Constraints on Elastic Neutrino Nucleus Scattering in the Fully Coherent Regime from the CONUS Experiment

We report the best limit on coherent elastic scattering of electron antineutrinos emitted from a nuclear reactor off germanium nuclei. The measurement was performed with the CONUS detectors positioned at 17.1 m from the 3.9  GW_{th} reactor core of the nuclear power plant in Brokdorf, Germany. The antineutrino energies of less than 10 MeV assure interactions in the fully coherent regime. The analyzed dataset includes 248.7 kg d with the reactor turned on and background data of 58.8 kg d with the reactor off. With a quenching parameter of k=0.18 for germanium, we determined an upper limit on the number of neutrino events of 85 in the region of interest at 90% confidence level. This new CONUS dataset disfavors quenching parameters above k=0.27, under the assumption of standard-model-like coherent scattering of the reactor antineutrinos.

Results on neutrinoless double-β decay of 76Ge from phase I of the GERDA experiment

Neutrinoless double beta decay is a process that violates lepton number conservation. It is predicted to occur in extensions of the standard model of particle physics. This Letter reports the results from phase I of the Germanium Detector Array (GERDA) experiment at the Gran Sasso Laboratory (Italy) searching for neutrinoless double beta decay of the isotope (76)Ge. Data considered in the present analysis have been collected between November 2011 and May 2013 with a total exposure of 21.6 kg yr. A blind analysis is performed. The background index is about 1 × 10(-2) counts/(keV kg yr) after pulse shape discrimination. No signal is observed and a lower limit is derived for the half-life of neutrinoless double beta decay of (76)Ge, T(1/2)(0ν) >2.1 × 10(25) yr (90% C.L.). The combination with the results from the previous experiments with (76)Ge yields T(1/2)(0ν)>3.0 × 10(25) yr (90% C.L.).

Radioimmunoassay of laminin in serum and its application to cancer patients

In this sensitive radioimmunoassay for laminin fragment P1 (purified from pepsin extracts of human placenta), monovalent antibody fragments obtained from rabbit antisera against the laminin component are used. The inhibition assay showed a low intra- and interassay variability, and the inhibition curves for various serum samples had parallel slopes. Molecular-sieve chromatography demonstrated heterogeneity of the laminin antigen in serum. For quantification we defined arbitrary units based on the amount of antigenic material present in normal human serum. Sera from 361 tumor patients showed increased values in about half of the cases. Correlation with increased concentration of carcinoembryonic antigen was poor (r = 0.259). The assay may be useful for diseases involving basement-membrane metabolism.

Radioimmunoassay of laminin in serum and its application to cancer patients

In this sensitive radioimmunoassay for laminin fragment P1 (purified from pepsin extracts of human placenta), monovalent antibody fragments obtained from rabbit antisera against the laminin component are used. The inhibition assay showed a low intra- and interassay variability, and the inhibition curves for various serum samples had parallel slopes. Molecular-sieve chromatography demonstrated heterogeneity of the laminin antigen in serum. For quantification we defined arbitrary units based on the amount of antigenic material present in normal human serum. Sera from 361 tumor patients showed increased values in about half of the cases. Correlation with increased concentration of carcinoembryonic antigen was poor (r = 0.259). The assay may be useful for diseases involving basement-membrane metabolism.

Type IV collagen antigens in serum of diabetic rats: a marker for basement membrane collagen biosynthesis

The nature of type IV collagen antigens in the serum of streptozotocin diabetic rats was studied using radioimmunoassays for the N-terminal (7S-collagen) and C-terminal domain of type IV collagen. Type IV collagen antigen crossreacting with antibodies to the C-terminal domain was elevated from 32.0 +/- 5.36 ng/ml (n = 10) in serum of normal rats to 94.9 +/- 24.5 ng/ml (n = 10, P less than 0.0001) in serum of streptozotocin diabetic rats and could be normalized to 40.1 +/- 8.30 ng/ml (n = 18) by insulin treatment. Molecular sieve chromatography of serum demonstrated a high molecular weight fraction containing the C-terminal and N-terminal domains and smaller material containing only the N-terminal domain. Degradation of the high molecular weight material by collagenase indicates that it consists of intact collagen type IV. Its relative proportion increased from 42% to 54% 4 weeks after diabetes induction. Together with unaltered clearance rates of 7S collagen in normal and diabetic rats, the data suggest that the increase of collagen type IV antigens in diabetic states reflects increased synthesis of collagen type IV.

A radioimmunoassay to measure piretanide in human serum and urine

This paper describes a specific radioimmunological method for determining the diuretic agent piretanide (4 phenoxy-3-(1-pyrrolidinyl)-5-sulfamoyl benzoic acid) in human serum, plasma and urine. The antiserum was raised in rabbits against an immunogen of piretanide coupled to bovine serum albumin. The iodinated hydroxy derivative of piretanide was used as tracer. The separation of free and antibody-bound piretanide was performed by precipitating the antibody-tracer complex by polyethylene glycol. The limit of detection was 4 ng/ml. Studies on specificity showed less than 0.5% cross-reactivity of an identified metabolite. Interassay reproducibility showed an average coefficient of variation of 7.3%, the interassay variation was 5%. A recovery experiment yielded 100.9% recovery. There is good agreement between parallel determinations of piretanide by RIA and HPLC in both human serum and urine.

[Principle and use of the radioimmunoassay]

Radioimmunologic assay techniques are superior to most analytical procedures with regard to sensitivity, precision, general applicability, and experimental simplicity. Both for diagnosis and for monitoring of therapy this method has greatly advanced our understanding of endocrine physiology. Besides its use in clinical chemistry, radioimmunoassay is also employed in pharmacology, toxicology, and in pharmacokinetics of new drugs.

Electron microscopy of uterine leimyosarcomas

Electron microscopic studies of uterine leiomyosarcoma disclose a wide range of differentiation in the neoplastic cells. According to the cytoplasmic appearance undifferentiated, myoblastic, and fibroblast-like cells can be distinguished. Derivation of these cells from mesenchymal cells or poorly developed smooth muscle cells of the myometrium is suggested by the finding of numerous variously differentiated intermediate cell types. The cytoplasm of more differentiated tumour cells usually contains myofilament bundles. Three types of filaments are detected: small, intermediate and thick ones. While the thin ones probably are actin filaments, the intermediate and thick filaments are suggested to represent nonspecific filaments described in a variety of other cell types. Fibroblastic cell types are more often encountered and are usually better differentiated in the premenopausal woman. The possible role of endogenous hormonal factors on the differentiation process of tumour cells is discussed.