Chemical vapour deposition synthetic diamond: materials, technology and applications

Substantial developments have been achieved in the synthesis of chemical vapour deposition (CVD) diamond in recent years, providing engineers and designers with access to a large range of new diamond materials. CVD diamond has a number of outstanding material properties that can enable exceptional performance in applications as diverse as medical diagnostics, water treatment, radiation detection, high power electronics, consumer audio, magnetometry and novel lasers. Often the material is synthesized in planar form, however non-planar geometries are also possible and enable a number of key applications. This article reviews the material properties and characteristics of single crystal and polycrystalline CVD diamond, and how these can be utilized, focusing particularly on optics, electronics and electrochemistry. It also summarizes how CVD diamond can be tailored for specific applications, based on the ability to synthesize a consistent and engineered high performance product.Comment: 51 pages, 16 figure

Diagnostic value of CD45RO expression on circulating T lymphocytes of fetuses and newborn infants with pre-, peri- or early post-natal infections

We examined the expression of the CD45RO antigen, which characterizes the antigen primed/memory phenotype of T lymphocytes, as a marker for congenital infection in blood samples of newborns and fetuses. CD45RO expression on T cells was determined by triple-colour fluorescence flow cytometry. In total 537 blood samples of newborns and infants up to an age of 3 months and 89 fetal blood samples from gestational weeks 19–31 were analysed. Of the newborns and infants, 74 had a clinically, serologically and/or antigenically evident infection, and four of the fetuses had a confirmed intra-uterine infection. In 35 infants with acute predominantly bacterial infections such as sepsis or pneumonia, 17 (48.6%) had elevated CD45RObright expression. In 39 infants with proven pre-, peri- or early post-natal infections with toxoplasmosis, cytomegalovirus (CMV), rubella, herpes simplex virus (HSV) or human herpes virus type 6 (HHV6), 25 (64.1%) exhibited enhanced CD45RObright expression. Three of four fetuses with confirmed intra-uterine infection (three with CMV, one with parvovirus B19) exhibited elevated CD45RObright expression. The specificity of the CD45RO assay for detecting microbial infections was 94.6% for newborns and infants up to 3 months and 90.6% for fetuses. It is concluded that elevated numbers of CD45RObright T cells in infants up to 3 months of age strongly suggest an infection. However, the sensitivity of the CD45RO assay is not sufficient to enable the test to be used as a general marker for prescreening infants to detect pre-, peri- or early post-natally acquired infections

Aprotinin prevents proteolytic epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) activation and volume retention in nephrotic syndrome.

Volume retention in nephrotic syndrome has been linked to activation of the epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) by proteolysis of its γ-subunit following urinary excretion of serine proteases such as plasmin. Here we tested whether pharmacological inhibition of urinary serine protease activity might protect from ENaC activation and volume retention in nephrotic syndrome. Urine from both nephrotic mice (induced by doxorubicin injection) and nephrotic patients exhibited high aprotinin-sensitive serine protease activity. Treatment of nephrotic mice with the serine protease inhibitor aprotinin by means of subcutaneous sustained-release pellets normalized urinary serine protease activity and prevented sodium retention, as did treatment with the ENaC inhibitor amiloride. In the kidney cortex from nephrotic mice, immunofluorescence revealed increased apical γ-ENaC staining, normalized by aprotinin treatment. In Xenopus laevis oocytes heterologously expressing murine ENaC, aprotinin had no direct inhibitory effect on channel activity but prevented proteolytic channel activation. Thus, our study shows that volume retention in experimental nephrotic syndrome is related to proteolytic ENaC activation by proteasuria and can be prevented by treatment with aprotinin. Hence, inhibition of urinary serine protease activity might become a therapeutic approach to treat patients with nephrotic-range proteinuria

Guidelines on CMV congenital infection

Congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection occurs in 0.6–0.7% of all newborns and is the most prevalent infection-related cause of congenital neurological handicap. Vertical transmission occurs in around 30% of cases, but the fetus is not always affected. Symptomatic newborns at birth have a much higher risk of suffering severe neurological sequelae. Detection of specific IgG and IgM and IgG avidity seem to be the most reliable tests to identify a primary infection but interpretation in a clinical context may be difficult. If a seroconversion is documented or a fetal infection is suspected by ultrasound markers, an amniocentesis should be performed to confirm a vertical transmission. In the absence of a confirmed fetal infection with fetal structural anomalies, a pregnancy termination should be discouraged. Fetal prognosis is mainly correlated to the presence of brain damage. Despite promising results with the use of antiviral drugs and CMV hyperimmune globulin (HIG), results have to be interpreted with caution. Pregnant women should not be systematically tested for CMV during pregnancy. Managing CMV screening should be restricted to pregnancies where a primary infection is suspected or among women at high risk. The magnitude of congenital CMV disease and the value of interventions to prevent its transmission or to decrease the sequelae need to be established before implementing public health interventions. In this paper, aspects of CMV infection in the pregnant woman and her infant are reviewed.Peer Reviewe