Broadband sample holder for microwave spectroscopy of superconducting qubits.

We present a practical design and implementation of a broadband sample holder suitable for microwave experiments with superconducting integrated circuits at millikelvin temperatures. Proposed design can be easily integrated in standard dilution cryostats, has flat pass band response in a frequency range from 0 to 32 GHz, allowing the RF testing of the samples with substrate size up to 4 × 4 mm(2). The parasitic higher modes interference in the holder structure is analyzed and prevented via design considerations. The developed setup can be used for characterization of superconducting parametric amplifiers, bolometers, and qubits. We tested the designed sample holder by characterizing of a superconducting flux qubit at 20 mK temperature.

Type 1 diabetes environmental factors and correspondence analysis of HLA class II genes in the Yemenite Jewish community in Israel.

OBJECTIVE: The Israeli Yemenite Jewish community has displayed an exceptionally rapid increase in the frequency of type 1 diabetes, having the highest rate of all Israeli ethnic groups. We studied the role of the environment, in relation to the nature and frequency of HLA class II genes, to evaluate its possible involvement in the development of diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We interviewed 196 elderly Yemenite women, who had immigrated to Israel as adults, in programmed encounters about signs and symptoms of type 1 diabetes, infant feeding customs, and infectious diseases in Yemen. We also performed HLA oligotyping of DRB1, DQA1, and DQB1 genes in 120 unrelated Yemenite Jews, including 44 type 1 diabetic patients and 76 healthy control subjects, and used these data in correspondence analysis comparing Yemenites with different Israeli ethnic groups. RESULTS: Interviews indicated that early exposure to cow's milk was very common in Yemen. However, none of the women could recall classical presentations of diabetes. HLA oligotyping showed that gene frequencies of non-Asp-57 (of the HLA-DQB chain) in the patients (0.94) and control subjects (0.6) were similar to those of other populations with a known high incidence of type 1 diabetes. Correspondence analysis revealed that Yemenite Jews are genetically distinct from other ethnic groups in Israel. CONCLUSIONS: The genetic distinctiveness of Yemenite Jews may explain their unusually high incidence of type 1 diabetes in Israel. Despite the presence of highly susceptible diabetogenic HL4 class II genes in this community, early exposure to cow's milk did not cause phenotypic expression of diabetes in Yemen. This finding suggests that in this population, either cow's milk does not play a crucial role in triggering diabetes, or environmentally conferred protection, such as frequent infectious disease in Yemen, was dominant.

Neonatal pig islets induce a lower T-cell response than adult pig islets in IDDM patients.

BACKGROUND: Pancreatic pig islets may provide a substitute in the future for difficult to obtain human islets for transplantation in insulin-dependent diabetes millitus (IDDM) patients. However, the immune response to xenografts may significantly hamper this approach. Because neonatal tissue is believed to be less immunogenic, we examined whether the T-cell response to neonatal pig islets differs from the response to adult islets. METHODS: The T-cell proliferative response to different concentrations of sonicated neonatal and adult pig islets, as well as to insulin and mitogens, was tested in 21 recent onset IDDM patients and 21 healthy controls. We determined the presence of various circulating islet autoantibodies and their association with the T-cell response in IDDM patients. RESULTS: In the IDDM patients, sonicated adult pig islets (at 1 microg protein/ml) induced a significantly higher frequency (12 of 21 vs. 1 of 21, p<0.001) and magnitude (2.58+/-0.44 vs. 1.38+/-0.13, p<0.02) of positive T-cell responses than neonatal islets at the same concentration. Similar results were obtained with a 10-fold higher concentration of islet sonicate. There was no significant association between the individual T-cell responses and the presence of circulating autoantibodies in IDDM patients. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that neonatal pig islets induce a lower T-cell reactivity than adult islets, suggesting that the neonatal tissue may be immunologically more suitable for future islet xenotransplantation.

[Bifidogenic factors as drug preparations]. / Bifidogennye faktory kak lekarstvennye preparaty.

The review of new data on the study of bifidobacterial factors of different origin and the probable mechanisms of their favorable action on the microflora of the intestinal tract if presented. The main emphasis is made on the analysis of data on the use of oligosaccharides, including fructo-oligosaccharides, as compounds stimulating the growth and development of bifidobacteria both in pure cultures and in intestinal microflora. Methods for the treatment of natural compounds with a view to enhancing their bifidogenic effect are presented. The possibilities and/or advantages of using bifidogenic factors in vivo and in vitro as medicinal preparations either alone or incorporated in probiotic compositions are evaluated. Suggestion has been made that the choice of the method for using bifidogenic factors may depend on the kind and severity of disturbances in indigenous microflora.

[Islet autoantibody assays in type I diabetes: superiority of passage from use of ICA to traditional tests].

Islet cell antibodies (ICA) continue to serve as the basis of the principal serological test for definition of active autoimmunity of beta-cells. Its disadvantages are the need for human pancreatic tissue and difficulty in obtaining quantitative results. In the past decade biochemically-defined beta-cell antigens were described, leading to the development of sensitive and specific autoantibody assays, to predict insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). We examined the value of combined biochemically-based serological assays, such as autoantibodies to insulin (IAA), glutamic acid decarboxylase (GADA) and ICA512 (ICA512A) to replace the traditional ICA assay. Blood samples of 114 newly diagnosed IDDM patients, aged 12 +/- 5 yrs (range 2 months-29 years) were tested for ICA (indirect immunofluorescence), IAA, GADA and ICA512A (radiobinding assay). The latter 2 assays were performed using recombinant human [35S]-labeled antigen produced by in vitro transcription/translation. We found that fewer sera scored positive for ICA and/or IAA (80.7%, 92/114) than for 1 or more of IAA, GAD, or ICA512 (88.6%, 101/114). We conclude that combined testing for IAA, GAD and ICA512 can replace the traditional ICA/IAA test to predict IDDM and is helpful in the differential diagnosis of insulin-dependent and noninsulin-dependent diabetes.

[The development and clinical evaluation of the probiotic Bifidumbacterin forte]. / Razrabotka i klinicheskaia otsenka probiotika "Bifidumbakterin forte".

A new probiotic "Bifidumbacterin forte" containing bifidobacteria immobilized on carbon sorbent has been developed. The results of extensive clinical observation on the use of the preparation in patients (children and adults) with the infectious and surgical pathology of the gastrointestinal tract are presented. The clinico-bacteriological effect thus obtained makes it possible to recommend this new probiotic "Bifidumbacterin forte" for medical practice for the complex treatment of children and adults with acute and chronic diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.

Non-traditional risk factors for atherosclerosis in high risk children.

Non-traditional risk factors for atherosclerosis were examined in children whose fathers suffered from myocardial infarction up to age 48. Factors examined were hyperinsulinemia, insulin resistance, lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)], fibrinogen, cardiovascular hyperreactivity, and autonomic nervous system dysfunction. Hyperinsulinemia was present in five cases (9%) and hypoinsulinemia in two. Insulin output following glucose load was significantly higher in obese children compared with controls. There was an increase in Lp(a) alone in 14 cases (24%) and with low density lipoprotein in 6 cases. Increased fibrinogen and positive correlation with insulin abnormality was present in 29% (76% females) (P >0.02). Cardiac hyperreactivity (increased systolic blood pressure) was present in 9% and increased blood pressure and pulse rate in 17%. Holter monitoring pattern was sympathetic in 39% and parasympathetic in 47% of cases. Thus a number of non-traditional risk factors were found to be higher than normal in a relatively large number of children at high risk for atherosclerosis, with 25 children having more than three risk factors.

[The probiotic correction of microecological and immune disorders in gastroduodenal pathology in children]. / Korrektsiia probiotikami mikroékologicheskikh i immunnykh narushenii pri gastroduodenal'noi patologii u detei.

The state of microbiocenosis was studied and the level of immunoglobulins was determined in the gastric juice and feces of children with chronic diseases of the digestive system. In 20% of patients an increase in the contamination of the gastric biotope with opportunistic microflora was established. The isolation rate of Helicobacter pylori was 56%. The detection of H. pylori was found to be accompanied by the aggravation of the form and course of gastritis. In cases of Helicobacter-associated pathology the deficiency of Lactobacillus sp. in the stomach was established, which was accompanied by their deficiency and absence in feces. The study also revealed a decrease in the population level of Bifidobacterium sp. with a simultaneous increase in the population of opportunistic enterobacteria and changes in the state of local immunity: the decreased level of SIgA in most samples and the decreased level of IgG in the presence of H. pylori. The correction of microecological and immune disturbances with probiotic preparations, containing bifidobacteria (bifidumbacterin-forte) and lactobacilli, yielded good results.