Tokamak operation with safety factor q95 < 2 via control of MHD stability.

Magnetic feedback control of the resistive-wall mode has enabled the DIII-D tokamak to access stable operation at safety factor q(95) = 1.9 in divertor plasmas for 150 instability growth times. Magnetohydrodynamic stability sets a hard, disruptive limit on the minimum edge safety factor achievable in a tokamak, or on the maximum plasma current at a given toroidal magnetic field.

Design, synthesis, and structure-activity relationship of N-arylnaphthylamine derivatives as amyloid aggregation inhibitors.

Dyes like CR are able to inhibit the aggregation of Aβ fibrils. Thus, a screening of a series of dyes including ABBB (1) was performed. Its main component 2 tested in an in vitro assay (i.

ST1859 reduces prion infectivity and increase survival in experimental scrapie.

On the basis of the structural homologies between ST1859 (1[(2-hydroxy-1-naphtyl)methyl]-2-naphthol) and the anti-prion agents and its anti-amyloidogenic activity, we tested whether this molecule altered the biochemical properties of aggregates formed in vitro by synthetic prion peptides and affected prion infectivity in experimental scrapie. Co-incubation of ST1859 with the peptides PrP 106-126 and PrP 82-146 reduced their fibrillogenic capacity and their resistance to digestion with protease K. Hamsters inoculated with the ST1859-treated homogenate showed a significant delay in the onset of clinical signs of disease and longer survival.

Immunogenic, antigenic, fibrillogenic and inflammatory properties of new simplified beta-amyloid peptides.

The most promising approach in Alzheimer disease immunotherapy is represented by amyloid beta derivatives with low intrinsic neurotoxicity and minimal overall T cell responses. To avoid toxicity and autoimmune response, we have designed a new class of Abeta derivatives through segmentation of the original Abeta[1-42] peptide and application of the glycine substitution modification technology. Abeta[1-16], Abeta[13-28] and Abeta[25-42] fragments were selected in order to retain the major immunogenic sites of the Abeta[1-42] peptide.

[Vaginal tridimensionel ultrasound interest for the assessment of correct Essure sterilization micro-insert placement].

Objectives: To determine the interest and simplicity of 3D ultrasound for the 3-month check in place of the recommended routine radiologic in a general gynecology practice.

Patients And Method: Twenty-five patients had routine radiologic and transvaginal 3D ultrasound (Voluson 730 Expert) 3 months after placement of Essure micro-insert.

Results: Twenty-one 3D acquisitions were realized.

Fast-ion losses due to high-frequency MHD perturbations in the ASDEX upgrade Tokamak.

Time-resolved energy and pitch angle measurements of fast-ion losses correlated in frequency and phase with high-frequency magnetohydrodynamic perturbations have been obtained for the first time in a magnetic fusion device and are presented here. A detailed analysis of fast-ion losses due to toroidal Alfvén eigenmodes has revealed the existence of a new core-localized magnetohydrodynamic perturbation, the sierpes mode. The sierpes mode is a non-Alfvénic instability which dominates the losses of fast ions in ion cyclotron resonance heated discharges, and it is named for its footprint in the spectrograms ("sierpes" means "snake" in Spanish).

2-Aminotetraline derivative protects from ischemia/reperfusion brain injury with a broad therapeutic window.

The effect of ST1942, a 2-aminotetraline derivative with anti-inflammatory properties, was evaluated in ischemia/reperfusion injury in CD1 and C57BL/6 mice. ST1942 or saline were injected intraperitoneally 30 min and 6, 24, 36 h after ischemia. Forty-eight hours after ischemia, ST1942 (25 mg/kg) reduced the infarct volume by 50% in CD1 and 61% in C57BL/6 mice.

Active-feedback control of the magnetic boundary for magnetohydrodynamic stabilization of a fusion plasma.

Stable operation with control on magnetohydrodynamic modes has been obtained in the modified reversed field experiment employing a set of 192 feedback controlled saddle coils. Improvements of plasma temperature, confinement (twofold), and pulse length (threefold) and, as a consequence of the magnetic fluctuation reduction, strong mitigation of plasma-wall interaction and mode locking are reported.

A positron emission tomography microdosing study with a potential antiamyloid drug in healthy volunteers and patients with Alzheimer's disease.

This work describes a microdosing study with an investigational, carbon 11-labeled antiamyloid drug, 1,1'-methylene-di-(2-naphthol) (ST1859), and positron emission tomography (PET) in healthy volunteers (n = 3) and patients with Alzheimer's disease (n = 6). The study aimed to assess the distribution and local tissue pharmacokinetics of the study drug in its target organ, the human brain. Before PET studies were performed in humans, the toxicologic characteristics of ST1859 were investigated by an extended single-dose toxicity study according to guidelines of the Food and Drug Administration and European Medicines Agency, which are relevant for clinical trials with a single microdose.

Measurements of the MHD dynamo in the quasi-single-helicity reversed-field pinch.

The first experimental study of the MHD dynamo in a quasi-single-helicity (QSH) reversed-field pinch toroidal plasma is presented. In QSH plasmas, a dominant wave number appears in the velocity fluctuation spectrum. This velocity component extends throughout the plasma volume and couples with magnetic fluctuations to produce a significant MHD dynamo electric field.

Observations of multiple magnetic islands in the core of a reversed field pinch.

We describe in this Letter the first measurement of multiple islands in the core of a reversed field pinch (RFP). These islands appear with current profile modification leading to magnetic fluctuation reduction in the Madison symmetric torus RFP. Magnetic island widths decrease to an unprecedented level, reducing the overlap of adjacent islands and allowing distinct islands to appear.

In vivo and in vitro cytokine modulatory activity of newly synthesised 2-aminotetraline derivatives.

In the present study, the protective effect of newly synthesised 2-aminotetralines was investigated in murine models of toxic shock. A few derivatives protected mice against lethality induced by lipopolysaccharide from different bacterial strains and shock induced by staphylococcal enterotoxin B in mice sensitized by D-Galactosamine (D-Galn). Notably, one derivative, S(-)-2-amino-6-fluoro-7-methoxy-1,2,3,4 tetrahydronaphthalene hydrochloride (ST1214), was also effective when administered orally (30 mg kg-1) in a therapeutic regimen.

Prognostic value of lymphovascular space invasion determined with hematoxylin-eosin staining in early stage cervical carcinoma: results of a multivariate analysis.

Background: Our aim was to study the prognostic value of the presence of lymphovascular space invasion (LVSI) in patients with stage IB and II cervical carcinoma treated by initial surgery.

Patients And Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on 193 patients who underwent, between 1985 and 1998, an initial radical hysterectomy with pelvic (+/- para-aortic) lymphadenectomy using midline laparotomy for stage IB (180 patients) or II (13 patients) cervical carcinoma. Postoperative therapy was delivered according to prognostic factors.

[Unusual anorectal anomalies. A clinical contribution].

Anorectal malformations (ARM) include a spectrum of anomalies which have been subdivided as "high", "intermediate" and "low"; a fourth group, defined as "miscellaneous", collects the forms which are most rarely observed. It is important, for a specialist, to know the last ones under the diagnostic and/or therapeutic profile. In this paper, the various problems observed in five cases of ARM considered particularly rare are analysed: a case of anorectal agenesia with recto-cloacal fistula and short uro-genital sinus; a rectal atresia with normal anal canal; a case of anorectal stenosis; an incomplete anal membrane; an anal agenesia with scrotal fistula.

[Vascular traumatic lesions in childhood and adolescence].

The authors report their experience about 35 peripheric vascular injuries in childhood and adolescence. They analyze the epidemiological and clinical data and underline the usefulness of careful clinical and instrumental diagnosis. In order to obtain the best result they stress the importance of early revascularization by suturing in short lesions and by autologous tissue in longer lesions.

Acetyl-L-carnitine restores choline acetyltransferase activity in the hippocampus of rats with partial unilateral fimbria-fornix transection.

Transection of the fimbria-fornix bundle in adult rats results in degeneration of the septohippocampal cholinergic pathway, reminiscent of that occurring in aging as well as Alzheimer disease. We report here a study of the effect of a treatment with acetyl-L-carnitine (ALCAR) in three-month-old Fischer 344 rats bearing a partial unilateral fimbria-fornix transection. ALCAR is known to ameliorate some morphological and functional disturbances in the aged central nervous system (CNS).

Inhaled formoterol in the prevention of exercise-induced bronchoconstriction in asthmatic children.

The duration and magnitude of the effect of inhaled formoterol (12 micrograms) against exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB) was compared with that of inhaled salbutamol (200 micrograms) and that of placebo in 15 children with asthma and EIB in a double-blind, double-dummy, within-patient, placebo-controlled study. The treatments were given by metered dose aerosol on three different days. The exercise test was performed at the 3rd and the 12th hour after dosing.

Acetyl-L-carnitine treatment increases choline acetyltransferase activity and NGF levels in the CNS of adult rats following total fimbria-fornix transection.

Transection of the fimbria-fornix in adult rats is a useful model for producing impairments of cholinergic activity in the hippocampus (HIPP) and atrophy of the medial septum cholinergic perikarya, similar to those observed during senescence, that are possibly due to the lack of nerve growth factor (NGF) retrogradely transported from the hippocampus. In our investigation we used choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) as an index of cholinergic activity in HIPP, frontal cortex (FCX), septum and nucleus basalis magnocellularis (NBM) along with measurements of NGF levels in the HIPP. Three-month-old rats with unilateral total fimbria transection received acetyl-L-carnitine (ALCAR) (150 mg/kg/day) in drinking water for 1 week before and 4 weeks after the lesion).

Counteraction on experimentally induced diabetic neuropathy by levocarnitine acetyl.

The effect of levocarnitine acetyl on diabetic peripheral neuropathy induced by a single injection of streptozotocin or alloxan was studied. Levocarnitine acetyl was administered intraperitoneally one week after induction of diabetes at the dose of 50 mg/kg/day for five and ten weeks. At the end of treatment, neuromuscular conduction velocity (m/sec) was evaluated by stimulating the sciatic nerve and recording the soleus muscle potentials evoked, and the muscle contraction force (mm) by measuring the isometric muscular tension.

Severity of early separation and later abusive mothering in monkeys: what is the pathogenic threshold?

This study reports on a nonexperimentally induced case of infant abuse by a macaque mother living in a stable social group. The case is of particular interest because of the early experience of the abusive mother: she had been abandoned right after birth by her biological mother, adopted and reared by an adoptive mother who provided adequate maternal care. The abusive mother alternated violent abuse and attentive maternal care and was shown to have a very possessive relationship with her infant.