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Direct measurement of the least limiting water range (LLWR) is costly and time-consuming. In this study, genetic algorithm-based neural network (ANN-GA), artificial neural network (ANN) and stepwise multivariate regression (SMR) were used to estimate the LLWR of soil using easily measurable soil properties in the Khanmirza Plain. Then, depending on the location of each area, a total of 250 points were randomly identified as approximate sampling sites. Results showed that the accuracy of the SMR model with the percentage of clay, organic carbon and fine sand had a coefficient of determination of 0.42. The ANN-GA and ANN models with the highest coefficient of determination (R2 = 0.98) and mean square error (MAE = 0.0538) were suitable for estimating the least limiting water range. Therefore, the efficiency of models showed that the ANN and ANN-GA predicted the LLWR more accurate compared to the SMR and their results were close to the measured ones.

Zagros Forest region plays an important role in conserving water and soil resources in Iran. In recent decades, the destructions caused by natural and anthropogenic factors had exacerbated soil erosion in this region. Therefore, it is important to investigate the effects of restoration management on soil erosion control in the region. In this regard, it is also important using the fuzzy inference systems to convert the qualitative index of soil erodibility into a quantitative index with the possibility to analyze the results based on the principles of parametric statistics. This study was conducted in 804 ha of Zagros forests in western Iran. Soil erosion was studied in closed and unclosed forested zones by 40 randomly selected sample profiles (20 profiles per each zone) using the FAO (Boolean logic) and FAO-Fuzzy models. The fuzzy inference of research was carried out according to the Mamdani system based on the triangular membership function. Results showed that the difference between the mean soil erodibility in the closed and unclosed zones was significant (p < 0.01). The results also showed in spite of differences between FAO-Fuzzy model indices with FAO model in all sample, the direction of these differences does not show any considerable decreasing or increasing trend. Considering the prominent features of fuzzy logic that enables data analysis in quantitative and continuous form of numbers, it is suggested to use fuzzy logic capability in FAO model and other soil erosion estimation models based on Boolean classification logic. Finally, the study demonstrated the effectiveness of “closing management” to control soil erosion on steep degrading lands in the region.

Loamy sand soils cannot hold considerable amounts of water and nutrients. A flood-spreading project generates fine particles, often stored in sediment. In addition, established plants have interactive effects on beneath-canopy. This research investigated the effects of flood spreading and Prosopis juliflora on soil characteristics. Fourteen years after the flood-spreading project was initiated, quality of soil was compared between FS and control sites, and the accumulation of nutrients in soil beneath the P. juliflora was compared to soil from between trees with t test. For soils, we analyzed texture, water infiltration, organic carbon, pH, total nitrogen, available phosphorus, available potassium, cation exchange capacity, calcium carbonate equilibrium, and soil microbial respiration, and for plants, we measured the below-ground root. Few variations were found in the soil characteristics as a result of flood-spreading establishment. The results indicated that fine fractions of soil in FS site were greater than that in control (p

This investigation was carried out for evaluation of indole-3-acetic acid production by bacteria under salinity and salinity–sodicity stress. A total of 298 bacteria were isolated from soils with different levels of electrical conductivity and sodium adsorption ratio. Then, ability of indole-3-acetic acid production under salinity, salinity–sodicity and l-tryptophan concentrations was analyzed. The results indicated that the ability of growth and indole-3-acetic acid production among bacteria was significantly affected by salinity, salinity–sodicity and l-tryptophan concentration. The one of the bacterial species, Arthrobacter siccitolerans, that were isolated from saline–sodic soils can adjust its indole-3-acetic acid production to different levels of salinity and salinity–sodicity stress conditions. Also, its l-TRP use efficiency under salinity–sodicity stress was 5.01% and reported as the most efficient bacterium. Seed inoculation of A. siccitolerans enhanced wheat aerial and root dry matter under salinity–sodicity stress with respect to control by 10.03 and 15.17%, respectively. The study indicates the different effects of salinity–sodicity on indole-3-acetic acid indole-3-acetic acid production and the potential of A. siccitolerans for production of indole-3-acetic acid and enhancing growth of wheat under salinity and salinity–sodicity stress.

Controlling of the Goos-Hanchen (GH) shifts of the reflected and transmitted probe pulses through a cavity containing four-level GaAs/AlGaAs quantum dot with 15 periods of 17.5 nm GaAs wells and 25-nm Al0.3Ga0.7As barriers is investigated. Under appropriate conditions, the probe absorption can be converted to the probe gain, therefore, the controlling of negative and positive GH shift in the both reflected and transmitted probe beams can be occurred simultaneously. Our obtained results show that the group index of the probe beams could be negative or positive in both reflected and transmitted pulses. Therefore, simultaneous subluminal or superluminal light propagation in reflected and transmitted pulses can be achieved.

In this study, the effect of surfactant, phosphorus content, and concentration of SiC nanoparticle on the microstructure and protective performance of electroless Ni–P/nano-SiC coating was studied using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy as well as surface analysis. Through taking advantage of response surface methodology, the experimental results were fed into Design Expert software which then mutual relationships between three independent variables were established. Prediction of model at the experimental range using systematic data enables us to provide a better understanding of the simultaneous effect of variables on the properties of coating. Moreover the optimum concentration of variables was predicted.

Ni–P/nano-SiC composite coating was successfully deposited on 6061 aluminium alloy by electroless coating process. Scanning electron microscopy equipped with energy dispersive spectroscopy as well as Vickers hardness tester was utilised to examine the effect of nano-SiC particle incorporation on the morphological and hardness properties. Pin on disc method was applied to investigate the tribological properties of the coatings. Moreover, the corrosion behaviour of coatings for the protection of 6061 aluminium alloy in 3·5 wt-%NaCl solutions was studied using potentiodynamic polarisation and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Results showed that incorporation of silicon carbide nanoparticles in the coatings enhances the corrosion and tribological properties of the composite coatings.

This paper reports on a comparative study of tribological and corrosion behavior of plasma nitrided 34CrNiMo6 low alloy steel under modern hot wall condition and conventional cold wall condition. Plasma nitriding was carried out at 500 C and 550 C with a 25% N2 + 75% H2 gas mixture for 8 h. The wall temperature of the chamber in hot wall condition was set to 400 C. The treated specimens were characterized by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), microhardness and surface roughness techniques. The wear test was performed by pin-on-disc method. Potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) tests were also used to evaluate the corrosion resistance of the samples. The results demonstrated that in both nitriding conditions, wear and corrosion resistance of the treated samples decrease with increasing temperature from 500 Ct o 550 C. Moreover, nitriding under hot wall condition at the same temperature provided slightly better tribological and corrosion behavior in comparison with cold wall condition. In consequence, the lowest friction coefficient, and highest wear and corrosion resistance were found on the sample treated under hot wall condition at 500 C, which had the maximum surface hardness and e-Fe2–3N phase. 2014 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

In this paper the results of X-ray fluorescence and neutron activation analyses for 18 obsidian tools from the archaeo¬logical sites of Eastern Chia Sabz and Chogha Ahovan in western Iran are presented. The archaeological sites have materials dating from the Pre-pottery Neolithic and Chalcolithic to Uruk periods. The evidence supports our conclusion that most of the obsidian found on western Iranian sites came from sources located near Lake Van in southeastern Turkey. These results suggest that the trade route for obsidian originated in southeastern Anatolia and moved southward along the western slopes of the Zagros Mountains into the central Zagros region.

Background and Aims: Influenza virus nucleoprotein (NP) has the capacity to be used as subunit vaccine, but little is known about the impact of different cultures on its structure. In the present study we aimed to evaluate and compare the Isoelectric focusing (IEF) property of extracted viral nucleoproteins derived from Madin Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cell line and embryonated chicken eggs (ECE). Materials and Methods: Influenza virus strain A/NewCaledonia/20/99/H1N1 was propagated and grown in allantoic sac of 10-11 day-old embryonated chicken eggs, and mammalian cell culture (MDCK) in parallel. Ribonucleoprotein extraction was conducted from two separate cultures and evaluated using isoelectric focusing gel strips. Results: The results showed higher isoelectric pH in extracted nucleoproteins from MDCK as compared to embryonated chicken eggs. Conclusion: It is possible that some amino acids have been replaced. Suggesting that the changing net charge of protein may be affect the conserved regions of the protein. Therefore, this could impact the new generation of vaccines construction based on conserved proteins.

BACKGROUND: In mammals, oocyte activation at fertilization is thought to be induced by the sperm-specific phospholipase C zeta (PLCzeta). However, it still remains to be conclusively shown that PLCzeta is the endogenous agent of oocyte activation. Some types of human infertility appear to be caused by failure of the sperm to activate and this may be due to specific defects in PLCzeta. METHODS AND RESULTS: Immunofluorescence studies showed PLCzeta to be localized in the equatorial region of sperm from fertile men, but sperm deficient in oocyte activation exhibited no specific signal in this same region. Immunoblot analysis revealed reduced amounts of PLCzeta in sperm from infertile men, and in some cases, the presence of an abnormally low molecular weight form of PLCzeta. In one non-globozoospermic case, DNA analysis identified a point mutation in the PLCzeta gene that leads to a significant amino acid change in the catalytic region of the protein. Structural modelling suggested that this defect may have important effects upon the structure and function of the PLCzeta protein. cRNA corresponding to mutant PLCzeta failed to induce calcium oscillations when microinjected into mouse oocytes. Injection of infertile human sperm into mouse oocytes failed to activate the oocyte or trigger calcium oscillations. Injection of such infertile sperm followed by two calcium pulses, induced by assisted oocyte activation, activated the oocytes without inducing the typical pattern of calcium oscillations. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings illustrate the importance of PLCzeta during fertilization and suggest that mutant forms of PLCzeta may underlie certain types of human male infertility.

Wustite nanoparticles have been prepared by mechanochemical processing (MCP), using high-purity hematite (α-Fe2O3) and iron (Fe) powders as the raw materials. In order to get a single-phase wustite, different mole ratios of (Fe/Fe2O3) were milled. X-ray diffraction studies of the as-milled powders show that a single-phase wustite was formed. Using the formula a=4.334−0.478x, for Fe1−x O, where “a” is the lattice parameter of wustite, a nonstoichiometric composition of Fe0.93O was estimated for the wustite single phase. A mean crystallite size of 13±1 nm was calculated for the single phase wustite, using Scherrer’s formula. The morphology of the powders was also checked by TEM. The room-temperature Mossbauer spectra of the samples supported the presence of Fe3+ in octahedral sites of wustite phase, which is a sign of its nonstoichiometry. Hysteresis loops of the as-milled powders at 5 K and room temperature have been obtained by SQUID and by VSM systems, respectively. The loops show nonzero coercivity, in contrast to the bulk wustite. The observed magnetizations can be explained by a model based on the spinel-type defect clusters in nonstoichiometry wustite. Room temperature magnetic measurements showed that nanosized prepared wustite ferrimagnetic-like behavior was interpreted according to spinel-like defect clusters. Therefore, small exchange bias effects 20 Oe and 38 Oe were observed in the magnetization curves at room and 5 K temperatures, respectively. According to the Dimitrov model, in the Fe0.93O nonstoichiometry structure, there are 0.712 molecules of FeO and 0.072 molecules of Fe3O4, which the interaction between the antiferromagnetic (FeO) and ferrimagnetic (Fe3O4) phases in the Fe1−x O can be the cause of the observed exchange bias effect in the hysteresis loops.

Beet curly top Iran virus (BCTIRV) is a geminivirus with unusual genomic organisation, recently reported in Iran, infecting sugarbeet and a few other plant species. Although three BCTIRV sequences have been reported, demonstration that BCTIRV DNA is the causal agent of the disease was missing. A full-length genomic DNA was obtained from symptomatic leaves of sugarbeet collected in the Sivand area of Iran, and its nucleotide sequence was determined (BCTIRV-Siv, 2845 nt). To satisfy Koch's postulates, an infectivity assay was developed by inserting a 1.4-mer of BCTIRV-Siv DNA in Agrobacterium tumefaciens and using it in agroinoculation experiments. The cloned viral DNA was capable of infecting sugarbeets, reproducing the leaf curling and vein enations observed in the field. These results demonstrate that the single DNA component of BCTIRV is sufficient for infectivity. Host range studies indicated that some economically important crops can be affected, such as spinach, tomato and sweet pepper, as well as important laboratory plants including Nicotiana benthamiana, Arabidopsis thaliana and Jimson weed. Circulifer haematoceps, the dominant leafhopper species present in sugarbeet fields in Iran, was successfully used to transmit the disease. The availability of an infectious clone will facilitate extended host range studies, to determine the potential risks to other crops, as well as genetic studies on this unusual member of the family Geminiviridae.

In this study, Mn-ferrite has been prepared with nominal formula of MnFe2O4, using the dry conventional ceramic method. The raw materials were Mobarakeh steel company modified domestic iron oxide and Merk manganese oxide. XRD patterns of the prepared samples show that they are single phase. Magnetic measurements have been performed on the toroidal samples sintered in different temperatures, using a hystograph unit MPG100D model. The results of measurements show that optimum formation pressures to obtain maximum relative magnetic permeability and hystersis. We report here the observation of the Mn55 nuclear magnetic resonance associated with the Mn2 + ion in the ferromagnetic spinel MnFe2O4 also.

background: Ovarian tissue (OT) cryopreservation and transplantation are options for fertility preservation in young female cancer patients. methods: We investigated xenotransplantation of human OT into back muscle (B) of severe combined immunodeficiency mice. OT follicle content was evaluated by stereomicroscopy and pre-transplantation. Xenograft survival, follicular development (with/without FSH administration), apoptosis and vascularization were compared in B- versus K-site (under the kidney capsule) several times after grafting using histology, immunohistochemistry and magnetic resonance imaging. In vitro maturation (IVM) was also performed. results: Anastomoses which developed from existing human and invading murine vessels were seen in OT at both sites, but angiogenesis was more prominent at the B- than K-site (P , 0.001). Vascularization and follicle size were correlated in the B-group (Spearman’s coefficient 0.73; P , 0.001). FSH increased early (8 days) micro-vessel formation in B but not in K grafts (P , 0.0001, versus no FSH). B-site grafts showed a better histological morphology and survival (P ¼ 0.0084), formation of larger antral follicles (P ¼ 0.005), more metaphase-II (MII) oocytes, growing follicles (P ¼ 0.028) and slightly fewer apoptotic follicles than K grafts. One MI oocyte from B underwent IVM and reached MII stage next day. conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first report of MII and IVM–MII oocytes obtained from B xenografts. We report the largest oval-shaped antral follicles containing an MII oocyte obtained after OT xenotransplantation to date. Xenografting in the mouse B should be further explored as a method for human OT transplantation.

Sodium hypochlorite, a cheap and readily available compound, when supported on silica gel can selectively oxidize benzylic and allylic alcohols to their carbonyl compounds in the presence of catalytic amount of DMSO.

Artificial oocyte activation using the calcium ionophore ionomycin is applied successfully in assisted reproduction but some concern exists on the clinical use. The aims of the present study were to optimize the oocyte activation scheme and to address embryo toxicity in a mouse model. Efficiency of oocyte activation and subsequent development was evaluated and ionomycin was found to be an efficient activator at 10 μmol/l. An improved effect of a second exposure to 5 μmol/l ionomycin on blastocyst development was observed. Toxicity of ionomycin on embryos was then investigated by evaluating pre- and post-implantation development of in-vivo fertilized oocytes following exposure to ionomycin. Blastocyst development, blastocyst cell numbers in trophectoderm and inner cell mass were not different between treated and non-treated zygotes. Also implantation rates and fetal parameters such as length, weight and morphological parameters were similar between the fetuses originating from zygotes treated with ionomycin and non-treated zygotes. Furthermore, healthy offspring originating from ionomycin-treated zygotes was born. In conclusion, no adverse effects of ionomycin on in-vitro or in-vivo mouse embryo development were noticed, giving arguments in favour of the use of ionomycin, although negative long-term effects of this compound cannot be excluded at present.

The present study was conducted in a dry region to evaluate 1) the crude protein, phosphorus, common salt, and mineral composition of different range plants and 2) their value for grazing ruminants such as cattle, sheep, and goats. The research region was divided into five separate sites with vegetation cover of the range plants Atriplex lentiformis, A. nummularia, and A. halimus (all newly introduced species) and A. leucoclada and Salsola rigida (both native species). Six separate samples of the aerial parts were taken at random and analyzed for determination of their total nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), sodium (Na), chloride (Cl), and mineral composition. The crude protein content ranged from 8.23% for S. rigida to 14.57% for A. nummularia. Except for P content, Na and Cl of the all tested plants were well more than the critical levels and may be considered adequate for grazing ruminants. However, all of the tested plants contained P levels below the critical concentration, and thus supplementat...

The present study was conducted in a dry region in southern Iran to evaluate the effects of different Atriplex species on the salinity, soluble ions, and some of the other chemical properties of under‐ and intercanopy soils. The research region was divided into five separate sites with vegetation cover of the range plants Atriplex lentiformis, A. nummularia, and A. halimus (all newly introduced species) and A. leucoclada and Salsola rigida (both native species). Four 1‐kg soil samples (from under‐ and interspaces of the canopy of tested plants, each in two depths of 0–10 and 10–40 cm, were taken from each of the plant sites and analyzed for different determinations. The study was conducted as a factorial experiment in a complete random design with six replicates. Regardless of distance and depth, different plant species resulted in different salinity (based on the EC values of saturation paste) and soluble cation contents in the tested soils. The results showed that the increase in EC values were...

Excess molar volumes, and speeds of sound, u of the binary liquid mixtures of tetrahydrofuran (THF) with chloroethanes or chlororethenes at 298.15 K have been measured over the entire range of (THF) compositions. The chloroethanes are 1,2-dichloroethane, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, and 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane and the chloroethenes are trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene. Partial molar volumes , were also calculated and their values have been extrapolated to zero concentration to obtain the limiting values at infinite dilution, . The values are negative in mixtures of THF + tetrachloroethylene, + trichloroethylene, + 1,1, 1-trichloroethane, and + 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane over the entire composition range of THF. The values are positive for THF with 1,2-dichloroethane. An inversion of the sign of was observed at x ≈ 0.75 of THF for the mixtures of THF with 1,2-dichloroethane. Further, isentropic compressibilities, k s of the mixtures were computed by combining speeds of sound and density data. Deviation...

Development of hardware and CFD codes, especially in turbulence model and optimization of numerical codes has led to increment in usage of CFD which is capable of simulating different experimental situations take place at laboratory. Particularly in issues related to turbo machinery, two-dimensional test of blades, three-dimensional investigation of different stages and studying the effect of different parameters are very costly. By means of CFD modeling all these issues are accessible. Actual flow within the compressor is three dimensional and fully turbulent due to geometry complexity, flow velocity and viscosity. For this reason it has become more and more popular to perform 3D numerical studies. In this study three-dimensional analysis of flow in a two stage centrifugal compressor is performed. Since no experimental data is available to evaluate the results of the present numerical analysis, validation is done by using experimental data of the gas turbine set up at Sharif University of Technology Laboratory. Numerical results are used for the evaluation of the slip factor models and finally, the effects of inlet gas composition and inlet total pressure on characteristic map are investigated.

The mechanism of chemotherapy-induced acceleration of ovarian aging is not fully understood. We used doxorubicin, a widely used cancer chemotherapeutic, in a variety of in vivo xenograft, and in vitro models to investigate the impact of chemotherapy-induced aging on the human ovary. Doxorubicin caused massive double-strand-DNA-breaks in primordial follicles, oocytes, and granulosa cells in a dose dependent fashion as revealed by accumulating γH2AX foci. This damage was associated with apoptotic oocyte death and resulted in the activation of ATM. It appeared that the repair response enabled a minor proportion of oocytes (34.7%) and granulosa cells (12.1%) to survive while the majority succumbed to apoptotic death. Paradoxically, inhibition of ATM by KU-55933 resulted in improved survival, probably via prevention of downstream activation of TAp63α. Furthermore, doxorubicin caused vascular and stromal damage in the human ovary, which might impair ovarian function both pre- and post-menopausally. Chemotherapy-induced premature ovarian aging appears to result from a complex process involving both the germ- and non-germ cell components of the ovary. These effects may have clinical implications in aging both for premenopausal and postmenopausal cancer survivors.

Gate oxide growth in ultralarge scale complementary metal oxide semiconductor technologies involves exposure to various oxidizing conditions during temperature ramp-up and stabilization steps. These conditions are significantly different from that of the main oxidation internal. Previous studies dealing with thick oxides having different preoxidation treatments have indicated that thermal history has a significant impact on subsequent oxide growth rate of the initial oxide. However, these trends are unclear for ultrathin oxides. In this paper, we report the results of our study on two-step oxidation in the thin (accelerated) regime

A nitridation technique is proposed for ultrathin, SiO{sub 2} oxides in deep submicron CMOS technology, which involves direct implantation of molecular nitrogen (N{sub 2}) into the silicon substrate. N{sub 2} ions were implanted into silicon at different doses and energies, through a 150 {angstrom} thick screen oxide. In this study the effect of implanted N atoms on silicon oxidation, and SiO{sub 2} oxide nitridation process have been studied. Two groups of the N{sub 2}-implanted wafers were used: wafers from one group were annealed prior to the screen oxide removal, whereas wafers of the other group did not receive this anneal. It is shown that nitridation can be achieved both ways, allowing this technique to be easily integrated into a semiconductor IC fabrication process.

Failed fertilization after intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) can be due to a reduced oocyte-activation capacity caused by reduced concentrations and abnormal localization of the oocyte-activation factor phospholipase C (PLC) zeta. Patients with this condition can be helped to conceive by artificial activation of oocytes after ICSI with calcium ionophore (assisted oocyte activation; AOA). However some concern still exists about this approach. Mouse models could help to identify potential oocyte-activation strategies and evaluate their safety. In this study, the fertilizing capacity of wobbler sperm cells was tested and the efficiency of AOA with two exposures to ionomycin to restore fertilization and embryo development was studied. The quality of the obtained blastocysts was assessed and embryo transfer was performed to evaluate post-implantation development. The presence of PLCzeta in the spermatozoa and testis of the wobbler mouse was evaluated by PLCzeta immunostaining and quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction. Sperm cells from wobbler mice had reduced fertilizing capacity and abnormalities in PLCzeta localization, but not in its expression. Artificially activating the oocytes restored fertilization and embryo development. Therefore, the wobbler mouse can be a model for failed fertilization after ICSI to study PLCzeta dynamics and aid in optimization of the AOA method.

A phenomenological model is developed that, through an effective diffusivity, describes implantation-enhanced diffusion (IED) of impurity atoms in Si via a dual vacancy-interstitial mechanism. This is a transient diffusion mechanism that applies to the processes of both rapid thermal annealing and conventional furnace annealing of ion implantation (I/I)-induced structural defects, and dopant diffusion and activation

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate the optimal transplantation site for ovarian tissue fragments in murine hosts. We compared the transplantation to the back muscle (B) versus the kidney capsule (K) in a mouse allograft model. METHODS: Hemi-ovaries from 12-day-old mice were allografted into B and K of bilaterally ovariectomized same strain recipients which had undergone gonadotrophin stimulation (n = 15). Graft survival after 27 days, angiogenesis and follicle development were scored and compared to age-matched control ovaries (38-day old, n = 5). The ability of oocytes to be fertilized was studied after IVF, ICSI and embryos were transferred to recipient mothers. Anti-mouse CD 31 + antibody was used to evaluate neo-vascularization in grafts. RESULTS: Primordial follicle survival was higher (P < 0.01) and vascular support was better (P < 0.01) in B- than in K-grafts. From 34 oocytes retrieved from B-grafts (15 metaphase I, of which 14 matured in vitro, and 19 collected at metaphase II), 18 morulae were obtained. Transfer of 12 embryos obtained by ICSI led to three live offspring, and transfer of six IVF embryos to another recipient mother yielded four offspring, one of which was born dead and one showed placental anomalies. CONCLUSIONS: The back muscle is a promising site for ovarian allografts in mice. This is the first report of live offspring obtained after back muscle grafting using both IVF and ICSI.

Objective— Inflammatory markers are associated with vascular disease; however, variation in the acute phase response (APR) has not been evaluated. We evaluated whether the APR magnitude in men with severe carotid artery disease (CAAD) (>80% stenosis) differed from that of men without stenosis ( Methods and Results— White males with (n=43) and without (n=61) severe CAAD receiving clinical influenza vaccinations were recruited. Their baseline and 24-hour after -vaccination blood samples were assayed for C-reactive protein (CRP), IL-6, and serum amyloid-a (SAA). In vivo APR to vaccination was measurable and varied among subjects. Adjusted for age, smoking, oral hypoglycemics, aspirin, and stain use, the relative 24-hour changes in levels of ln(CRP), ln(IL-6), and ln(SAA) were higher in men with CAAD than in men without, but only the SAA response was significant ( P =0.02); the relative SAA response was 1.6 (95% confidence interval, 1.1 to 2.5) times higher in men with than without CAAD. The APR for all markers appeared to be independent of baseline levels. Conclusions— Influenza vaccination results in a mild, but measurable, APR in men with and without CAAD. SAA APR variability may be a predictor of severe vascular disease that is independent of basal SAA level.

BACKGROUND: Ovarian tissue cryopreservation and transplantation are becoming increasingly important issues for preserving female fertility as shown by recent successes in restoring ovarian activity and even fertility. Primordial follicle content before transplantation is a key issue for success. We investigated two novel methods to detect primordial follicles in human ovarian cortical tissue strips. METHODS: The first method used the fluorescent mitochondrial stain rhodamine 123 in combination with laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM). The first method used the fluorescent mitochondrial stain rhodamine 123 (R123) in combination with laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM). The second used a simple stereomicroscopic method with glass-bottom dishes for detecting primordial follicles in ovarian cortical tissue strips. Potential toxic effects of R123 and of the exposure to confocal laser were investigated in a mouse ovarian allograft model. RESULTS: Follicles were visible as white spots in thin cortical strips using LSCM in single and fast scanning at low magnification, allowing a fair estimation of the number of primordial follicles present. Using the second method, ovarian follicles were also visible using glass-bottom dishes under the stereomicroscope, although tissue thickness and density were limiting factors of its success. DISCUSSION: Follicles can be visualized in human cortical ovarian strips with R123 in combination with LSCM. Stereomicroscopy using glass-bottom dishes and transmitted illumination is a simple alternative method and has the advantage of allowing further safe clinical use of the analysed tissue.

Direct nitrogen implant into Si substrate prior to gate oxidation has been proposed to grow multiple gate oxide thicknesses on a single wafer. In this letter, we have studied the reliability of gate oxide grown on nitrogen‐implanted Si substrate. The effects of implant doses, sacrificial oxide thicknesses, and gate oxide thicknesses on gate oxide reliability have been investigated. It was found that there is a tradeoff between oxide thickness control and gate oxide reliability.

It has been shown that, in ultrathin gate oxidation processes, temperature ramp-up in atmospheric thermal silicon oxidation reactors subjects the wafers to severe temperature nonuniformities. The extent of this nonuniformity has been determined via a method based on the principle that for a given type of silicon substrate, in the absence of nonuniform oxygen partial pressure distributions, the oxidation rate of silicon depends only on substrate temperature. By experimentally determining within-wafer and wafer-to-wafer SiO 2 growth rate variabilities, and by using an SiO 2 growth rate computer simulation model, substrate temperature has been determined

Ovarian transplantation is one of the key approaches to restoring fertility in women who became menopausal as a result of cancer treatments. A major limitation of human ovarian transplants is massive follicular loss during revascularization. Here we investigated whether sphingosine-1-phosphate or its receptor agonists could enhance neoangiogenesis and follicle survival in ovarian transplants in a xenograft model. Human ovarian tissue xenografts in severe-combined-immunodeficient mice were treated with sphingosine-1-phosphate, its analogs, or vehicle for 1-10 days. We found that sphingosine-1-phosphate treatment increased vascular density in ovarian transplants significantly whereas FTY720 and SEW2871 had the opposite effect. In addition, sphingosine-1-phosphate accelerated the angiogenic process compared to vehicle-treated controls. Furthermore, sphingosine-1-phosphate treatment was associated with a significant proliferation of ovarian stromal cell as well as reduced necrosis and tissue hypoxia compared to the vehicle-treated controls. This resulted in a significantly lower percentage of apoptotic follicles in sphingosine-1-phosphate-treated transplants. We conclude that while sphingosine-1-phosphate promotes neoangiogenesis in ovarian transplants and reduces ischemic reperfusion injury, sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor agonists appear to functionally antagonize this process. Sphingosine-1-phosphate holds great promise to clinically enhance the survival and longevity of human autologous ovarian transplants.