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Monochamus alternatus (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae; M. alternatus), popularly known as the Japanese pine sawyer, is a vector of pinewood nematode (Bursaphelenchus xylophilus) that causes pine wilt disease. A solid medium culture with M. alternatus produced Cordyceps militaris fruiting bodies with the longest strips and the highest biological efficiency. Supplementing the original form of M. alternatus with oats resulted in slightly enhanced fruiting body production. The original form of M. alternatus showed higher production than its powder form. The solid culture medium was optimized using a response surface methodology, and the optimal medium contained the following: 8·5 g per bottle of M. alternatus and 11·5 g per bottle of oats mixed with 22·4 ml of water in a 300‐ml cylindrical plastic bottle. The optimal culturing period for the fruiting body formation was 37·1 days. Under these conditions, a fruiting body dry weight of 38·0 g per bottle (actual value) was attained. The fruiting body produced using a solid culture medium based on M. alternatus had a cordycepin content of about 25 µg g−1. The solid culture medium containing M. alternatus is highly efficient and eco‐friendly, and its effectiveness in large‐scale fruiting body production from C. militaris has been demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Langerhans' cell histiocytosis, the prognostic significance of pulmonary disease is controversial. The clinical and radiological features and lung function tests of Langerhans' cell histiocytosis patients presenting to a single tertiary referral center between 1981 and 1987 were reviewed. Age at diagnosis ranged from 2 weeks to 16 years (median 1.7 years) and the male-female ratio was 2.4:1. No child presented with lung involvement alone. In 18 (40%) of 45 patients with multisystem disease there was clinical and/or radiological evidence of lung pathology. Another 6 children (13%) with normal chest roentgenograms has abnormal lung function tests, suggesting subclinical ("occult") involvement. Those with overt lung disease tended to present at a younger than average age (median 0.6 years). The most common functional disturbance was reduced lung or respiratory compliance with reduced lung volumes. Patients with and without lung involvement showed a similar pattern of involvement of other organs, with skin and bone most commonly affected. Of the 45 children with multisystem disease, 38 (85%) survived 2 to 7 years after diagnosis; there was a similar proportion of deaths in children with and without lung involvement. It is concluded that lung involvement occurs in nearly half of young children with multisystem Langerhans' cell histiocytosis but does not adversely affect outcome. Pediatrics 1992; 89:466-469; Langerhans' cell histiocytosis, lung disease.

Cho, J.R., H.W. Lee, and S.Y. Ha. Finite element analysis of resonant sloshing response in 2-D baffled tank. Journal of Sound and Vibration (United Kingdom) 288(4,5):829-845, Dec. 20, 2005 (www.idealibrary.com). [...]

We describe the effect of irradiation on the early-stage seed formation of submicrometer-scale (SS) SiO2spheres by a laser-induced process. A quartz cell containing chemical reagents was exposed to a pulsed laser (Nd:YAG, 532 nm) tuned to various energy densities, while SiO2SS spheres are synthesized in the quartz cell by the Stöber, Fink, and Bohn method. Higher laser energy densities typically produce wider size distributions. In particular, bidisperse SiO2spheres were obtained when the laser energy density was 1.15 J/cm2. The size distributions were widest with 1.15 J/cm2and narrowest with 0.33 J/cm2laser energy density. However, the compositions of the SiO2SS spheres were not affected by laser irradiation, and we observed by the energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy that the compositions of the irradiated and nonirradiated SiO2SS spheres were the same. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We investigated a simple route for synthesizing CdS nanocrystals (NCs) via irradiation of a CdCl2 +mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) aqueous solution with a 10-MeV electron beam without using any additional sulfur precursors or stabilizers. When the concentration of the MPA was fixed to 2.5mM, the morphology and optical properties of the NCs were changed by varying the CdCl2 concentration. Based on transmission electron microscopy (TEM) imaging, a 0.4mM concentration of CdCl2 (the-MPA rich case) created only spherical quantum dots (QDs) with an average diameter of 6.6nm. When the concentration of CdCl2 was increased to 5mM (the cadmium-rich case), nanorods with an average diameter of 5.3nm and an average aspect ratio of 8.2 were formed along with QDs with diameter of 4.9nm. The crystalline structures of the NCs were verified to be hexagonal. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The clinical utility of dual sequence (T1- and T2-weighted) magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in estimating liver iron concentration (LIC) in 32 transfusion-dependent β-thalassaemia major (24 females; age 18·5±5·9 years) patients on desferrioxamine was evaluated. Signal intensity ratios (SIR) between liver, spleen and pancreas to psoas muscle were determined on both sequences. Relationships between clinical and MR parameters, and accuracy of SIR thresholds in determining adequacy of chelation from LIC were analysed. Liver T1- and T2-SIR were related to LIC ( P < 0·001). T1-SIR < 0·60 predicted severe iron overload (LIC > 15 mg/g) with sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of 100%, 87%, 33% and 100% respectively. T2-SIR < 0·1 yielded 100% sensitivity, 93% specificity, 50% PPV and 100% NPV. T1-SIR ≥ 1·1 predicted LIC < 7 mg/g with 69% sensitivity, 88% specificity, 85% PPV and 74% NPV. T2-SIR ≥ 0·20 yielded 56·5% sensitivity, 94% specificity, 90% PPV and 71% NPV. LIC correlated with liver T1-SIR, liver T2-SIR and serum ferritin ( r = −0·76, −0·65, 0·47, respectively; P < 0·01). Serum ferritin was inversely related to liver T1-SIR, liver T2-SIR and spleen T2-SIR ( r = −0·35, −0·43, −0·40, respectively; P < 0·05). Mean total transfusion burden was not related to any MR parameter. Although neither MR sequence was a highly accurate predictor of LIC, SIR thresholds are useful to determine presence of iron overload and adequacy of chelation treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An 8.5-month-old boy with Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome received a sibling matched bone marrow transplant from his healthy non-identical twin brother. The donor had primary human herpes virus 6 (HHV-6) infection around the time of bone marrow donation. The recipient had hepatitis in the first week and then developed fever and rash on day 18. Skin biopsy was shown to have HHV-6 antigen and his peripheral blood leukocytes were HHV-6 DNA positive. He engrafted on day 18 but the ANC dropped from 5.5 x 10[sup9]/1 (day 23) to 0.48 x 10[sup9]/1 (day 34) with persistent HHV-6 DNAemia. Bone marrow on day 35 was positive for HHV-6 DNA. He was treated with G-CSF and ganciclovir with good response. He later had pneumonitis which was treated empirically with foscarnet, ceftazidime and clarithromycin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]