Breakthrough Method Research Articles

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AUSTRALIA – Tissue Engineering Hopes for Mastectomy Patients. AUSTRALIA – Special Repair Enzyme in Kangaroos May Cure Skin Cancer. AUSTRALIA – World's First Transgenic Sweet Sorghum. AUSTRALIA – New Test Finds Chink in Cancer's Armor. AUSTRALIA – Major Advance in Human Antibody Therapy against Deadly Nipah Virus. AUSTRALIA – Centre of Kinomics to Open "Pandora's box" of Drug Development. CHINA – H1N1 Influenza Death Toll Triples in China. CHINA – China Okays GMO Rice Strain. CHINA – Largest-Ever Liver Proteins Database – Roadmap to Treatments for Hepatitis. CHINA – Two Longevity Genes Found. CHINA – China and WHO Set Up Influenza Research Center in Beijing. INDIA – Knowledge-Based Biotech Park in Himachal Pradesh. INDIA – 25 Years On, Bhopal Water Still Toxic. INDIA – Stem Cell Business Booms in India. SINGAPORE – Genetic Mapping on World's Largest Ethnic Population Yields Invaluable Information. SINGAPORE – Breakthrough Method to Study 3D Whole Genome Mapping. SINGAPORE – Cord Blood Proves Positive for Cerebral Palsy Treatment. SINGAPORE – Singapore the First in Asia to Launch New Biologic Treatment for Psoriasis. SINGAPORE – Dealing with Climate Change at the 2010 World Cities Summit in Singapore. SINGAPORE – Greater Cooperation on TCM Between Singapore and China. TAIWAN – Patterns in Dengue Fever Outbreaks Identified. TAIWAN – Taiwan and Canada Collaborate to Develop Asian Pneumonia Vaccine. TAIWAN – New Nano-drug to Cure Cancer Patients. TAIWAN – First Plant Medicine Center Operational in Taiwan. OTHER REGIONS — EUROPE – Treat HIV Patients Sooner. OTHER REGIONS — EUROPE – Studies Show Cancer Can be Passed on in the Womb. OTHER REGIONS — NORTH AMERICA – Enzyme May Hold Key to Long Life. OTHER REGIONS — NORTH AMERICA – United States Okays New Human Embryonic Stem Cell Lines for Research.

Quantitative data management in quality improvement collaboratives

BackgroundCollaborative approaches in quality improvement have been promoted since the introduction of the Breakthrough method. The effectiveness of this method is inconclusive and further independent evaluation of the method has been called for. For any evaluation to succeed, data collection on interventions performed within the collaborative and outcomes of those interventions is crucial. Getting enough data from Quality Improvement Collaboratives (QICs) for evaluation purposes, however, has proved to be difficult. This paper provides a retrospective analysis on the process of data management in a Dutch Quality Improvement Collaborative. From this analysis general failure and success factors are identified.DiscussionThis paper discusses complications and dilemma's observed in the set-up of data management for QICs. An overview is presented of signals that were picked up by the data management team. These signals were used to improve the strategies for data management during the program and have, as far as possible, been translated into practical solutions that have been successfully implemented.The recommendations coming from this study are:From our experience it is clear that quality improvement programs deviate from experimental research in many ways. It is not only impossible, but also undesirable to control processes and standardize data streams. QIC's need to be clear of data protocols that do not allow for change. It is therefore minimally important that when quantitative results are gathered, these results are accompanied by qualitative results that can be used to correctly interpret them.Monitoring and data acquisition interfere with routine. This makes a database collecting data in a QIC an intervention in itself. It is very important to be aware of this in reporting the results. Using existing databases when possible can overcome some of these problems but is often not possible given the change objective of QICs.Introducing a standardized spreadsheet to the teams is a very practical and helpful tool in collecting standardized data within a QIC. It is vital that the spreadsheets are handed out before baseline measurements start.

Cytokine-Based Log-Scale Expansion of Functional Murine Dendritic Cells

BackgroundLimitations of the clinical efficacy of dendritic cell (DC)-based immunotherapy, as well as difficulties in their industrial production, are largely related to the limited number of autologous DCs from each patient. We here established a possible breakthrough, a simple and cytokine-based culture method to realize a log-scale order of functional murine DCs (>1,000-fold), which cells were used as a model before moving to human studies.Methodology/Principal FindingsFloating cultivation of lineage-negative hematopoietic progenitors from bone marrow in an optimized cytokine cocktail (FLT3-L, IL-3, IL-6, and SCF) led to a stable log-scale proliferation of these cells, and a subsequent differentiation study using IL-4/GM-CSF revealed that 3-weeks of expansion was optimal to produce CD11b+/CD11c+ DC-like cells. The expanded DCs had typical features of conventional myeloid DCs in vitro and in vivo, including identical efficacy as tumor vaccines.Conclusions/SignificanceThe concept of DC expansion should make a significant contribution to the progress of DC-based immunotherapy.

Experimental Study on Adsorption of Carbon Dioxide by 5A Molecular Sieve for Helium Purification of High-Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor

A fixed-bed apparatus with the dynamic two-route proportional gas mixing system was designed to investigate the adsorption behavior of carbon dioxide on 5A molecular sieve for designing the helium purification system of high-temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGR). Experiments were performed at near atmospheric pressure, and the dynamic column breakthrough method was used to derive the single-component adsorption equilibrium of carbon dioxide with helium as the carrier gas. The breakthrough curves and the desorption curves were measured at low carbon dioxide partial pressure of 10−150 Pa and temperatures of 5−35 °C. By analyzing the breakthrough curve, both the equilibrium adsorption capacity and the kinetic adsorption capacity at the breakthrough point were determined. The effects of superficial velocity, temperature, gas feed concentration, adsorption pressure, and regeneration temperature on the adsorption capability were studied. The CO2 single-component adsorption isotherm at 10 °C was obtained and fi...

Matrix Projection Exposure Using an Analogue Liquid Crystal Display Panel in Place of a Reticle

The most serious problems for the matrix projection exposure using a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel in place of a reticle are largely solved by a new breakthrough method. LCD matrix exposure is effective for small volume productions of print circuits, screen masks, micromachine parts, and other items. Since no reticles are needed, all reticle costs are saved, and turnaround times required for changing the patterns are greatly shortened. However, in the conventional method, pattern widths and positions were strictly restricted depending on the geometric size and pitch of the liquid crystal cells. In this paper, a new concept appointing the cell brightness grades continuously using an analogue interface LCD panel is proposed. Calculating the image intensity distributions for various appointments of cell brightness balances to print same wide patterns, it is clarified that the pattern widths and positions are not much different if the pattern widths are wider than 2 cell pitches of the LCD panel. Maximum width and position variations are less than ± 10% even when the patterns are printed at arbitrary positions, of course including halfway ones. The calculated results are proved by experiments using an analogue LCD panel with a cell pitch of 15 μm. Though the cell size are 13 × 10 μm2, and different in x and y directions, almost same wide line-and-space patterns are successfully printed at all positions by only one exposure. It is not necessary to shift the reticle for overlapping exposures to print smooth patterns. Oblique patterns and complicated Chinese character patterns are also printed at arbitrary positions. The new breakthrough technology will make the LCD matrix exposure promising for wide uses of printing various rough patterns easily at small costs.

Separation of Lithium Isotopes by Tetraazamacrocycles Tethered to Merrifield Peptide Resin

Tetraazamacrocyclic ion exchangers tethered to Merrifield peptide resin (DTDM, TTTM) were prepared and the ion exchange capacity of these was characterized. The isotope separation of lithium was determined using breakthrough method of column chromatography. The isotope separation coefficient was strongly dependent on the ligand structure by Glueckaufs theory. We found that the isotope separation coefficients were increased as the values of distribution coefficients were increased. In this experiment the lighter isotope, 6 Li was enriched in the resin phase, while the heavier isotope, 7 Li in the solution phase. The ion radius of lighter isotope, 6 Li was shorter than the heavier isotope, 7 Li. The hydration number of lithium ion with the same charge became small as mass number was decreased. Because 6 Li was more strongly retained in the resin than 7 Li, the isotopes of lithium were separated with subsequent enrichment in the resin phase.

Crucial problem in rapid spectrophotometric determination of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene and its breakthrough method

A rapid spectrophotometric determination for 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) is significant because this method is suitable for simultaneous analyses of the numerous samples. We found one problem that TNT reduction products interfere with the TNT detection in this assay, and we overcame this problem by heating the samples at 95 °C, resulting in the production of compounds that did not interfere.

Effect of Lying on Gastric Electrical Rhythm

Purpose: The gastrointestinal tract is uniquely sensitive to mental stress, reflecting the communication between the central nervous system and the enteric nervous system. We hypothesized that this relationship could be exploited to provide insight into the psychological state of an individual when lying by analyzing changes in gastric physiology. Current lie detection methods (using standard polygraph) rely on non- GI physiological changes (ie. heart rate and sweating), but are only about 90% accurate and often unreliable. Methods: Sixteen healthy volunteers (13F, 3M) were recruited. Simultaneous electrogastrogram “EGG” and electrocardiogram “EKG” recordings were done for 3 periods, Baseline “BsL”, “Lying” and “Truth”; the later 2 being randomized. Autonomic activity was assessed via spectral analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) data derived from EKG. Gastric slow waves were assessed via spectral analysis of EGG signal. Statistical analysis was done using Student t-test and ANOVA as appropriate. Results: The 2nd channel of EGG, located on stomach proximal antral area, showed a significant decrease in% normal slow wave in Lying vs. BsL (75.39 ± 5.5 vs. 82.29 ± 4.47; P = 0.04). This may be attributed to significant increase in% arrhythmia in Lying vs. BsL (11.13 ± 3.87 vs. 6.35 ± 2.86; P = 0.02). HRV analysis showed a significant increase in average heart rate in Lying and Truth vs. BsL (75.76 ± 1.73; 74.4 ± 1.69 vs. 72.19 ± 1.43); (p = 0.05, 0.002, 0.001 respectively). There was a significant increase in sympathovagal balance in Lying vs. BsL (1.67 ± 0.33 vs. 1.35 ± 0.32; P = 0.045), which might be attributed to significant decrease in vagal activity in both Lying and Truth periods vs. BsL (0.32 ± 0.04 and 0.33 ± 0.04 vs. 0.4 ± 0.04; P = 0.026 and 0.003 respectively). Conclusions: Lying and truth telling are both associated with an increase in heart rate and sympathovagal balance. However, the act of lying is associated with a significant increase in gastric arrhythmia. Thus standard polygraph methods to assess heart rate variability may not perform as well as the EGG in distinguishing between lying and telling the truth. The addition of the EGG to standard polygraph methods has clear value in improving the accuracy of current lie detectors. In addition to a new, potentially breakthrough method for a variety of security applications, the results also provide understanding of the complex communication between the big brain and the little brain in the stomach. Further research in real-life situations and using larger numbers is necessary to validate these results.

Development of detailed action plans in the event of a sodium hydride spill/fire

AbstractThe Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) has developed a process for managing chemical reactivity hazards, such as water‐reactive/pyrophoric sodium hydride. This coupled with a recent fire while handling sodium hydride, at a pharmaceutical production facility, revealed gaps in the handling and emergency response process as well as in the emergency response materials used for spills of sodium hydride. A detailed action plan (DAP) was developed for personnel handling sodium hydride, as well as emergency first responders. The DAP identified actions in the event of a spill or fire for material handlers, emergency first responders, and the subsequent safe disposition of the contained material. Development of the DAP for sodium hydride required in‐house testing of various fire‐extinguishing agents and the benchmarking of best practices within the pharmaceutical and chemical industries. The optimum method or template chosen to develop the DAP was adaptable to conditions both in warehouses and in production buildings. Laboratory testing followed by field testing with up to 0.5 kg of sodium hydride identified damp sand in combination with liquid nitrogen as the superior agents to smother, contain, and permit transport to a suitable disposition area for destruction of unreacted sodium hydride. The template and method used to create the sodium hydride DAP may have applications for other water‐reactive/pyrophoric reagents.The use of wet sand with liquid nitrogen as a smothering agent promises to be a unique and potentially breakthrough method for smothering and transporting spilled water‐reactive/pyrophoric reagents. Additional testing is planned for other water‐reactive/pyrophoric reagents to assess the use of these emergency response materials and to develop additional DAPs. © 2005 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Process Saf Prog

Strain Gradient Influence on Diffusion Coefficients of Deuterium in Absorption and Desorption of Deuterium in Pd81Pt19 Membrane

The diffusion of deuterium through a Pd81Pt19 membrane was investigated. At six temperatures in the range 278.2-328.2 K the diffusion coefficients were determined by breakthrough method for the membrane with no initial content of deuterium. The determined activation energy of diffusion of deuterium equals E = 26.4 kJ/mol. The solubility of deuterium in Pd81Pt19 alloy at 278.2 K was measured by volumetric method. The influence of self-stresses on diffusion of deuterium was investigated by determination of diffusion coefficients for the Pd81Pt19 membrane with different initial contents of deuterium at 278.2 K.

Concentration transfer function of hydrogen diffusion in self-stressed metals

The effects of self-stress on the concentration transfer function of hydrogen diffusion in a continuous elastic solid-metal matrix were analyzed. A large thin-plate metal specimen saturated with hydrogen is the essential part of the system. The equilibrium is perturbed by a small-magnitude sine-wave input signal of hydrogen concentration applied at one surface of the specimen. In response, oscillations of hydrogen concentration appear at the opposite surface. The concentration transfer function is defined as the ratio of the stationary response to input signals. The derived diffusion equations are non-linear. They are linearized, and then solved analytically. The resulting transfer function is discussed in terms of hydrogen permeation through a specimen of properties similar to palladium and Pd 81Pt 19 alloy, in wide ranges of hydrogen concentrations in the metal matrix and of frequencies of the signal. At relatively high frequencies, the system is highly sensitive to non-Fickian diffusion, resulting from the non-local effect of self-stress. Transfer function spectroscopy seems to be a more powerful tool for studying the hydrogen transport in self-stressed metals than the commonly used transient break-through method. In particular, it should allow the dependence of the hydrogen diffusion coefficient and of the elastic modulus of metal–hydrogen solids on the hydrogen concentration to be studied.

Chiral supercritical fluid chromatography on porous graphitic carbon using commercial dimethyl β-cyclodextrins as mobile phase additive

Using dimethylated-β-cyclodextrin mixtures (MeCD) as chiral selectors in CO 2-polar modifier mobile phase and porous graphitic carbon as solid-phase, chiral supercritical (or subcritical) fluid chromatography was performed. The adsorbed quantity of MeCD onto the porous graphitic carbon (Hypercarb) was measured for various chiral selector concentrations using the breakthrough method with evaporative light scattering detector. The effects of MeCD concentration in the mobile phase, the nature of the polar modifier, the outlet pressure, the column temperature and the nature of the commercial MeCD mixture on the retention and the enantioselectivities were studied. For a given solute, the enantioselectivity is greatly dependent on the commercial MeCD mixture used. The retention mechanism was also studied. From the data, we find that the dominant mechanism for the chiral discrimination is the diastereoisomeric complexation in the mobile phase.

Diffusion of hydrogen in self-stressed metals — transfer function spectroscopy approach

The transfer function spectroscopy approach to the diffusion of hydrogen in a self-stressed isotropic elastic metal matrix is proposed. The system should be close to equilibrium. It is perturbed by a sine-wave input signal applied at one surface of the thin-plate specimen. The magnitude of this signal, of varied frequency, is small enough to treat the system as linear. The response signal is measured at the opposite surface of the specimen. The transfer function is the ratio of steady-state response to input signals. The hydrogen concentration and hydrogen flux are the input and output signals, respectively. The diffusion equations are derived, and they are solved analytically. The resulting transfer function is discussed in terms of hydrogen permeation through a specimen of properties similar to palladium and Pd 81Pt 19 alloy, in a wide range of hydrogen concentrations in the metal matrix. It is demonstrated that at relatively high frequencies the transfer function is highly sensitive to the non-Fickian diffusion, resulting from the non-local effect of self-stress. In contrast, at infinitesimally low frequency, i.e. at steady-state, both local and non-local effects compensate. Hence, the self-stress is absent. Under the proposed experimental conditions the transfer function spectroscopy is more appropriate for studying the diffusion of hydrogen in self-stressed metals than the commonly used transient break-through method. It should allow the study of the diffusion coefficient of hydrogen in metals, and, moreover, of the elastic modulus of metal–hydrogen solids, both these quantities as function of hydrogen concentration in isotropic matrixes.

CONTEMPORARY APPROACH TO THE MALE INFERTILITY EVALUATION

Evaluation of infertile couples has revealed that male factor infertility contributes to the problem in up to 50% of cases. Evaluation of the male infertility patient may include endocrine studies, sophisticated semen testing, and select radiographic studies. Reversible and life-threatening causes of male infertility should be identified before proceeding directly to assisted reproductive technology. For cases with irreversible causes, a proper evaluation can identify patients who may be treated with the breakthrough method of intracytoplasmic sperm injection. Many men who were previously thought to be infertile may now initiate their own biologic pregnancies. This article emphasizes the essentials of the contemporary approach to evaluating the male factor in an infertile couple.

From Action Research to System in Environments: A Method

This paper describes a breakthrough method for obtaining a quantitative picture of an organization in its environments from qualitative Search Conference data. As such it validates the concept of a system in transaction with its environments, the relevant uncertainty of the current extended social environment with its mixture of ideal seeking and maladaption, and many other OST(E) constructs. The organization is a region of the USDA–Forest Service which used a series of 13 Searches to plan the future of the region. The overall picture produced demonstrates how the method extends the joint purposes of social science to generate further hypotheses about changing systems in today's global social field. It also shows that three beliefs in the social science literature can be dispelled; (1) it is difficult to measure complex phenomena, (2) qualitative and quantitative data are incommensurate, and (3) only a small number of variables can be handled simultaneously.

Dynamic ligand-exchange chiral stationary phases derived from N-substituted ( S)-phenylglycinol selectors

Six chiral stationary phases based on N-substituted ( S-phenylglycinol were synthesised and dynamically loaded onto octadecyl-silica gel column. The effect of the alkyl (C 7, C 9, C 12) and aryl (methoxybenzyl, naphtylmethyl, anthrylmethyl) anchor moieties and influence of various chromatographic conditions (concentration of copper(II) ions, pH of the mobile phase, column temperature and organic modifier addition) on retention and enantioselectivity of the chiral columns toward selected α-amino acids were studied. The surface concentrations of chiral selectors, determined using the breakthrough method, were found to be in the range of 0.66–0.88 μmol/m 2. The order of elution of α-amino acid enantiomers was found to be R< S on the N-C 12-( S)-phenylglycinol and all N-aryl-( S)-phenylglycinol phases but a reversed elution order ( S< R) was observed on the N-C 7- and N-C 9-( S)-phenylglycinol phases.

Role of alkyl and aryl substituents in chiral ligand exchange chromatography of amino acids study using porous graphitic carbon coated with N-substituted- l-proline selectors

Five chiral stationary phases were prepared by coating the surface of porous graphitic carbon with a series of N-substituted l-proline chiral selectors. The N-substituents served as anchor molecules for immobilization of chiral selectors on the support material. The effect of the alkyl (C 7, C 9, C 12) and aryl (naphthylmethyl, anthrylmethyl) anchor molecules on retention and enantioselectivity were studied using thirty-six amino acid enantiomers as probe compounds. The surface concentrations of the chiral selectors, determined using the breakthrough method, were found to be in the range 0.39–0.68 μmol m −2. The coated PGC phases all showed appreciable enantioselectivity for both non-polar and acidic amino acids with the naphthylmethyl- l-proline showing the greatest overall values. The N-substituents were shown to have strong influence on retention and enantioselectivity. An increase in the chain length of the alkyl N-substituents resulted in improved enantioselectivity whereas the retention decreased. However, with the aryl N-substituents, both the retention and enantioselectivity decreased with an increase in the ring number of the aryl substituent. The retention order for the majority of the amino acids examined was the same on all the columns, that is d > l . These behaviours were interpreted in terms of the involvement of the N-substituent in intramolecular hydrophobic interactions responsible for the observed chiral recognition.

Adsorption and Desorption Behavior of Tritiated Water on the Piping Materials

The behavior of tritium on the surface of various piping materials must be investigated for establishment of the safety confinement technology of tritium or for development of the effective fuel handling technology in a D-T fusion reactor, because tritiated water or gaseous tritium is captured on the piping surface through adsorption or isotope exchange reaction. The present authors carried out the water adsorption and desorption experiments on 304 stainless steel, copper, and aluminum in the temperature range from 5 to 100°C and in the partial pressure range of water vapor between 11.8 and 198Pa using a breakthrough method and quantified the amount of water adsorbed and the overall mass transfer coefficients in adsorption and desorption of water. It was observed in this study that aluminum adsorbed more water than stainless steel or copper. It was also observed that the adsorption and desorption rates of water for three materials showed almost the same values. The breakthrough behavior of tritiated water in a 100 m pipe of stainless steel was also evaluated applying the results of this work. It is concluded that water adsorption and desorption reactions influence the behavior of tritiated water in the piping system under the condition where the partial pressure of tritiated water vapor is lower than several pascals.

Chiral chromatography of amino acids on porous graphitic carbon coated with a series of N-substituted l-phenylalanine selectors effect of the anchor molecule on enantioselectivity

Six chiral stationary phases were prepared by coating the surface of porous graphitic carbon (PGC) with a series of N-substituted l-phenylalanine chiral selectors. The N-substituents served as anchor molecules for immobilization of chiral selectors on the support material. The effect of the alkyl (C 7, C 9, C 12) and aryl (methoxybenzyl, naphthylmethyl, anthrylmethyl) anchor molecules on retention and enantioselectivity was studied using 36 amino acid enantiomers as probe compounds. The surface concentrations of the chiral selectors, determined using the breakthrough method, were found to be in the range 0.55–1.26 μmol/m 2. The coated PGC phases all showed appreciable enantioselectivity for both non-polar and acidic amino acids, but basic amino acids were predominantly unretained. The order of retention of a pair of amino acid enantiomers was l > d on the alkyl- l-phenylalanine phases but a reversed retention order ( d > l ) was observed aryl-substituted l-phenylalanine phases. The chromatographic properties of each of the chiral stationary phases were compared in terms of retention order, enantioselectivity and diastereomeric complex stability. The reversal of the elution order on these two types of phases is discussed in relation to competitive intramolecular interactions involved in transient diasteriomeric complexes.

Adsorption and Desorption Behavior of Tritiated Water on the Piping Materials.

The behavior of tritium on the surface of various piping materials must be investigated for establishment of the safety confinement technology of tritium or for development of the effective fuel handling technology in a D-T fusion reactor, because tritiated water or gaseous tritium is captured on the piping surface through adsorption or isotope exchange reaction. The present authors carried out the water adsorption and desorption experiments on 304 stainless steel, copper, and aluminum in the temperature range from 5 to 100°C and in the partial pressure range of water vapor between 11.8 and 198Pa using a breakthrough method and quantified the amount of water adsorbed and the overall mass transfer coefficients in adsorption and desorption of water. It was observed in this study that aluminum adsorbed more water than stainless steel or copper. It was also observed that the adsorption and desorption rates of water for three materials showed almost the same values. The breakthrough behavior of tritiated water in a 100 m pipe of stainless steel was also evaluated applying the results of this work. It is concluded that water adsorption and desorption reactions influence the behavior of tritiated water in the piping system under the condition where the partial pressure of tritiated water vapor is lower than several pascals.