Large-scale vibrating coil magnetometer for the magnetic characterization of bulk superconductors.

This work presents the design and validation of a vibrating coil magnetometer for the characterization of the field dependence of the critical current density of centimeter-sized bulk superconductors as an alternative to the destructive methods typically used. The magnetometer is also shown to be capable of measuring the magnetic moment in an applied field of up to 5 T for diverse magnetic materials, such as soft and hard ferromagnets and high-temperature superconducting pellets. The vibrating coil magnetometer was first optimized using finite element simulations and calibrated using a commercial vibrating sample magnetometer. The vibrating coil magnetometer was benchmarked with hysteresis measurements of a Nd2Fe14B disk made with a commercial hysteresisgraph, showing good agreement between the different setups. The magnetic hysteresis of a YBa2Cu3O7-x superconducting pellet was measured at 77 K, showing a penetration field of 1 T and an irreversibility field of 4 T. The field dependent critical current density of the superconductor was then inferred from the magnetic hysteresis measurements and extrapolated at low fields. Finally, the resulting critical current density was used to successfully reproduce the measured magnetization curve of the pellet at 2 T with finite element simulations.

Neuroleptic malignant syndrome and cardiac surgery. A case report.

Aortic valve replacement complicated with protracted agitation in an obese man was treated with 36 mg of haloperidol in the first 36 hours after surgery. Five days after surgery, Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome was diagnosed.

A look at the Salomé-Freud correspondence.

The author notes that the changing emphasis of the correspondence between Lou Andreas-Salomé and Sigmund Freud over the years reflects certain aspects of the development of every analyst. Her contributions are shown to illustrate the evolution of the analyst's relationship with theory and the growth of his or her clinical capacity and involvement. Two phases in the analyst's clinical progression are stated to be discernible in the correspondence, marked by changes of direction that mirror the changing nature of her relationship with Freud. Theoretical considerations predominate in the first phase, while clinical aspects gradually come to the fore in the second. Freud is seen to be offering Salomé a kind of supervision by letter. Lou's underlying transference to Freud also emerges from the correspondence, its two aspects being the relationship to a big brother and to a father respectively. Freud's complementary transference to Salomé is also discussed, partly in connection with her relationship with his daughter Anna. The author's arguments are supported by extensive quotations from the correspondence, biographical works and Lou Andreas-Salomé's published diaries and reminiscences. Last but not least, her relationship with Freud in the author's view indirectly raises the issue of that of any analyst to the founder of psychoanalysis.

Comparative analysis of expression of the proprotein convertases furin, PACE4, PC1 and PC2 in human lung tumours.

Proprotein convertases mediate the production of a variety of peptidic mitogens by limited proteolysis of their precursors. These proteases may also participate in the autocrine production of such mitogens by cancer cells and thus contribute to the unchecked proliferation of these cells. As a step towards defining this contribution, we have examined the levels of four convertase mRNAs in human lung neoplasms using semiquantitative Northern blot analysis. Furin mRNA was expressed in all the tumours; its level in squamous cell carcinomas and adenocarcinomas was on average about threefold higher than in small-cell lung carcinomas (SCLCs). PACE4 transcripts were detected in eight of 14 adenocarcinomas and in seven of 17 squamous cell carcinomas; they were detectable in only two of seven SCLCs. PC1 mRNA was undetected in squamous cell carcinomas and in all but two adenocarcinomas; it was present in four of six SCLCs. PC2 mRNA was found in two adenocarcinomas, in one squamous cell carcinoma and in five of seven SCLCs. This preliminary survey indicates that SCLCs often carry more mRNA for the endocrine convertases PC1 and PC2 and less mRNA for the more ubiquitous furin and PACE4, suggesting inverse roles of these convertases in the development of this neoplasm.

Interpretation and affect: aliquis.

Freud's (1901) examination of the motives of the young man who forgot the word 'aliquis' is used to examine the respective roles of representation and affect in interpretation. The author bases his discussion on a controversy dating back to André Green's paper on affect (1970). Three different types of representation are identified in the 'aliquis' episode. The quality of the affect connected with these three representational series varies according to the vicissitudes of the affect after repression. Freud's interpretation is organised around derivatives of these three representational series; these derivatives form a new sequence, the 'internal spiral', which is the locus of the interpretation. In 'aliquis' Freud manages the affect, using it as a support rather than interpreting it. A paradoxical function of interpretation is postulated, suggesting that its revelatory effect may be based on the maintenance of repression in a different register.

Calcium-induced aggregation of neuroendocrine protein 7B2 in vitro and its modulation by ATP.

To study the behavior of the neuroendocrine polypeptide 7B2 in the presence of calcium, various fragments of this molecule were produced in Escherichia coli as fusion proteins to glutathione S-transferase (GST). Addition of millimolar concentrations of Ca2+ to purified preparations of hybrid molecules carrying the N-terminal segment of 7B2 induced precipitation in a manner dependent on protein and cation concentrations. This precipitation occurred at pH 7.5 but not at pH 5.2. It was augmented by 4 and 8 mM ATP, and reduced by 12 and 24 mM ATP. ADP had a similar but weaker effect. Calcium failed to cause precipitation of GST alone or of GST fused to the C-terminal peptide 7B2(156-186). However, when the latter protein was mixed with a GST protein carrying a short fragment of the N-terminal region of 7B2, both proteins were precipitated by calcium. Except for the pH dependence, the behavior of 7B2 fusion proteins in the presence of calcium and adenosine nucleotides are reminiscent of those exhibited by chromogranins and secretogranins, which, like 7B2, are acidic proteins found in the secretory granules of a variety of neuroendocrine cells. As suggested for other granins, this property may underlie the segregation of 7B2 fragments into secretory granules.

Dreaming about the session.

Dreams about the analytic session in which the analyst appears undisguised but the setting is changed are reported by most analysands. Such dreams are studied here as indicators of sensitive moments in the analysis. They are counterproposals by the analysand to the analytic activity of the analyst. They occur when the analyst's activity needs to be denied because it is experienced traumatically. Two particular disruptions are explored: the challenging of a narcissistic resistance, and one countertransferentially inspired deep interpretation.

Structure of the gene for the testis-specific proprotein convertase 4 and of its alternate messenger RNA isoforms.

Proprotein convertase 4 (PC4) is a mammalian secretory serine endoproteinase similar to the yeast KEX2 gene product and specifically expressed in testicular germs cells. PC4 mRNA isoforms that vary in size and 3' coding sequence have been reported (N. G. Seitah, R. Day, J. Hamelin, A. Gaspar, M. W. Collard, and M. Chrétien, 1992, Mol. Endocrinol. 6: 1559-1570). To determine the origin of these various forms, the mouse PC4 gene was cloned and its organization determined. The structural gene is approximately 9.5 kb long. It contains 15 exons and 14 introns. The exon-intron organization is very similar to that of the genes for the related convertases furin, PC1, and PC2. The upstream region carries several GGGCGG and three CCAAT but no TATAA motifs. Analysis of the 5' end of PC4 mRNA in the testis has led to the identification of two novel 5' splice variants that might encode a nonsecretory enzyme. The multiple forms of PC4 mRNA can all be explained by alternate splicing of primary transcripts of a single gene.

[Denial in coronary heart disease]. / Le déni dans la maladie coronarienne.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the extent and the significance of the psychologic mechanism of denial in coronary heart disease. This problem is known to be frequent, but its significance remains controversial. DATA SOURCES: From the bibliographies of recent publications, the author traced 21 empirical studies on denial in coronary heart disease published during the last 25 years. STUDY SELECTION: For a chronologic and historical approach all the studies were retained. The oldest had a qualitative and descriptive approach; the most recent used a scale of measurement. DATA EXTRACTION: This review examines the clinical data found in the publications and does not critically analyse the measurement tools. RESULTS: The results show that the ambiguity of the question arises from three aspects that have to be clarified: (1) there is a difference between the short-term effect and the long-term effect of denial in coronary heart disease; (2) part of the contradictory results could be linked to the scale of measure; and (3) the concept of denial is a notion that is used in an equivocal way that is not clarified even by the precision of the scale of measurement. CONCLUSIONS: Persistence of denial would have negative effects in the long term. The scale of Hackett and Cassem is useful in measuring denial in the acute stage but not in the rehabilitation stage. The very notion of denial is used ambiguously in several of the studies examined.

[Psychiatric consultations in a general hospital (III): Positions of the consultant]. / Consultations psychiatriques dans un hôpital général (III): positions du consultant.

Various clinical situations are described to illustrate the specific psychological assumptions toward which the psychiatric consultant is drawn in the course of daily liaison work in the general hospital. The purpose is to stress the usefulness and relevance of hitherto known models of consultation and models of patient-doctor relationships.

cDNA sequence of neuroendocrine protein 7B2 expressed in beta cell tumors of transgenic mice.

The cDNA for a widely distributed neuroendocrine protein called 7B2 has been cloned from beta cell tumors of transgenic mice and sequenced. As deduced from the cDNA sequence, 7B2 is a secretory protein of 186 amino acids, nearly identical to its human and porcine homologs. The presence of several pairs of basic residues in the carboxyl terminal portion of the protein suggests that 7B2 can undergo proteolytic maturation in secretory granules and thus generate potential bioactive peptides. 7B2 mRNA is about 1.5 kilobase long and is apparently transcribed from a single gene per haploid genome. The use of tissue-specific promoters to express oncogenes in rare cell types of transgenic mice is a powerful tool for immortalization and expansion of these cells, and it facilitates the isolation and the study of rare proteins such as 7B2.

Localization of the human prostatic secretory protein PSP94 and its mRNA in the epithelial cells of the prostate.

The histologic distribution of a prostatic secretory protein of 94 amino acids (PSP94) and its mRNA were examined simultaneously by conventional immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization histochemistry. The results show localization of immunoreactive PSP94 and its mRNA in the epithelial cells of the prostate gland, thus providing strong evidence of PSP94 synthesis in these cells. Preliminary analysis of PSP94 by radioimmunoassay and of its mRNA by Northern blot analysis indicates that PSP94 biosynthesis in pathologic prostatic tissues is variable. The value of PSP94 as a marker of prostate gland secretory activity is discussed.

Delirium: 100 cases.

One hundred consecutive cases of delirium seen in a psychiatric consultation service of a general hospital are discussed. Two thirds of the patients came from pneumology and cardiology since the hospital serves as a regional thoracic center. The frequency of delirium was 12.6% of consultations: three men were seen for every one woman; 80% of cases were over fifty years of age. The clinical aspects of delirium are studied according to DSM-III criteria to evaluate: a) the frequency of the symptoms, b) the temporal course of the disorder, c) any clinical characteristic of delirium linked with potential etiological factors, d) the role of anxiety.