Rugged constant-temperature thermal anemometer.

Here we report a robust thermal anemometer which can be easily built. It was conceived to measure outdoor wind speeds and for airspeed monitoring in wind tunnels and other indoor uses. It works at a constant, low temperature of approximately 90 °C, so that an independent measurement of the air temperature is required to give a correct speed reading. Despite the size and high thermal inertia of the probe, the test results show that this anemometer is capable of measuring turbulent fluctuations up to ∼100 Hz in winds of ∼14 m/s, which corresponds to a scale similar to the length of the probe.

Experimental evidence of accelerated energy transfer in turbulence.

We investigate the vorticity dynamics in a turbulent vortex using scattering of acoustic waves. Two ultrasonic beams are adjusted to probe simultaneously two spatial scales in a given volume of the flow, thus allowing a dual channel recording of the dynamics of coherent vorticity structures. Our results show that this allows one to measure the average energy transfer time between different spatial length scales, and that such transfer goes faster at smaller scales.

Supuración crónica perianal por cuerpo extraño / Chronic perianal discharge caused by a foreign body

El empalamiento perineal es una lesión poco frecuente, que puede dar origen a un cuadro de supuración crónica perineal cuya etiología no es el habitual absceso o fístula perianal. Se presenta el caso de un paciente de 34 años que sufrió un empalamiento perineal en accidente laboral, presentando descarga purulenta perianal en forma casi permanente por cinco años. Durante su evolución se trató como una fístula, con fistulectomía parcial y ligadura elástica, sin remisión de la sintomatología. Se realizó fistulografía bajo TAC y colonoscopía con inyección de azul de metileno y agua oxigenada por el trayecto fistuloso, que no evidenciaron comunicación a recto, por lo que se decidió la exploración quirúrgica. Se extrajo un cuerpo extraño, correspondiente a tela, luego de lo cual se objetivó la cicatrización del orificio fistuloso a las dos semanas. El último control se realizó al mes de la cirugía.

Finite size scaling in the two-dimensional XY model and generalized universality.

In recent works [S. T. Bramwell, P. C. W. Holdsworth, and J.-F. Pinton, Nature (London) 396, 552 (1998); S. T. Bramwell et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 3744 (2000)], a generalized universality has been proposed, linking phenomena as dissimilar as two-dimensional (2D) magnetism and turbulence. To test these ideas, we performed Monte Carlo simulations of the 2D XY model. We found that the shape of the probability distribution function for the magnetization M is non-Gaussian and independent of the system size-in the range of the lattice sizes studied-below the Kosterlitz-Thoules temperature. However, our results suggest that in the full 2D XY model the shape of these distributions has a slight dependence on temperature-for finite volume-below the lattice-shifted critical temperature T*(L). This behavior can be explained by using renormalization group arguments and an extended finite-size scaling analysis, and by the existence of bounds for M.

Hernias complicadas: estudio retrospectivos de 369 casos / Complicated hernias: retrospective studies of 369 cases

Introducción: Las hernias complicadas constituyen una causa comun de consulta siendo su resolución muchas veces quirurgica. El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo estudiar la presentación clínica, distribución por sexo, grupo etario y mortalidad de las hernias complicadas en una serie nacional. Métodos: Se analizaron los casos de los pacientes hospitalizados que presentaban el diagnóstico de hernia complicada atendidos en Hospital de Urgencia Asistencia Publica durante el a¤o 2000 y se tabularon los siguientes datos para cada uno: días de hospitalización, sexo, edad, tipo de hernia (inguinal, incisional, crural, umbilical y epigástrica), complicaciones y estado al alta. Resultados: Se obtuvo un n de 369 pacientes. La relación hombre: mujer fue de 1:1,3, con un promedio de edad de 60,0 a¤os: El 82,11 por ciento fue a cirugía para su resolución. La hernia inguinales fueron las más frecuentes con 35.97 por ciento, mientras que la incisional fue 29,37 por ciento, la crural 17,82 por ciento, la umbilical 13,53 por ciento y la epigástrica 3,30 por ciento. Conclusiones: El cuadro de hernia abdominal complicada es frecuente, requiriendo muchas veces tratamiento quirurgico. Afecta en su mayoría a adultos mayores y mujeres. El tipo de hernia más frecuente es la inguinal

Detection of enterotoxigenic Clostridium perfringens in spices used in Mexico by dot blotting using a DNA probe.

Several reports on the microbiology of spices and herbs indicate the presence of Clostridium perfringens, a spore-forming foodborne pathogen responsible for gastrointestinal disease. In the present study, a total of 380 samples of spices and herbs (cumin seed, black pepper, oregano, garlic powder, and bay leaves) widely used in Mexico were analyzed for the presence of C. perfringens, and the enterotoxigenicity of the isolates was determined by a dot-blot technique using an enterotoxin degoxigenin-labeled DNA probe. C. perfringens counts varied from <100 to 433 CFU/g in garlic powder, from <100 to 200 CFU/g in black pepper, from <100 to 433 CFU/g in cumin seed, from <100 to 340 CFU/g in oregano, and from < 100 to 450 CFU/g in bay leaves. The dot-blot technique detected the enterotoxin gene in 8 (4.25%) of 188 confirmed isolates of C. perfringens. dot-blot.

Elevated zinc protoporphyrin associated with thalassemia trait and hemoglobin E.

OBJECTIVE: Increased zinc protoporphyrin/heme (ZPP/H) ratio has been used in pediatrics to screen for iron deficiency and lead poisoning. This study was conducted to determine whether common hereditary hemoglobin disorders (alpha- and beta-thalassemia traits, hemoglobin E) found in U.S. minority groups are associated with an increase in the ZPP/H ratio in an iron-sufficient population. METHODS: The database was compiled from hemoglobinopathy screens performed between 1987 and 1993 at a regional referral laboratory in Washington State. ZPP/H ratio and hemoglobin type were obtained for 326 subjects between the ages of 15 and 49 years of age who were iron sufficient (serum ferritin levels > or = 50 micrograms/L). RESULTS: The mean ZPP/H ratio was significantly higher (p < 0.01) for subjects with beta-thalassemia trait (87 +/- 32 micromol/mol), (alpha-thalassemia trait (73 +/- 37 micromol/mol), and hemoglobin E disorders (73 +/- 24 micromol/mol) than for subjects with normal hemoglobin values (60 +/- 8 micromol/mol). Fifty-one percent of subjects with beta-thalassemia trait, 22% with hemoglobin E, and 20% with alpha-thalassemia trait had elevated ZPP/H ratios (> 80 micromol/mol), compared with only 1.5% with normal hemoglobin values. CONCLUSIONS: The ZPP/H ratio is elevated in common hereditary hemoglobin disorders that mimic the microcytic anemia of iron deficiency, even in individuals without associated nutritional iron deficiency. For children who are treated for presumed iron deficiency, failure of the ZPP/H ratio to return to normal after adequate iron treatment, especially if microcytosis persists, indicates that a hereditary hemoglobin disorder may be present.

Isolation of inclusion bodies from vegetative Clostridium perfringens: partial purification of a 47 kDa inclusion protein.

A refractile inclusion body produced by vegetative cells of Clostridium perfringens at temperatures above 40 degrees C was isolated and partially characterized. The inclusion was composed of protein and could be solubilized by sodium dodecyl sulphate plus either dithiothreitol or beta-mercaptoethanol. The solubilized inclusion showed no antigenic relationship with Cl. perfringens enterotoxin. One major band with an apparent MW of 47 kDa was demonstrated after polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the solubilized inclusion. Both enterotoxin-positive and enterotoxin-negative strains produced the inclusion body. No effect on the morphology of several eucaryotic cell lines was observed when solubilized or intact inclusion was added to the cell cultures.

Sporulation and enterotoxin production by Clostridium perfringens type A at 37 and 43 degrees C.

Enterotoxin-positive strains of Clostridium perfringens were grown in Duncan-Strong sporulation medium in the presence of 0.4% (7.9 mM) raffinose at 37 and 43 degrees C. Enterotoxin- and heat-resistant spores were produced at similar concentrations but sooner at 43 degrees C than at 37 degrees C. There was a direct relationship between spore heat resistance and sporulation temperature (32, 37, and 43 degrees C).

Cáncer de la vesícula biliar / Gallbladder cancer

Durante los últimos 13 años (1976-1989) se han efectuado 5.152 intervenciones sobre vesícula y vía biliar en nuestro hospital, encontrándose un 3,0% de cáncer de la vesícula biliar. Se analiza su frecuencia según edad y sexo, apreciándose una alta incidencia de cáncer vesicular en mujeres mayores de 40 años (7,2%) y en hombres por encima de 50 años (3,8%), por lo que planteamos la colecistectomía profiláctica como una indicación de tratamiento preventivo. Se confirma la hipótesis de incidencia creciente de este cáncer ya que fue de 2,8% en 1976-1985 y de 3,3% en 1985-1989. La sobrevida a 5 años en esta serie es inferior al 1%

Influence of elevated temperature on starch hydrolysis by enterotoxin-positive and enterotoxin-negative strains of Clostridium perfringens type A.

Enterotoxin-positive (Ent+) and enterotoxin-negative (Ent-) strains of Clostridium perfringens were cultured in Duncan-Strong sporulation medium containing starch at 37 and 46 degrees C. At 37 degrees C, all strains degraded starch and sporulated well. However, only Ent- strains could hydrolyze starch, grow extensively, and sporulate at 46 degrees C. Growth, sporulation, and starch hydrolysis by Ent+ strains at 46 degrees C were equivalent to those obtained at 37 degrees C when alpha-amylase was added to the cultures during growth. The total amount of extracellular plus intracellular amylase in cultures of Ent+ strains was significantly less in cells incubated at 46 degrees C than in cells incubated at 37 degrees C. These results contradict an earlier report that Ent+ strains cannot sporulate well near their optimal growth temperature (R. G. Labbe and C. L. Duncan, Can. J. Microbiol. 20:1493-1501, 1974) and suggest that synthesis of alpha-amylase in Ent+ strains is regulated by temperature.

Growth, sporulation and enterotoxin production by Clostridium perfringens type A in the presence of human bile salts.

The effect of human bile juice and bile salts (sodium cholate, sodium taurocholate, sodium glycochenodeoxycholate and sodium chenodeoxycholate) on growth, sporulation and enterotoxin production by enterotoxin-positive and enterotoxin-negative strains of Clostridium perfringens was determined. Each bile salt inhibited growth to a different degree. A mixture of bile salts completely inhibited the growth of enterotoxin-positive strains of this organism. Human bile juice completely inhibited the growth of all the strains at a dilution of 1:320. A distinct stimulatory effect of the bile salts on sporulation was observed in the case of C. perfringens strains NCTC 8239 and NCTC 8679. The salts also increased enterotoxin concentrations in the cell extracts of the enterotoxin-positive strains tested. No effect on enterotoxin production was detected when an enterotoxin-negative strain was examined.