The acoustic assistance improves the actuator performance by increasing the reversible magnetic-field-induced strain (MFIS) by up to 100% (increase from 0.017 to 0.03 at 10 Hz) for drive frequencies below 150 Hz. For frequencies above 150 Hz, the acoustic-assist effect becomes negligible and the resonant characteristic of the actuator takes over the actuator response. Even though the acoustic assist MI-503 order does not improve the actuation at high frequencies, the MFIS output of 5% can be obtained at the resonant frequency of 450 Hz without acoustic assistance. The

FSMA actuator is shown to be ideal for applications that require large strain at a specific high frequency (C) 2009 American Institute of Physics. [DOI: 10.1063/1.3125307]“
“BACKGROUND: Data on the prognostic utility of interferon-gamma release assays (IGRAs) for active tuberculosis (TB) among human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) infected individuals are limited.

METHODS: S3I-201 inhibitor Samples from a perinatal cohort of HIV-1-infected women in Kenya, obtained during pregnancy, were tested using T-SPOT (R).TB IGRAs to detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis-specific

interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) responses. IFN-gamma, (cut-off values of >0, >= 6 and >= 10 spot-forming cells [SFC]/well) and CD4 cell count (cut-off values of <250 and <350 cells/mu l) were evaluated to determine sensitivity and specificity using a time-dependent receiver operating selleck chemicals llc characteristic curve and positive predictive value (PPV) using the Kaplan Meier method for future TB within 1 year postpartum.

RESULTS: Of 327 women, 9 developed TB within 1 year postpartum (incidence rate 3.5/100 person-years of follow-up, 95%CI 1.6-6.7). IFN-gamma 6 SFC/well was associated with an optimal trade-off between sensitivity (78%) and specificity (55%) and a PPV of 5.9%. In women with CD4 cell count of <250 cells/mu l, the sensitivity and specificity of IFN–y 6 SFC/well

were respectively 89% and 63%, and the PPV was 19.2%.

CONCLUSION: Among HIV-1 infected women, IFN–y response (>= 6 SFC/well) during pregnancy lacked a high PPV for postpartum TB, but had higher sensitivity and PPV among immunosuppressed women (CD4 cell count of <250 cells/mu l).”
“The effects of Ag doping on the photoluminescence (PL) of low temperature grown ZnO have been investigated. Ag-doped ZnO exhibited distinguished PL characteristics from the undoped material. An intense emission at 3.323 eV from a free electron to bound acceptor transition was observed in the Ag-doped ZnO, while a donor bound exciton transition dominated the band edge emission for undoped ZnO. The acceptor binding energy of 117 meV calculated from the temperature dependent PL is consistent with the reported values. This spectroscopic investigation indicates that Ag can be introduced into the host material by a cost-efficient electrochemical process and is a potential p-type dopant for ZnO. (C) 2009 American Institute of Physics. [DOI: 10.