Cystic fibrosis proteins detected by electrophoretic techniques

For the detection of the cystic fibrosis protein (CFP) in serum of cystic fibrosis (CF) carriers, thin-layer polyacrylamide gel isoelectric focusing proved inappropriate as a diagnostic test, but was useful for screening fractions on purification of CFP by chromatofocusing on a Mono P column. On sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis an Mr 12,000 protein (P12) was found in most CFP-positive sera, indicating good correlation between these two CF-associated proteins. Detection of the P12 protein by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was well reproducible and less delicate than IEF. The technique was also used to purify P12 from serum by two successive preparative electrophoresis steps in a 7.5-15% gradient and 15% homogeneous gel. The use of silver staining revealed that P12, which was present in all sera of CF patients and carriers with variable intensities, was also present in trace amounts in normal sera.     

A Short Solution to the Busemann-Petty Problem

A unified analytic solution to the Busemann-Petty problem was recently found by Gardner, Koldobsky and Schlumprecht. We give an elementary proof of their formulas for the inverse Radon transform of the radial function of an origin-symmetric star body .     

Bulk ablation of soft tissue with intense ultrasound: modeling and experiments

Methods for the bulk ablation of soft tissue using intense ultrasound, with potential applications in the thermal treatment of focal tumors, are presented. An approximate analytic model for bulk ablation predicts the progress of ablation based on tissue properties, spatially averaged ultrasonic heat deposition, and perfusion. The approximate model allows the prediction of threshold acoustic powers required for ablation in vivo as well as the comparison of cases with different starting temperatures and perfusion characteristics, such as typical in vivo and ex vivo experiments. In a full three-dimensional numerical model, heat deposition from array transducers is computed using the Fresnel approximation and heat transfer in tissue is computed by finite differences, accounting for heating changes caused by boiling and thermal dose-dependent absorption. Similar ablation trends due to perfusion effects are predicted by both the simple analytic model and the full numerical model. Comparisons with experimental results show the efficacy of both models in predicting tissue ablation effects. Phenomena illustrated by the simulations and experiments include power thresholds for in vivo ablation, differences between in vivo and ex vivo lesioning for comparable source conditions, the effect of tissue boiling and absorption changes on ablation depth, and the performance of a continuous rotational scanning method suitable for interstitial bulk ablation of soft tissue.     

Infinite Dimensional Isoperimetric Inequalities in Product Spaces with the Supremum Distance

We study the isoperimetric problem for product probability measures with respect to the uniform enlargement. We construct several examples of measures for which the isoperimetric function of coincides with the one of the infinite product . This completes earlier works by Bobkov and Houdré.     

Modifications of He implantation induced cavities in silicon by MeV silicon implantation

Doppler broadening spectroscopy (DBS) coupled to a slow positron beam has been used to investigate the formation of He-cavities in the presence of high vacancy concentrations in Cz-Si (1 1 1). Si samples were first implanted with MeV Si ions in order to create a damaged Si layer. DBS measurements show the presence of divacancy (SV₂/SSi lattice=1.052,WV₂/WSi lattice=0.83) from the surface up to 4.2 μm depth with a concentration higher than 10¹⁸ cm⁻³. The thickness of this damaged layer was confirmed by spreading resistance measurements. In the second step, samples were implanted with 50 keV ³He with fluence of 10¹⁶ cm⁻². DBS results show that the apparent divancancy concentration decreases at ³He implantation depth ∼435 nm due to ³He passivation of vacancies that occurs during the implantation process. After 900 °C annealing, large defects are detected at depth up to 2 μm and (S, W) values suggest the detection of cavities at the implantation depth. We also report the possible presence of impurity complexes. The formation of these complexes is attributed to the gettering of metallic impurities present in the Si sample.     

Copolyimides containing alicyclic and fluorinated groups: Characterization of the film microstructure

The microstructures of a series of copolyimide films were characterized with different experimental methods such as density measurements, X‐ray diffraction, ultraviolet‐visible spectrophotometry, positron annihilation spectroscopy, and dynamic mechanical analysis. The experimental data were linked to the chemical structures of the polymers and especially the alicyclic and fluorinated monomers. Some analysis responses were directly dependent on the fluorine atoms and, therefore, did not provide clear information about the microstructures. The chain organization in the amorphous films appeared to be significantly dependent on the effect of the casting solvent. The influence of the alicyclic group content was quite significant for a nonsubstituted diamine but was strongly attenuated with a fluorinated diamine. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 2998–3010, 2003