Diagnosis of antiphospholipid syndrome in routine clinical practice.

The updated international consensus criteria for definite antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) are useful for scientific clinical studies. However, there remains a need for diagnostic criteria for routine clinical use. We audited the results of routine antiphospholipid antibodies (aPLs) in a cohort of 193 consecutive patients with aPL positivity-based testing for lupus anticoagulant (LA), IgG and IgM anticardiolipin (aCL) and anti-ß(2)glycoprotein-1 antibodies (aß(2)GPI). Medium/high-titre aCL/aβ(2)GPI was defined as >99th percentile. Low-titre aCL/aβ(2)GPI positivity (>95(th )< 99(th) percentile) was considered positive for obstetric but not for thrombotic APS. One hundred of the 145 patients fulfilled both clinical and laboratory criteria for definite APS. Twenty-six women with purely obstetric APS had persistent low-titre aCL and/or aβ(2)GPI. With the inclusion of these patients, 126 of the 145 patients were considered to have APS. Sixty-seven out of 126 patients were LA-negative, of whom 12 had aCL only, 37 had aβ(2)GPI only and 18 positive were for both. The omission of aCL or aβ(2)GPI testing from investigation of APS would have led to a failure to diagnose APS in 9.5% and 29.4% of patients, respectively. Our data suggest that LA, aCL and aβ(2)GPI testing are all required for the accurate diagnosis of APS and that low-titre antibodies should be included in the diagnosis of obstetric APS

Data Catalog Series for Space Science and Applications Flight Missions

The main purpose of the data catalog series is to provide descriptive references to data generated by space science flight missions. The data sets described include all of the actual holdings of the Space Science Data Center (NSSDC), all data sets for which direct contact information is available, and some data collections held and serviced by foreign investigators, NASA and other U.S. government agencies. This volume contains narrative descriptions of data sets from geostationary and high altitude scientific spacecraft and investigations. The following spacecraft series are included: Mariner, Pioneer, Pioneer Venus, Venera, Viking, Voyager, and Helios. Separate indexes to the planetary and interplanetary missions are also provided

Absence of martian radiation belts and implications thereof

Absence of electrons in Mars atmosphere and implications thereo

Cloning of a cDNA encoding diacylglycerol acyltransferase from Arabidopsis thaliana and its functional expression

AbstractTriacylglycerols are the most important storage lipids in most plants and animals. Acyl-CoA:diacylglycerol acyltransferase (EC 2.3.1.20) catalyzes the final step of the pathway of triacylglycerol synthesis and is the only step which is unique to this process. Diacylglycerol acyltransferase is required for the synthesis of storage oil in a wide range of oil-bearing seeds and fruits and in floral structures such as petals, anthers and pollen. We describe the first cloning and functional expression of a cDNA encoding diacylglycerol acyltransferase from a plant. The cDNA, cloned from Arabidopsis thaliana, encodes a 520 amino acid protein with a predicted molecular mass of 59.0 kDa which shares 38% amino acid sequence identity with diacylglycerol acyltransferase from mouse. When expressed in insect cell cultures, the protein catalyzes the synthesis of [14C]triacylglycerol from [14C]diacylglycerol and acyl-CoA. Primer extension analysis revealed that the transcription begins 225 bases before the translation start site, yielding an unusually long 5′ untranslated region. The gene is expressed in a wide range of tissues but most strongly in developing embryos and petals of flowers

High-Frequency Measurements Of The Spectrum Of Sagittarius A*

We report near-simultaneous interferometric measurements of the spectrum of Sagittarius A* over the 5-354 GHz range and single-dish observations that have yielded the first detection of Sgr A* at 850 GHz. We confirm that Sgr A*'s spectrum rises more steeply at short millimeter wavelengths than at centimeter wavelengths, leading to a near-millimeter/submillimeter excess that dominates its luminosity. Below 900 GHz, Sgr A*'s observed luminosity is 70 +/- 30 L.. A new upper limit to Sgr A*'s 24.3 mu m flux, together with a compilation of other extant IR data, imply a far-infrared spectral turnover, which can result from either an intrinsic synchrotron cutoff or excess extinction near Sgr A*. If the former applies, Sgr A*'s total synchrotron luminosity is <10(3) L., while in the latter case it is <3 x 10(4) L. if spherical symmetry also applies.NSF AST96-15025, AST96-13717Astronom

Lunar Surface Potential Changes Possible Associated with Traversals of the Bow Shock

We report an analysis of seven Apollo 14 Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP) Suprathermal Ion Detector Experiment (SIDE) "resonance" events from January 1972 through January 1973. The events appear to be associated with traversals of the Moon through the terrestrial bow shock

Restoration and Reexamination of Apollo Lunar Dust Detector Data from Original Telemetry Files

We are recovering the original telemetry (Figure I) from the Apollo Dust, Thermal, Radiation Environment Monitor (DTREM) experiment, more commonly known as the Dust Detector, and producing full time resolution (54 second) data sets for release through the Planetary Data System (PDS). The primary objective of the experiment was to evaluate the effect of dust deposition, temperature, and radiation damage on solar cells on the lunar surface. The monitor was a small box consisting of three solar cells and thermistors mounted on the ALSEP (Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package) central station. The Dust Detector was carried on Apollo's 11, 12, 14 and 15. The Apollo 11 DTREM was powered by solar cells and only operated for a few months as planned. The Apollo 12, 14, and 15 detectors operated for 5 to 7 years, returning data every 54 seconds, consisting of voltage outputs from the three solar cells and temperatures measured by the three thermistors. The telemetry was received at ground stations and held on the Apollo Housekeeping (known as "Word 33") tapes. made available to the National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC) by Yosio Nakamura (University of Texas Institute for Geophysics). We have converted selected parts of the telemetry into uncalibrated and calibrated output voltages and temperatures

The Evolution of Blue Stragglers Formed Via Stellar Collisions

We have used the results of recent smoothed particle hydrodynamic simulations of colliding stars to create models appropriate for input into a stellar evolution code. In evolving these models, we find that little or no surface convection occurs, precluding angular momentum loss via a magnetically-driven stellar wind as a viable mechanism for slowing rapidly rotating blue stragglers which have been formed by collisions. Angular momentum transfer to either a circumstellar disk (possibly collisional ejecta) or a nearby companion are plausible mechanisms for explaining the observed low rotation velocities of blue stragglers. Under the assumption that the blue stragglers seen in NGC 6397 and 47 Tuc have been created solely by collisions, we find that the majority of these blue stragglers cannot have been highly mixed by convection or meridional circulation currents at anytime during their evolution. Also, on the basis of the agreement between the predictions of our non-rotating models and the observed blue straggler distribution, the evolution of blue stragglers is apparently not dominated by the effects of rotation.Comment: 36 pages, including 1 table and 7 postscript figures (LaTeX2e). Also avaliable at http://astrowww.phys.uvic.ca/~ouellet/ . Accepted for publication in A