Gill repartition of two Monogenea: Diplectanum aequans (Wagener 1857), Diesing 1958 and D. laubieri Lambert and Maillard 1974 (Monogenea, Monopisthocotylea) simultaneous parasites of the sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax (author's transl)]

The close observation of the gill habitat of two Monogeneans Diplectanum aequans (Wagener 1857) Diesing 1858 and Diplectanum laubieri Lambert and Maillard 1974 shows the microbiotopes of these two simultaneous parasites of the Sea-bass: Dicentrarchus labrax. The authors propose to study the distribution of the Monogeneans with references to three theoretic axes in the gill chambers. For the Diplectanum, the populations spread on each of these axes according to preferential gradients.     

Interference of oral immunization with the intestinal absorption of heterologous albumin

Rats were immunized with human serum albumin (HSA) by a single intragastric administration of 200 mg of HSA. Two weeks later their capacity to absorb a similar intragastric test dose of HSA was found to be greatly impaired, the concentrations of HSA in mesenteric venous serum having been reduced to 33 %, 25 % and 60 % of those in similarly tested but unprimed animals, respectively 1, 2 and 3 hours after the intragastric test dose. Rats given antigen (HSA) together with intestinal secretions from intragastric immunized rats also showed a striking decrease in intestinal absorption of a test dose, compared to controls given the antigen together with nonimmune intestinal secretions. From these data it is concluded that local immunization of the gut impairs its capacity to absorb the corresponding antigen, and that this effect is largely due to the failure to absorb antigen bound to secretory antibodies.     

The mutational specificity of l-nitroso-6-nitropyrene in the lacI gene of Escherichia coli strains deficient in nucleotide excision repair

We have examined the mutational specificity of 1-nitroso-6-nitropyrene(1,6-NONP), an activated metabolite of the carcinogen 1,6-dinitropyrene,in the lacI gene of Escherichia coli strains which are deficientin nucleotide excision repair (strain NR6113,     

Initial evaluation of a continuous speech recognition program for radiology

The aims of this work were to measure the accuracy of one continuous speech recognition product and dependence on the speaker's gender and status as a native or nonnative English speaker, and evaluate the product's potential for routine use in transcribing radiology reports. IBM MedSpeak/Radiology software, version 1.1 was evaluated by 6 speakers. Two were nonnative English speakers, and 3 were men. Each speaker dictated a set of 12 reports. The reports included neurologic and body imaging examinations performed with 6 different modalities. The dictated and original report texts were compared, and error rates for overall, significant, and subtle significant errors were computed. Error rate dependence on modality, native English speaker status, and gender were evaluated by performing ttests. The overall error rate was 10.3 +/- 3.3%. No difference in accuracy between men and women was found; however, significant differences were seen for overall and significant errors when comparing native and nonnative English speakers (P = .009 and P = .008, respectively). The speech recognition software is approximately 90% accurate, and while practical implementation issues (rather than accuracy) currently limit routine use of this product throughout a radiology practice, application in niche areas such as the emergency room currently is being pursued. This methodology provides a convenient way to compare the initial accuracy of different speech recognition products, and changes in accuracy over time, in a detailed and sensitive manner.     

Analysis of mycolic acid cleavage products and cellular fatty acids of Mycobacterium species by capillary gas chromatography.

After growth and experimental conditions were established, the mycolic acid cleavage products, constituent fatty acids, and alcohols of representative strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, M. smegmatis, M. fortuitum complex, M. kansasii, M. gordonae, and M. avium complex were determined by capillary gas chromatography. Reproducible cleavage of mycolic acid methyl esters to tetracosanoic (24:0) or hexacosanoic (26:0) acid methyl esters was achieved by heating the sample in a high-temperature muffle furnace. The major constituent fatty acids in all species were hexadecanoic (16:0) and octadecenoic (18:1 omega 9-c, oleic) acids. With the exception of M. gordonae, 10-methyloctadecanoic acid was found in all species; moreover, M. gordonae was the only species tested which contained 2-methyltetradecanoic acid. M. kansasii was characterized by the presence of 2,4-dimethyltetradecanoic acid, M. avium complex by 2-eicosanol, and M. tuberculosis by 26:0 mycolic acid cleavage product. The mycolic acid cleavage product in the other five species tested was 24:0. Although a limited number of strains and species were tested, preliminary results indicate that this gas chromatographic method can be used to characterize mycobacterial cultures by their mycolic acid cleavage products and constituent fatty acid and alcohol content.     

Comparison of the direct radiolabeled antiglobulin assay and the direct immunobead binding test for detection of sperm-associated antibodies

Thirty-seven semen samples were assayed for sperm-associated IgG and IgA using the immunobead test. Portions of these sperm samples were sent for testing with a direct radiolabeled antiglobulin assay and the testing results were compared. If the results of the immunobead test when only tail-tip bead binding was noted are regarded as negative, there was close correlation between the two assay methodologies.     

Intrafractional motion during proton beam scanning

Patient and internal organ motion during treatment with a scanned proton beam can introduce unplanned heterogeneities in the dose distribution throughout the irradiated volume. With static beam techniques, a margin around the target volume is added to compensate for patient and organ motion. This margin may not provide the solution with dynamic beam scanning. Intrafractional motion parallel and perpendicular to the beam axis is studied using two different scanning methods on a cubic water phantom. The direction of motion relative to the beam scanning direction as well as the method of scanning the proton beam across the target has a significant effect on the resulting dose distribution within the target volume. In the extreme cases studied here up to 100% of the target receives a dose outside the recommended limits, with a minimum dose as low as 34% of the prescribed dose.     

Characterization of the cercaria of Bucephalus polymorphus Baer, 1827 (Trematoda, Bucephalidae): chetotaxy and excretory system

We describe the excretory system and the chetotaxy of the cercaria of Bucephalus polymorphus Baer, 1827 which develops in Dreissena polymorpha (Lamellibranch, Dreissenidae) in South-East of France. We compare our observations with those realised in Poland and we discuss about the differences observed.