is being evaluated as a new therapeutic approach to treat microscopic peritoneal disease. • This trial evaluates the impact of adding HIPEC to primary or interval cytoreductive surgery for EOC. • This trial evaluates the efficacy, safety, treatment feasibility and quality of life after the addition of HIPEC. • This is an international, multicenter, open label, randomized, phase III clinical trial.

In recent years, mobile advertising has gained popularity as a mean for publishers to monetize their free applications. One of the main concerns in the in-app advertising industry is the popular attack known as “click fraud”, which is the act of clicking on an ad, not because of interest in this ad, but rather as a way to generate illegal revenues for the application publisher. Many studies evaluated click fraud attacks in the literature, and some proposed solutions to detect it. In this paper, we propose a click fraud detection model, hereafter CFC, to classify fraudulent clicks by adopting some features and then testing using KNN, ANN and SVM. In fact, based on our experimental results, the different featured classifiers reached an accuracy higher than 93%.

Introduction Les modalites de l’antibiotherapie, notamment la date optimale du relais oral, ne sont pas definies au cours du traitement des abces cerebraux. L’objectif de cette etude est d’evaluer le pronostic des patients selon la date d’un eventuel relais oral de l’antibiotherapie. Materiels et methodes Etude retrospective monocentrique incluant des adultes hospitalises pour abces ou empyeme cerebral documentes (01/2007–06/2018). Etaient exclus : contexte d’endocardite, abces a Nocardia, Aspergillus, Toxoplama, Ecchinococcus, Mycobacterium. Les donnees recueillies concernaient : le terrain, les symptomes et scores de gravite a l’admission, les microorganismes identifies et l’antibiotherapie recue. Le pronostic etait evalue ≥ 3 mois apres arret du traitement. Les patients ayant recu une antibiotherapie orale pendant au moins la moitie de la duree totale de traitement (PO) etaient compares a ceux ayant recu un traitement intraveineux prolonge (IV). Les variables continues sont presentees avec leur mediane et intervalles interquartiles. Les groupes ont ete compares en analyse univariee. Resultats Sur 82 patients ayant des abces/empyemes cerebraux, 47 ont ete inclus dont 33 hommes (70 %), âge median 55 ans [42–68]. Le groupe PO comportait 16 (34 %) patients. Les abces etaient dus a des streptocoques (n = 25), anaerobies (n = 24), staphylocoques (n = 8), bacilles Gram negatif (n = 7) et actinomyces (n = 6). Le qSOFA etait ≥ 2 seulement chez 1 patient PO contre aucun IV. Les patients IV etaient davantage hospitalises en reanimation (20 vs 4 ; p = 0,01). L’antibiotherapie probabiliste initiale comportait une cephalosporine de 3e generation (n = 39, 83 %) et un nitroimidazole (n = 38, 81 %) dans les deux groupes. La duree mediane de l’antibiotherapie etait de 42 jours [42–54]. Un relais oral a ete realise chez 23 patients (49 %) dans un delai median de 21j [11–28] mais seulement 16 patients correspondaient au groupe PO, avec un delai median de relais oral apres 15j de traitement IV [9–19]. Les antibiotiques PO etaient : clindamycine (n = 8), cotrimoxazole (n = 4), metronidazole (n = 1) et l’association rifampicine et fluoroquinolone (n = 2). Le pronostic a ete evalue avec un delai median de 202j [18-645] et n’etait pas different entre les groupes IV et PO : 10 deces (9 vs 1 ; p = 0,09) dans un delai median de 27j [19–55], 3 recidives (2 vs 1), 10 reprises chirurgicales (4 vs 6 ; p = 0,051) et 17 patients avec sequelles neurologiques (12 vs 5 ; p = 0,61). Conclusion Les abces cerebraux sont des infections severes. Neanmoins un relais oral de l’antibiotherapie pourrait etre envisage apres 15 jours de voie IV sans modifier le pronostic. L’extension de la cohorte en multicentrique pourrait permettre de renforcer les resultats.

We investigated sequential aerobic and anaerobic microbiologically induced corrosion of carbon steel to simulate deep geological disposal conditions. Under limited oxygen supply, lepidocrocite and magnetite corrosion products formed on the steel coupon, while under continuous oxygen supply, a mixture of lepidocrocite, maghemite and magnetite was identified. Upon oxygen consumption and establishment of sulphidogenic conditions, due to sulphate-reducing bacteria activity, all these oxides disappeared via transformation into pyrrhotite. Corrosion rate of steel in direct anaerobic cultures was higher than that of steel initially corroded in aerobic condition, suggesting a protective role of corrosion product layer formed under sequential aerobic–anaerobic conditions.

The concept of an ion-sensitive FET (ISFET) on diamond with boron delta-doped channel and oxygen-terminated surface for pH sensing has been successfully transferred to large-area nano-crystalline diamond on silicon substrates. The nano-crystalline diamond layers, including the boron delta-doped channels of the FETs, were grown by hot-filament CVD. The fabricated layers were characterised by their peak concentration of boron of 3 × 10 20 1/cm 3 and FWHM of about 1 nm. This allowed approx. 50% modulation of the channel current within the gate potential range corresponding to the potential window of water electrolysis on the diamond surface. The O-termination by combination of oxygen-plasma and wet chemical treatments resulted in a pH sensitivity of the ISFETs close to the Nernst's limit in the range between pH1 and pH13. The ISFET characteristics were stable even after anodic treatment in KOH. This allows using nano-crystalline diamond ISFETs with O-termination also as electrodes and even at anodic overpotentials.

The delta doping concept has been successfully applied to a diamond field effect transistor structure with an Al2O3 gate diode, resulting in full channel carrier activation at room temperature and channel current modulation with complete pinch-off. Using a gate recess configuration, a channel current density of 30 mA/mm with a gate length LG of 0.8 μm has been obtained with semi-enhancement mode operation. First RF measurements have resulted in fT and fmax cut-off frequencies of approx. 1 GHz and 3 GHz respectively.

Boron delta-doped profiles with peak concentrations above the full activation limit have been grown on (100)-oriented single crystal diamond substrates by microwave assisted CVD using a solid doping source technique. The growth process was optimized targeting electronic device applications. Up to now these profiles could only be analyzed by chemical/physical profiling and it had been difficult to relate these profiles to the electrical characteristics. For the first time, ERD (Electron Recoil Detection) profiles could be correlated with free carrier profiles extracted by electrochemical profiling based on electrochemical impedance analysis. The comparison shows, that it is possible to incorporate boron on acceptor site with high efficiency even for concentrations in the order of 1021 cm− 3 by the doping technique developed.

In this investigation an attempt has been made to incorporate a high temperature stable refractory metal ohmic contact deposited onto an oxygen terminated contact area into the surface channel field effect transistor concept based on a H-terminated surface in the channel area. First transistors were fabricated. A drain current density of 75 mA/mm and a threshold voltage of V th = −1.5 V was obtained for 1 µm gate length.

Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is the causative agent of primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) and of Kaposi's sarcoma. PEL is an aggressive proliferation of B cells with poor prognosis. We evaluated both in vitro and in vivo the potential role of angiogenic factors secreted by PEL cells, that is, their interaction with endothelial cells and their implication in the invasive behavior of tumoral cells. In vitro, PEL-induced angiogenesis is dependent on vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and VEGF receptors. However, although PEL cells produce VEGF and basic fibroblast growth factor (b-FGF) transcripts, they only secrete VEGF in vitro. In vivo, very high levels of both VEGF and b-FGF were found in the ascitic fluid of NOD/SCID mice injected with PEL cells. We then show evidence of cell adhesion and gap junction-mediated heterocellular communication between PEL cells and endothelial cells. Finally, we show that PEL cells extravasate through the endothelial barrier and that the specific tyrosine kinase inhibitor of VEGF receptors, PTK-787/ZK-222584, the anti-VEGF antibody, bevacizumab or the gap junction inhibitor 18-alpha-glycyrrhetinic acid, partially attenuate PEL cell extravasation. Angiogenesis, cell adhesion and communication likely contribute to the development of PEL and represent potential therapeutic targets.

In this paper, we review the suitability of diamond as a semiconductor material for high-performance electronic applications. The current status of the manufacture of synthetic diamond is reviewed and assessed. In particular, we consider the quality of intrinsic material now available and the challenges in making doped structures suitable for practical devices. Two practical applications are considered in detail. First, the development of high-voltage switches capable of switching voltages in excess of 10 kV. Second, the development of diamond MESFETs for high-frequency and high-power applications. Here device data are reported showing a current density of more than 30 mA mm −1 along with small-signal RF measurements demonstrating gigahertz operation. We conclude by considering the remaining challenges which will need to be overcome if commercially attractive diamond electronic devices are to be manufactured.

A concept of an ion sensitive FET (ISFET) on diamond using a thin and highly boron-doped channel is described. The doped channel is in direct contact to the electrolyte solution. The diamond surface is oxygen terminated to provide pH sensitivity and chemical stability. The first set of pH-sensitive ISFET microstructures with the extrinsically doped channel is fabricated on 100-oriented single crystal diamond substrate using a solid doping source technique and a wet chemical oxidation for the O termination. The fabricated structures show pH sensitivity close to the Nernst's limit of 59 mV/pH. The ISFET characteristics have been reproducible and did not degrade after repeated cycling between 0.1 M H2SO4 and 0.1 M KOH solutions. It is shown that only a part of the applied gate potential to the diamond–electrolyte interface drops within the delta-doped channel. The possible origin of this effect is discussed by analysing the electrochemical impedance characteristics of the boron-doped diamond electrode.

To obtain high blocking voltages and low forward losses in power diode structures, a Schottky contact can be merged with a MIS contact or a pn-junction. In this configuration, the Schottky contact is responsible for a low forward threshold voltage and the MIS or pn-junction for a low reverse leakage current and a high breakdown voltage. In this study, a diamond merged diode structure has been fabricated and evaluated, containing simultaneously an Al or W:Si-Schottky contact and a boron/nitrogen pn-junction. The IV characteristics show a low forward barrier of 1.5 eV, a current rectification ratio of 10 9 at R.T., and a reverse breakdown at 2.5 MV/cm. Rectification has been obtained up to 1000 °C (in vacuum).

This paper provides insight into the importance of knowing the minerals present in the reservoir, particularly the total clay percentage. It is vital to know the types and percentages of clays present for effective reservoir treatment and analysis. During the evolution of a petroliferous sedimentary basin, the clay minerals contained in the rocks undergo a series of changes in composition and crystal structure in response to tectonics and sedimentation. The amount and type of clay minerals are a function of the provenance of clastic minerals and of diagenetic reactions at shallow and greater depth in different tectonic and sedimentary settings. Clay minerals can be used to infer tectonic/structural regime, basin evolution history, and the timing of various geologic events. (no extended abstract available)

Toxoplasma gondii strains differ dramatically in virulence despite being genetically very similar. Genetic mapping revealed two closely adjacent quantitative trait loci on parasite chromosome VIIa that control the extreme virulence of the type I lineage. Positional cloning identified the candidate virulence gene ROP18 , a highly polymorphic serine-threonine kinase that was secreted into the host cell during parasite invasion. Transfection of the virulent ROP18 allele into a nonpathogenic type III strain increased growth and enhanced mortality by 4 to 5 logs. These attributes of ROP18 required kinase activity, which revealed that secretion of effectors is a major component of parasite virulence.

Rats chronically exposed to cold (5 degrees C for 5 weeks) develop hypertension. Isoprenaline-induced vascular smooth muscle relaxation is increased in these animals. Our main objective was to compare isoprenaline-induced relaxation of aortae isolated from control and cold-acclimated rats and attempt to relate the differences to changes in receptor parameters (affinity and reserve) and signaling mechanisms. Isoprenaline (10(-9)-10(-5) M)-induced relaxation was enhanced significantly (p0.05) in aorta segments from cold-acclimated rats. There was a significant (p0.05) increase in the potency of isoprenaline but with no change in affinity. Isoprenaline produced 50% of the maximum response while occupying about 50% and about 15% of the receptors in isolated rat aorta segments from control and cold-treated rats, respectively. Forskolin and db-cAMP also concentration-dependently relaxed aorta segments from control and cold-acclimated rats. There was no difference in potency or maximum response to forskolin (which directly activates adenylyl cyclase) and db-cAMP. cAMP concentrations in the presence of isoprenaline were significantly (p0.05) higher in aorta segments from rats chronically exposed to cold when compared with aorta segments from control rats. These findings suggested that altered mechanisms upstream of activation of adenylyl cyclase are involved in the increased beta-adrenoceptor-induced relaxation.

Summary Setting: Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) isolates from various parts of the USA which have few copies of the insertion sequence IS 6110 . Objective: To characterize the sites of insertion of IS 6110 among M. tuberculosis isolates that have one to six copies of the insertion sequence. Design: The mixed-linker polymerase chain reaction (ML-PCR) procedure was used to amplify the terminal repeats on the ends of IS 6110 and adjacent flanking sequences. From the ML-PCR products, sequences flanking 14 copies of IS 6110 in strains containing less than seven copies of the insertion were determined. Sequence information from the flanking deoxyribonucleic acid was used to construct flanking primers that can be used to indicate the presence of IS 6110 at a particular site when paired with outbound IS 6110 primers in a PCR. Over 200 strains of diverse origin were screened for the insertion of IS 6110 at several distinct sites using this procedure. Results: The direct repeat (DR) locus has been described as a highly preferred site for insertion of IS 6110 in strains of M. tuberculosis . Another highly preferred site of insertion of IS 6100 , DK1, is herein described. Insertions at DK1 are highly prevalent in M. tuberculosis strains harboring two to six copies of IS 6110 . The prevalence of insertions at this site decreases in strains with more than six copies of IS 6110 , even though the sequence itself is present in strains lacking a copy of IS 6110 at this site. Conclusion: In addition to the DR locus there are other conserved sites of insertion among M. tuberculosis strains. The data further suggest a separate lineage for the high copy and the low copy strains, and a possible sequential insertion of IS 6110 in strains of M. tuberculosis with less than seven copies.

DNA fingerprinting of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is used to study the epidemiology of tuberculosis, but the specificity of the widely used IS6110 technique has not been validated. Isolates from Denver, Colorado from December 1988 through June 1994 were fingerprinted with the IS6110 technique. Available records were reviewed for patients whose isolates were within IS6110-defined clusters, and these isolates were fingerprinted with an independent technique (pTBN12). Of 189 isolates, 86 (46%) were in IS6110-defined clusters. Clustering was inversely related to the number of copies of IS6110, ranging from 12 of 12 (100%) to 37 of 48 (77%) and 37 of 129 (29%) for isolates having one, two to five, and more than five copies (p0.001). Of the 86 isolates clustered with the IS6110 technique, 35 (41%) had unique pTBN12 fingerprints. Discordant results with the two fingerprinting techniques were more common among isolates having five or fewer copies of IS6110. Epidemiologic links were identified among four of 35 (11%) patients whose isolates had discordant fingerprinting results, as compared with 40 of 51 (78%) of those whose isolates matched by both IS6110 and pTBN12. DNA fingerprinting with the IS6110 technique was not a specific marker of DNA clonality, particularly among isolates having fewer than five copies of IS6110. The use of a supplemental DNA fingerprinting technique decreased clustering and improved the correlation between the transmission links predicted by molecular techniques and epidemiologic investigation.

Abstract It is well known that with continued production from wet gas reservoirs, the reservoir pressure eventually falls below the dew point pressure leading to condensation and loss of gas productivity in the reservoir. The concept of simultaneously injecting CO2 in a gas reservoir for long term storage while at the same time accelerating production of the gas reservoir is intriguing and promising. CO2 may also interact with carbonate matrix by changing porosity and permeability of the host rock; this is true for reservoirs that are found in the Gulf Region. Core floods experiments with carbon dioxide aging were conducted in a core sample analogue to carbonate at reservoir conditions. CO2 interaction in carbonate formation was evaluated by XRF and SEM analysis; furthermore mineral trapping was also investigated by AFM. The results of the laboratory study showed that the CO2 would dissolve some of the rock at high pressure aging. Dissolved carbonate was found also to be precipitated along the core after decreasing the pressure of the system. The results of this study are directly applicable for evaluating CO2 Huff-n-Puff, a process that can potentially raise the reservoir pressure back above the original dew point. Results of this experiment help answer some critical questions related to introducing CO2 in wet gas reservoirs and its interaction with carbonate reservoirs.

In this study, we investigated the iron sulphides phase transitions resulting from steel corrosion under sulphate-reducing-bacteria conditions. Experiments were conducted at 30 °C from 7 to 240 aging days. Culture batch experiments were conducted with steel coupons, clay and groundwater amended with lactate to simulate steel degradation under anaerobic conditions. Solutions were monitored by inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry and ionic chromatography. The corrosion products were investigated by scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and by confocal micro-Raman spectrometry. Microbial activity was evidenced by a drop in sulphate concentration and production of sulphide. In the early stages of corrosion (7 days) poorly crystallised iron sulphide (FeS) was identified, followed by the formation of mackinawite (FeS1−x) and after 30 days, mackinawite evolved into pyrrhotite (FeS1+x) and ultimately to the more stable pyrite (FeS2). The same mineralogical sequence was identified in similar abiotic experiments in the presence of increasing sulphide concentration. The evolution of Raman vibrational spectra was quantitatively examined for the first time and the protective role of the pyrrhotite and pyrite layers with increasing time was discussed.

Constitutive activation of the NF-kappaB pathway by the Tax oncoprotein plays a crucial role in the proliferation and transformation of HTLV-I infected T lymphocytes. We have previously shown that Tax ubiquitylation on C-terminal lysines is critical for binding of Tax to IkappaB kinase (IKK) and its subsequent activation. Here, we report that ubiquitylated Tax is not associated with active cytosolic IKK subunits, but binds endogenous IKK-alpha, -beta, -gamma, targeting them to the centrosome. K63-ubiquitylated Tax colocalizes at the centrosome with IKK-gamma, while K48-ubiquitylated Tax is stabilized upon proteasome inhibition. Altogether, these results support a model in which K63-ubiquitylated Tax activates IKK in a centrosome-associated signalosome, leading to the production of Tax-free active cytoplasmic IKK. These observations highlight an unsuspected link between Tax-induced IKK activation and the centrosome.

The ability of the clinically used cephalosporins: cephalothin, cefotaxime and cefotiam to induce lipid peroxidation (LPO) and renal damage was compared to that of nephrotoxic cephaloridine under in vivo conditions. Glutathione was measured in rat liver or in renal cortex as non-protein sulfhydryls. LPO was measured in plasma, renal cortex and liver by the generation of malondialdehyde or as the increase in renal cortical concentration of conjugated dienes. Impairment of renal function was measured as the decrease in renal cortical accumulation of the organic anion p-aminohippurate (PAH). Administration of cephalosporins to rats as a single dose (2000 mg/kg, ip) induced a significant glutathione-depletion in the renal cortex with cephaloridine, and in the liver with cephaloridine, cephalothin and cefotiam. Treatment of rats with cephaloridine, cephalothin and cefotiam (200, 500, or 1000 mg kg-1 day-1, ip) for 5 days resulted in a dose-dependent increase of LPO in the renal cortex. While cephaloridine induced the highest concentration of conjugated diene, cefotaxime had no effect. Measurements of PAH accumulation in renal cortical slices from cephalosporin-treated rats showed a dose-dependent decrease in the renal cortical accumulation of PAH. Pretreatment with the antioxidants vitamin E or cyanidanol (400 mg kg-1 day-1, ip) 1 h before treatment with cephaloridine, cephalothin or cefotiam (1000 mg kg-1 day-1, ip) for 3 days inhibited cephalosporin-induced LPO and significantly reduced the impairment of renal cortical accumulation of PAH. The potential of different cephalosporins for inducing LPO and reducing PAH accumulation was ranked as follows: cephaloridine > cephalothin > cefotiam > cefotaxime.

Verrucous carcinoma of the oral cavity is a rare entity that was formerly controversial. Etiopathogenesis remains unclear, notably as for its possible association with lichen planus. We report a case of verrucous carcinoma occurring in lesions of lichen planus of the tongue.A 78-year old, non smoking patient, with past history of cutaneous lichen planus presented for lesions of oral lichen planus affecting both the tongue and the palate. A treatment by topical tretinoin improved him in a spectacular way and brought about a remission which lasted 5 years. A recurrence occurred when the treatment was stopped; new whitish, warty cauliflower-like lesions appeared on the tongue. A biopsy confirmed the clinical suspicion of verrucous carcinoma. A laser resection was performed. Three months later, another recurrence was observed. A chemotherapy associating isotretinoin and methotrexate eliminated all lesions. The patient's condition is considered stable, under treatment, one year later.Verrucous carcinoma is a rare slow-growing oral tumor that is chiefly exophytic and does not metastasize, but it can invade and destroy oral tissues. Its clinical presentation contrasts with benign histologic features: papillomatosis, acanthosis, dysplasia in variable degrees. The occurrence on lesions of lichen planus, although "classic", is very rarely found in the literature. The treatment is not well codified. An additional chemotherapy seems necessary to prevent recurrences.

Primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) is a rare aggressive subset of non-Hodgkin B-cell lymphoma. It is caused by Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus/human herpesvirus type 8 (KSHV/HHV8). It occurs mainly, but not exclusively, in HIV-positive patients. PEL predominantly develops in serous cavities and occasionally in extracavitary regions. PEL carries a very poor prognosis with a median survival time of

The MDM-2 oncoprotein exists in an autoregulatory feedback loop with the tumor suppressor protein p53. Therefore, intracellular levels of these two proteins may play important roles in cell proliferation and tumorigenesis. Several MDM-2 proteins (Mr 35-100 Kd) have been demonstrated in human cell lines. We report here the expression profile of MDM-2 and p53 proteins in 87 cases of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) as detected by immunoblot analysis. The MDM-2 proteins (p57, p59, p67, and p90) were found to be overexpressed in different combinations in 56/87 (64%) of cases of CLL when compared with normal volunteers. The MDM-2 protein p57 was predominantly overexpressed 46/87 (53%) in CLL. In 22/87 (25%) cases of CLL p57 was overexpressed alone, and in 24/87 (28%) cases it was co-overexpressed with other MDM-2 proteins p59/p67/p90. Six of the 87 cases of CLL showed overexpression of the tumor suppressor protein p53 by immunoblot analysis, and five of those cases also co-overexpress MDM-2 protein p57. No statistically significant correlation of MDM-2 protein overexpression to clinical disease stage and history of previous chemotherapy of CLL patients has been found. However, considering the oncogenic potential of overexpressed MDM-2 proteins, a possible role of MDM-2 proteins in the promotion of CLL disease remains to be evaluated.

To determine the relative frequencies of primary and reactivation tuberculosis in the urban homeless.Prospective evaluation of homeless tuberculosis patients.Central Los Angeles, Calif.Thirty-four homeless patients with culture-proven tuberculosis.IS6110-based restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis was performed on Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates. If results were inconclusive, pTBN12-based RFLP analysis was performed.Clustering of M tuberculosis isolates. A cluster consisted of two or more isolates with indistinguishable RFLP patterns.Twenty-four of 34 homeless patients had clustered isolates in six clusters.The minimum percentage of cases due to primary tuberculosis in the homeless was estimated to be 53%, compared with the traditional estimate of 10% in the general population. The results suggest that primary tuberculosis caused the majority of tuberculosis cases in this population of the urban homeless in central Los Angeles.

The dut gene of Escherichia coli encodes deoxyuridine triphosphatase, an enzyme that prevents the incorporation of dUTP into DNA and that is needed in the de novo biosynthesis of thymidylate. We produced a conditionally lethal dut(Ts) mutation and isolated a phenotypic revertant that had a mutation in an unknown gene tentatively designated dus (for dut suppressor). The dus mutation restored the ability of the dut mutant to grow at 42 degrees C without restoring its enzymatic activity or thymidylate independence. A strain was constructed bearing, in addition to these mutations, ones affecting the following genes and their corresponding products: ung, which produces uracil-DNA N-glycosylase, a repair enzyme that removes uracil from DNA; deoA, which produces thymidine (deoxyuridine) phosphorylase, which would degrade exogenous deoxyuridine; and thyA, which produces thymidylate synthase. When grown at 42 degrees C in minimal medium containing deoxyuridine, the multiple mutant displayed a 93 to 96% substitution of uracil for thymine in new DNA. Growth stopped after the cellular DNA had increased 1.6- to 1.9-fold and the cell mass had increased 1.7- to 2.7-fold, suggesting a general failure of macromolecular biosynthesis. DNA hybridization confirmed that the uracil-containing DNA was chromosomal and that new rounds of initiation must have occurred during its synthesis.

A genetic locus implicated in the development of competence in Haemophilus influenzae Rd has been previously mapped to a 12.8-kb Pst I region of the chromosome [Tomb et al. J. Bacteriol. 171 (1989) 3796–3802]. To define the boundaries of this locus and to identify the gene(s) involved in transformation, additional mini-Tn 10kan mutagenesis was performed and the region containing all mutagenic insertions was sequenced. Three new transformation-deficient (Tfo-) mutants were found, bringing the number of distinct mutations mapped to this region up to eight. The transformation frequency of strains carrying the new insertions was 25- to 10 5 -fold less than wild type. The ends of the mim-Tn 10kan element were used as starting points to sequence a 9.1-kb region. The position of the eight mutagenic insertions was determined and ten putative open reading frames (ORFs) were found. One of the mini-Tn 10kan elements had inserted in an intergenic region while the rest had inserted in six of the ORFs. Based on the phenotypes of the mutant strains and the position of the insertions, we concluded that at least three of the genes should be involved in transformation. In addition, fourteen 9-11-bp uptake signal sequences ( USS ) were found, four of which were part of stem-loop structures and could function as attenuators or terminators of transcription.

It was shown that a strong anodic oxidation of 100-oriented diamond induces the electronic surface states, which pin the surface Fermi level at about 3.6 eV above the valence-band maximum. The characteristics of the electronic surface barrier were evaluated from the analysis of boron-doped diamond electrodes and correlated with the four-point probe measurements of an oxidized diamond resistor with a boron delta-doped channel. The same evaluation procedure applied to the case of a wet chemical oxidation yielded a surface barrier of 1.9 eV, which is consistent with the data in the literature. The characteristics of the 3.6 eV barrier by the anodic oxidation remained stable after subsequent chemical treatments even at elevated temperatures, and were also not degraded in air for a long time. The x-ray photoemission spectroscopy study showed that the anodic oxidation generates complex oxygen functionalities, like polycarbonate groups, and also C-O-C bridging bond structures with possible contribution of an add...

A chloramphenicol resistance gene was cloned into a plasmid-borne dut gene, producing an insertion mutation that was then transferred to the chromosome by allelic exchange. The mutation could not be acquired by haploid strains through substitutive recombination, even when two flanking markers were simultaneously transduced. The insertion was easily transferred, via generalized transduction, into the chromosomal dut region of strains harboring a lambda dut + transducing phage; however, the resulting dut mutant/lambda dut + merodiploid could not then be cured of the prophage. This apparent lethality of the mutation could not be explained by effects on adjacent genes; the dfp gene retained complementing activity, and a ttk insertion mutant was viable. The dut gene product, deoxyuridine triphosphatase, is known to reduce incorporation of uracil into DNA and to be required in the de novo synthesis of thymidylate. Therefore, an attempt was made to determine whether the dut insertion would be tolerated in strains carrying the following compensatory mutations: dcd (dCTP deaminase) and cdd (deoxycytidine deaminase), which should reduce dUTP formation; ung (uracil-DNA glycosylase), which should reduce fatally excessive excision repair; deoA (thymidine phosphorylase), which should enhance the utilization of exogenous thymidine; and sulA, which should reduce the lethal side effects of SOS regulon induction. These mutations, either alone or in various combinations, did not permit the survival of a haploid dut insertion mutant, suggesting that the dut gene product might have an essential function apart from its deoxyuridine triphosphatase activity.

A knowledge-based system for the design of the general layout of reinforced concrete spread footings is presented. A database, sorting previous design cases, is used to assist the user in obtaining different solutions for each problem. Plotting capability is also incorporated to show all the reinforcement details which could be obtained from a design office. The analysis of single and double footing is carried out using the conventional methods whereas the mat foundation is treated as a plate on elastic foundations and is analyzed by the bending theory of plates using the finite element method.

For what purpose does DNA contain thymine rather than uracil? This question has been approached by studying the consequences of the misincorporation of large amounts of uracil into DNA in place of thymine. Such studies have been facilitated by the isolation of special bacterial mutants. Let us first consider how uracil residues can appear in DNA.

The Middle Ordovician (Middle to Late Cardocian) Hanadir Shale member of the Qasim Formation is a potential shale gas exploration target. This paper quantitatively characterizes the mineralogy of the Hanadir Shale using an applied methodology to better understand the interrelationship between mineralogy and reservoir properties of shale gas formations.A 9-m thick sequence of the Hanadir Shale within the Tabuk quadrangle in northwest Saudi Arabia was investigated using sedimentological, geochemical, and mineralogical analyses. Sequential analyses were performed on shale samples: X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), cations exchange capacity (CEC), and linear swelling meter (LSM). This shale sequence is dominantly comprised of laminated clay-rich shale interbedded with thin siltstone to very fine sandstone beds. It is overlying a 5-m thick bearing with massive-to-low-angle crossbedding in the uppermost intervals of the Sajir member of the Saq Formation and underlying 30-m thick tigillites in the Kahfah member.The XRD results showed the Hanadir Shale is characterized by similar mineralogical composition of different proportions with all the samples containing high silica content (~50%), K-feldspar (~30%), and Na-feldspar (3%). Compared to the bulk mineralogy of the shale gas, clay content in the samples (10 to 20%) is relatively low. The identified clay types include kaolinite, illite, and smectite. Carbonate minerals (calcite and dolomite) also occur as traces (~1%) in all the samples. Swelling tests were performed to understand the swelling properties of the clay content and better understand reservoir properties, performance, and fluid properties in the Qasim Shale's reservoir equivalents. The study contributes to the existing database of shale gas exploration information.Clay mineral distribution patterns and their effects on the reservoir quality of the unconventional shale gas are not well understood; therefore, this study contributes to the understanding of the reservoir behavior of not only the Hanadir Shale but also other regional potential shale formations.