Umbilical artery flow velocity waveforms in fetuses dying with congenital anomalies

Summary. Absent or reversed diastolic component in umbilical artery (UA) flow velocity waveform was observed in eight fetuses with major malformations. Because of the uncorrectable fetal conditions or the parents' reluctance to terminate the pregnancy, no interventions were undertaken and eventually all eight fetuses died in utero . The interval between the abnormal waveform recording and fetal death was between 1 and 7 days (mean 3.6 days). In two fetuses with abnormal diastolic flow, analysis of umbilical vein blood obtained by ultrasound-guided sampling revealed moderately severe acidosis and hypoxia (pH 7.228 and 7.241, Pco₂ 47.5 and 46.9 mmHg; Po₂ 14.6 and 14.7 mmHg, respectively). Our observation suggests that once the diastolic component of UA flow velocity waveforms becomes absent or reversed, the fetus is in a state of hypoxia and acidosis and fetal death is impending. This limited experience may help in formulating clinical management when using UA flow velocity waveforms in the monitoring of high-risk fetuses.     

The 40-kilodalton allergen of Candida albicans is an alcohol dehydrogenase: molecular cloning and immunological analysis using monoclonal antibodies

To characterize the 40-kilodalton (kD) major allergen of Candida albicans (C. albicans), six monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) against this allergen were generated. In SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and immunoblot analysis, these MoAbs showed four different reaction patterns to antigens of six different Candida species. With the exception of one MoAb, other MoAbs were resistant to periodate treatment indicating non-carbohydrate epitopes were probably being recognized by these MoAbs. These MoAbs were used in the molecular cloning and immunological analysis of the gene coding for the 40-kD allergen. Nucleotide sequence determination of the two lambda gt11 cDNA clones obtained showed that the 40-kD allergen is an alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) which shares a 70% amino acid sequence homology with the ADH isozyme I of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This finding was confirmed by positive immunological response of the lysates of the clones obtained and a preparation of ADH of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to various MoAbs and to IgE antibodies in sera of allergic patients.     

AN—g—casein浓溶液在毛细管流动中的末端校正

采用气压式毛细管流变仪,测定了实验室自制丙烯腈－酷素接枝共聚物（ＡＮ－ｇ－ｃａｓｅｉｎ）浓溶液的流变性能。实验结果发现：ＡＮ－ｇ－ｃａｓｅｉｎ浓溶液属切力变稀型非牛顿流体;在实验范围内,毛细管流动中的末端校正系数ｅ随切变速率的提高而增大,当切变速率较高时,ＡＮ－ｇ－ｃａｓｅｉｎ大分子在浓溶液中形成了束状物,拉伸变表受到了限制,ｅ值上升趋于极限;当切变速率较高,毛细管长径比较小时,真实剪切应力仅占表     

A two-sex model for treatment of HIV/AIDS and behaviour change in a population of varying size

In this work, we propose a model for heterosexual transmissionof HIV/AIDS incorporating a community-wide screening and treatmentprogramme. We will investigate various consistency assumptionsabout the conservation of heterosexual contacts, which willenable us to reduce this two-sex model to a simpler one-sexformulation. In all cases analytical results will be given withthreshold parameters obtained for the persistence of disease,the persistence of total populations, and the persistence ofinfective populations. By comparing the theoretical resultsfor the different variations of our model, we hope to shed somelight on the effectiveness of the prevention and control measuresthat are needed to deal with the emerging AIDS epidemic in ThirdWorld communities with growing populations.     

Alpha-fetoprotein in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma after transcatheter arterial embolization

To assess the usefulness of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) in monitoring treatment effects of transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients, a total of 31 sets of AFP levels after TAE in 21 HCC patients were analysed by linear regression between logarithmic AFP levels and days. Eleven sets of AFP data with poor linear declination were accompanied with poor TAE results except in one patient who had chronic hepatitis with acute exacerbations. Twenty sets of data with good linear declination in the first month after TAE indicated good TAE results. Seven of them showed no evidence of tumour recurrence nor elevated AFP levels within a follow-up of 6 months. The mean, standard deviation and range of half-lives of AFP in the non-recurrent group were 5.0, 1.6 and 2.9-7.2 days, respectively. The others experienced late tumour recurrence that was detected by rebound of AFP levels except one who had another non-AFP-secreting HCC. Thus, the results might be used as a reference in monitoring the treatment effects of TAE and the timing selection of repeated TAE.