These functional biobased (co)polycarbonates were cured with polyisocyanate curing agents, resulting in colorless to pale yellow transparent, glossy coatings with good mechanical 3-MA order performance and solvent resistance. (C) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 121: 1450-1463, 2011″
“Objective: Pleural tuberculosis (TB) is a diagnostic challenge because of its non-specific clinical presentation and paucibacillary nature. Conventional diagnosis methods have limitations. We evaluated the real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), adenosine deaminase (ADA), and immunoglobulin A (IgA).
Methods: We assessed 204 cases: 50 were confirmed
pleural TB, 104 were probable pleural TB, and 50 formed the non-TB group. IFN-gamma and IgA were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and ADA was measured by colorimetric assay. Real-time PCR was carried out using the 16S rRNA sequence, pleural biopsy specimens were submitted to histopathologic
examination, pleural fluid culture was undertaken using Lowenstein-Jensen and MGIT-BACTEC, and pleural fluid smears were stained with auramine O.
Results: For confirmed and probable pleural TB cases, the area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was highest for IFN-gamma (0.994 and 0.963, respectively), followed by ADA (0.989 and 0.945, respectively), PLX4032 real-time PCR (0.898 and 0.784, respectively), and IgA (0.817 and 0.784, respectively). For confirmed and probable pleural TB cases, IFN-gamma showed the highest sensitivity (98% and 76.9%, respectively), followed by ADA (92% and 73%, respectively), real-time PCR (80% and 57.7%, respectively), and IgA (70% and 57.7%, respectively). With regard to combined positivity, the combination of ‘either real-time PCR or IFN-gamma’ showed the highest sensitivity: 100% in confirmed pleural
TB and 96.2% in probable pleural TB.
Conclusions: IFN-gamma showed the highest sensitivity as an individual diagnostic test. When a combination of tests was used, positivity of ‘either IFN-gamma or real-time PCR’ appeared valuable for the diagnosis of pleural TB. (C) 2010 International SYN-117 Society for Infectious Diseases. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“The principles of the percolation theory were applied to further understand and design hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) extended release matrix tablets containing carbamazepine and verapamil HCl. This statistical theory studies disordered or chaotic systems where the components are randomly distributed in a lattice. The application of this theory to study the hydration and drug release of hydrophilic matrices allows describing the changes in hydration and drug release kinetics of swellable matrices.